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LATEST NEWS
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Monday, October 14th, 2019
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In a move that was originally recommended by shareholder advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Services Inc and Glass Lewis six months ago, Boeing’s board of directors has stripped Dennis
Muilenburg of his chairmanship title shortly after the plane maker was severely criticized over the development of the 737 MAX. The board has confirmed that it still has “full confidence” in Muilenburg’s skills and he will retain his role as CEO, while the company issued a statement saying: “This decision is the latest of several actions by the board of directors and Boeing senior
leadership to strengthen the company’s governance and safety management processes.”
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The Joint Authorities Technical Review (JATR) had found fault in the way that Boeing had made assumptions in the design of the 737 MAX and could have disclosed more information to the FAA. The FAA was also chastised in the way it dealt with certification for the 737 MAX with significant reform recommended in the way it evaluates and certifies new airplanes.
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According to Reuters news agency, an internal review in August revealed that Boeing was working to reorganize its engineering reporting lines company-wide to ensure higher ranking officials, including its CEO, get faster feedback about potential safety concerns from lower levels of the company.
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Boeing intends to name a new director with extensive safety experience and expertise who will serve on the board as well as a newly created Aerospace Safety Committee. Last week it was confirmed that a key certification test flight would not take place until the beginning of November, the knock-on effect being that any flights would be unlikely to take place until December.
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Air Austral, France’s Réunion Island-based airline, has signed a firm order for three A220 aircraft, Airbus’ newest family member.
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With this order Air Austral becomes the first A220 customer based in the Indian Ocean region. Benefiting from a 20% reduction in fuel burn and CO2 emissions, the A220s will enable Air Austral to reduce its costs and carbon footprint on international routes in the region.
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"Air Austral has chosen the A220-300 as part of the renewal of its Medium and Short Haul fleet. These new generation aircraft will join the airline from the end of 2020 with the aim of harmonizing part of its fleet and strengthening its operations” said Marie-Joseph Malé, Chief Executive Officer of Air Austral. The economic and operational performance of the A220 opens new possibilities for the development of our regional network from our main base - Réunion Island - in an efficient and rational way. The 132-seat capacity module, which is more flexible, will allow us to increase our frequencies while offering more comfort to our customers and crews", he added.
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Stratolaunch, the American space transportation venture developing a new air launch to orbit system, founded by U.S. billionaire Paul Allen, has transitioned ownership and is continuing regular operations.
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Its near-term launch vehicle development strategy focuses on providing customizable, reusable, and affordable rocket-powered testbed vehicles and associated flight services. As the company is continuing its mission, Stratolaunch will bring the carrier aircraft test and operations program fully in-house.
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BOC Aviation has delivered a new Airbus A320neo aircraft to Spring Airlines, China’s largest low-cost carrier. The aircraft is powered by CFM Leap 1A engines.
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Spring Airlines President Wang Zhijie said, “Spring Airlines has been growing profitably since we began operations in 2005. We are pleased to work with our long-term partner BOC Aviation which has once again demonstrated its excellent professionalism and customer service in meeting our needs for modern aircraft."
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Joramco, the Amman-based MRO and the engineering arm of Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE), and Kenya Airways have signed a heavy maintenance agreement for the first time to perform OOP checks for six B787 from the carrier’s fleet in addition to major modification tasks related to upgrading IFE wiring system and Oxygen Modules PSUs. Joramco successfully delivered five aircraft between May and June while work on the sixth aircraft is planned to commence in September.
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Kenya Airways, a member of the Sky Team Alliance, is a leading African airline flying to 56 destinations worldwide, 43 of which are in Africa and carries over four million passengers annually. It continues to modernize its fleet with its 35 aircraft being some of the youngest in Africa.
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U.S. Vanadium Holding Company (US Vanadium) has closed its acquisition from a leading Russian steel conglomerate of the only facility in the Americas that produces the world’s highest-purity vanadium pentoxide (V2O5).
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The facility, located in Hot Springs, Arkansas, can produce V2O5 at the very high purity levels required by demanding applications such as maleic anhydride catalyst, bismuth vanadate pigments and vanadium redox flow batteries (“VRBs”). The facility also produces a suite of downstream vanadium-based chemicals for customers in the catalyst, chemical, petrochemical, titanium, and energy storage industries.
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From 2008 to 2018, production at the Hot Springs facility under the previous owner declined from full capacity to very low levels. Over the past year, U.S. Vanadium has brought production back online through tolling contracts with the facility, and the new plant owner plans to restore the facility’s production operations to its full nameplate processing capacity of approximately 12 million lbs./year of V2O5.
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High-purity vanadium oxides and chemicals are used in industries and applications such as the
following: titanium alloys for aerospace, military and other applications; oxidation catalysts for the production of basic chemicals including sulfuric acid; petrochemicals including maleic anhydride and phthalic anhydride; pollution control catalysts; pigments for high quality paints; and a variety of other industrial applications.
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High-purity V2O5 and vanadium trioxide (“V2O3”) are used at Hot Springs to produce the purest vanadium electrolyte in the world for VRBs. VRB batteries are increasingly seen as the preferred technology for use in large-scale electrical grid energy storage, particularly as a means of
supporting greater deployment of intermittent generation technologies such as solar and wind energy. The VRB battery technology has matured to the point where it can demonstrate lower lifetime costs and safer performance than lithium ion batteries, particularly in long-duration storage applications.
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Global trip support solutions provider, UAS International Trip Support (UAS) has expanded its capabilities in China and bolstered its client offering by becoming a domestic handling agent providing handling services across the country. With the new UAS China network of dedicated local agents in position, foreign operators will now have easier access to all categories of business
airports in the region.
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Dedicated UAS China agents are already operating at major business aviation hubs such as Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Xi’an and Guangzhou, which represent some of the country’s most
active executive destinations.
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UAS China clients are benefiting from having a local UAS contractor on site to deliver priority ground handling, dedicated supervision and significantly the convenience of liaising with a single source for all ground handling and trip support services at China’s pivotal business aviation gateways. This synchronised handling and support is of particular benefit for international
operators and fleets as it helps navigate the complexities of the aviation landscape by reducing points of contact, simplifying the trip planning process, and emulating the high standards delivered by UAS globally. Support continues with English speaking personnel on hand to support all requirements for the duration of the client’s stay in China.
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The enhanced service offering complements the existing ground supervision delivered by UAS station managers throughout China, as well as UAS’ bespoke trip support solutions for VIP
passengers and crew members. UAS clients will also benefit from competitive pricing with tailored
pricing packages to help operators optimize their operations costs.
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King Aerospace Commercial Corporation, working in cooperation with Collins Aerospace and a launch customer, have completed the first retrofit installation of Collins Aerospace’s new Enhanced Flight Vision System (EFVS) upgrade for Boeing Business Jets (BBJ). This new EFVS upgrade will soon be available for additional BBJ operators as Collins Aerospace nears achieving a supplemental type certificate (STC) for the system.
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The new EFVS utilizes Collins Aerospace’s proprietary EVS-3600 multispectral sensor to provide pilots with an augmented reality view of the outside world. Currently, poor visibility due to fog or precipitation is the cause of many frustrating delays. Using multiple infrared and visible light cameras on the outside of the aircraft, the EFVS can “see through” these poor visibility conditions better than the human eye. When pilots view this camera video on the head-up displays, it allows them to better detect the runway environment in poor weather and continue operating the aircraft.
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Finnair and Fiji Airways have agreed on a new codeshare partnership between Helsinki (HEL) and Nadi (NAN) in Fiji via three gateways served by Finnair.
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Finnair’s AY code will be added to Fiji Airways’ flights between Hong Kong (HKG), Singapore (SIN), Narita (NRT) and Nadi, offering an exotic new destination for Finnair customers in the South Pacific. Finnair’s flight numbers will later be added to Fiji’s flights between San Francisco (SFO), Los Angeles (LAX) and Nadi, subject to applicable government approvals. With this addition, it will now be possible for Finnair customers to complete an around-the-world trip with Finnair flight numbers.
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Fiji Airways’ FJ code will also be added to Finnair’s flights to Helsinki via Singapore, opening access for Fiji Airways’ customers to Finland and points beyond in Europe.
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Bulgarian carrier Tayaran Jet and JHAS, the Italian design manufacturer of aircraft seating, have agreed on a partnership for the restyling of Tayaran Jet's cabin with innovative and customize seats.
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The development of economy class seats has been realized in synergy between the two companies, through studies, tests and detail analysis putting in the center the needs of passengers and structuring the seats to be Elegant, Refined and Exclusive in terms of Design, Comfort and Living Space.
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The result is an Economy Class seat for a new way of Air Travel, "AURORA 2.0”.
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AIRCRAFT & ENGINE MARKETPLACE
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UPCOMING EVENTS
MRO Europe
October 15 - 17, 2019 – ExCel London, London, UK
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