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Wednesday, September 12th, 2018
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LATEST NEWS
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Boeing has taken on 600 employees and new hires to sort out delivery problems at its Renton, Washington plant which it blames on a shortage of engines and fuselages. The company is yet to confirm how many retirees it intends to take on.
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The move comes ahead of the plane giant’s release of August order and delivery tallies, July’s figures revealing the lowest level of deliveries for many years. According to union spokeswoman Connie Kelliher, Boeing started hiring retired mechanics and inspectors on a temporary basis after reaching an agreement with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers on Aug. 15.
According to analysts, there were approximately semi-finished 737s scattered around the plant last week, appreciably more than were reported by Reuters last month. Boeing has indicated that the problem lies with a shortage of fuselages from Wichita, Kansas-based Spirit AeroSystems Inc and engines from CFM International Inc, and General Electric Co.
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Boeing spokesman Paul Bergman said of the situation: “We are working closely with our suppliers Spirit and CFM as they track toward recovery, as well as our customers. Our team has been mitigating supplier delays, and our factory continues to build 52 airplanes per month.”
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Reuters has reported that company representatives have indicated that American Airlines Group Inc. has seen slight delays on a small number of 737 MAX deliveries, while No. 4 carrier Southwest Airlines Co sees “minor changes” on future deliveries, but the delays have not disrupted operations.
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In August 2018, the Lufthansa Group airlines welcomed around 13.8 million passengers. This shows an increase of 10.0% compared to the previous year’s month. Capacity for August was up 8.2% over the previous year at the same time, traffic increased by 8.7%. In addition as compared to August 2017, the seat load factor increased by 0.5 points to 86.4%.
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The Network Airlines including Lufthansa German Airlines, SWISS and Austrian Airlines carried 9.9 million passengers in August – 7.9% more than in the prior-year period. Traffic was up by 5.9% over the same period and capacity increased by 5.3%. The August seat load factor improved 0.5 points to 86.5%.
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Eurowings (including Brussels Airlines) carried around 3.8 million passengers in July. Among this total, 3.5 million passengers were on short-haul flights and 342,000 flew on long-haul flights. This amounts to an increase of 15.8 percent in comparison to the previous year. August capacity was 21.8% above its prior-year level, while traffic was up 22.2%, resulting in an increase of seat load factor by o.3 points to 86.0%.
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Rockwell Collins’ Pro Line Fusion® avionics upgrade for Pro Line II-equipped King Air B200 and B300 series aircraft has been certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
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JetSupport B.V., headquartered in Amsterdam, is the first European dealer to complete a Pro Line Fusion upgrade for the King Air B200, which completed its first flight on Sept. 4.
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The upgrade previously was certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 2016.
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Rockwell Collins’ Pro Line Fusion upgrade for King Air B200 and B300 series turboprops provides turnkey compliance with airspace modernization deadlines and transforms the flying experience with the largest widescreen primary flight displays available. It enhances the aircraft’s value with the same icon-based, touchscreen technology found on new-production King Airs and is the first touchscreen primary flight display to be certified for operational use.
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Pratt & Whitney has been awarded a US$437 million contract modification by the U.S. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) for next generation adaptive propulsion risk reduction for potential air superiority applications.
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Along with a demand-modulated engine architecture, Pratt & Whitney is also maturing an adaptive technology suite that includes control systems as well as power and thermal management systems to enable enhanced range, persistence, survivability, and maintainability capabilities for advanced weapon systems.
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In addition to advancing proven fifth-generation engine technology, Pratt & Whitney is leveraging learnings from design and test activities completed as part of the Adaptive Engine Technology Development (AETD) effort to ensure the Adaptive Engine Transition Program (AETP) refines the technologies necessary to meet future mission requirements of air superiority applications.
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Czech Airlines Technics (CSAT), a daughter company of the Czech Aeroholding Group which provides aircraft repair and maintenance services, has entered a new market segment of aircraft consumables sales.
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The company has decided to take the step based on the demand from airlines, MROs and brokers. Thanks to the established network of suppliers, the amount of stored inventory and already established logistics support, the company will be able to respond to the demanding customer requirements connected with sales of a wide range of aircraft consumables in a flexible manner. The company already provides the service to Czech Airlines, Travel Services, Enter Air and, as of recent, to the Ministry of Defense of the Czech Republic.
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Aircraft consumables and component sales will be the responsibility of a new team which will actively offer our stock to customers. The size of the inventory, to a value exceeding US$15 million as stored in CSAT’s facility at Václav Havel Airport Prague. Unlike in other industries, a sufficient amount of stored spare parts and aircraft components is crucial, primarily in situations where it is necessary to replace a component as quickly as possible so as to ensure the aircraft’s speedy return to operations.
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Finnair will add flights between its Helsinki hub and Lisbon, Portugal and Alanya (Gazipasa), Turkey for the winter season 2018-2019.
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Finnair opened its Lisbon route during the summer 2018 season, and due to strong demand, it will now fly the route daily year-round. The frequencies added to the Lisbon route increase the capacity on this route by 70% during the winter season.
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Finnair is also adding flights to Alanya (Gazipasa), a popular holiday destination in Turkey, and flies there twice a week during the winter season (October 28, 2018 to March 31, 2019). This is the first time a destination on the Turkish Mediterranean coast will now be available on Finnair scheduled flights year-round.
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In addition, capacity will be added to Finnair’s Brussels route as of October 31 when Finnair will start to fly one of its daily frequencies, on both Wednesdays and Saturdays, with a wide-body Airbus A330. This change will offer added passenger and cargo capacity between both cities and an excellent business class product with full-flat seats for this busy route.
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Satcom Direct (SD) is the newest Value Added Manufacturer (VAM) and service provider for Iridium Certus aviation products.
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SD will be designing and manufacturing new terminals for compatibility with the Iridium Certus service, while also providing the service direct to the business aviation community. The new products and services are being added to the SD Connectivity portfolio, integrating with the company’s existing technology and software value-adds to enhance the end user experience.
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As a global leader in connectivity and avionics solutions, SD’s mission is to synchronize the aircraft with flight operations. Iridium Certus will integrate with existing SD hardware and software, including the already popular SDR® Series and SD Hub Series of cabin routers, as well as the SD Pro® platform, to provide customers with features and capabilities like real-time data analytics, cyber security, account management and more.
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This partnership will help extend the reach of SD’s existing customer base by offering fully global L-band broadband coverage, while creating a complete, end-to-end customer experience for aviators. This latest announcement builds on the existing agreement between Iridium and COMSAT, an SD company, which named COMSAT as an Iridium Certus service provider for U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) users in February this year.
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BAE Systems has been awarded a four-year £42 million contract from the UK Ministry of Defence for the support of the Command Support Air Transport (CSAT) fleet of four BAe 146 jetliners operated by 32 (The Royal) Squadron from RAF Northolt in West London.
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The contract runs until 2022. There are options in the contract for extensions of one or two years. If the two-year extension is taken up, the contract value will increase to £60 million.
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The BAE Systems Regional Aircraft team joined with Serco to win the contract through a competitive tender process. The BAE Systems-led team will deliver a 20% increase in aircraft availability for a reduced operational cost.
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The new agreement – known as the BAe 146 In-Service Support Availability Contract - is an availability-based contract which includes maintenance of airframe, engines, avionics and electrical, provision of spares and total supply chain management, the management of Government Furnished Assets, and interior aircraft cleaning and maintenance.
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Serco, which had provided support at RAF Northolt for over 20 years, will be responsible for all maintenance aspects of the contract, including airframe, engines, avionics and electrical, and interior aircraft cleaning and maintenance. Through its experienced resource at RAF Northolt, Serco will also provide a pool of sponsored reserves to support the aircraft when deployed on operations outside the UK.
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Under the availability element of the contract the BAE Systems-led team will ensure delivery of three out of the four aircraft to be available for tasking at 0700 hours on weekdays and two of the four aircraft available at 0700 hours at weekends.
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Alton Aviation Consultancy, a specialized aviation consulting firm with offices in New York, Hong Kong and Beijing, has further broadened its global reach with the opening of its new office in Dublin. Concurrent with its opening, the company has appointed Enda Clarke as Managing Director with leadership responsibilities for the Dublin operation.
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Prior to joining Alton Aviation Consultancy, Clarke held the position of Chief Executive – Technical at Santos Dumont, with responsibility for co-leading its aviation consultancy, technical and asset management services business. He brings over a dozen years of proven aviation advisory experience – most of them, working with senior executives in airlines, leasing companies, and aircraft investment firms.
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At Alton, Clarke leads a wide range of commercial and technical advisory engagements throughout the investment and asset life cycle, ranging from due diligence and aircraft purchase / lease negotiations to aircraft asset management and transition programs. Additionally, he delivers management consulting engagements to airlines, lessors, and MROs with specific strengths in benchmarking, process design, process improvement, and project management.
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FlyKargo has announced a partnership with JetBlue Airways to facilitate air cargo movement between Fort Lauderdale and San Juan, Puerto Rico as part of a three month pilot program that begins on October 15th, 2018.
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FlyKargo, based in Miami, FL are specialists in delivering turnkey air cargo managed services to low cost airlines and will focus on providing fast and reliable air cargo services to the registered freight forwarders as well as known shippers. Services will begin with a traditional air-to-air offering and will gradually include door pickup and delivery extension in additional markets. By leveraging the excess cargo carrying capacity available on over 250 airplanes JetBlue aims at providing the right balance of speed and cost to its customers.
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“Our clients are able to focus on their core passenger business and rely on us to safely, efficiently, and effectively operate air cargo business,” said Patricio Sepulveda, Chairman of FlyKargo.
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“With over 1000 daily flights across high-valued geography throughout the Americas and Caribbean, JetBlue is perfectly positioned to benefit the rapidly growing e-commerce package delivery market by helping to deliver those packages in the shortest possible time,” said Rob Martinelli, Director Customer Experience Effectiveness, JetBlue. “We are excited about the prospects of growing revenue cargo and are taking a lead to innovate in this space with a partner that has demonstrated their ability to understand the industry’s current needs and quickly rollout a smart solution, while offering the expertise and connections to evolve with the market in the future.”
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FlyKargo will provide a turnkey solution to JetBlue by leveraging and integrating best of breed solutions available in the marketplace and have been used extensively by many global airlines. The industry leading partners accompanying FlyKargo for this pilot program are: GSA Force, a leading general air cargo sales and service provider with offices across 14 countries, will provide the sales and marketing efforts. SmartKargo, a 100% Cloud-based Air Cargo management software company, will provide the technology and operating environment necessary for all participants. For this pilot program, JetBlue and FlyKargo selected Air General, a long standing handling provider for JetBlue, to provide the ground handling operations in FLL and GMD, also a top quality handling company, will provide the handling operations in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Lastly, Aeronex, an innovative aviation industry leading management and consulting company, will provide the management services for FlyKargo.
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