Commercial Aviation News

Eastern Air Lines (The New) (Miami) this week will take delivery of its first Boeing 737-800. Today (November 4) the former Kenya Airways Boeing 737-8AL 5Y-KYB (msn 35070) was rolled out of the Eirtech hangar at Shannon in full Eastern livery. The 737 is named the “Spirit of Captain Eddie Rickenbacker” and will become N276EA on delivery. N276EA is due to arrive in Miami later this week. (World Airline News)

Bye bye MD-11 aircraft. You were fantastic!

KLM Photo

Emirates hopes it will be able to re-engage in talks in the next few months with Airbus over buying A350s after it cancelled an order earlier this year. "I've said the company will look at the A350 again. It will be done when we can align a contract to what the performance of the aircraft will be when it's in service," Tim Clark told reporters in Berlin. Emirates cancelled an order for 70 A350s in June. Clark added that the airline will make a decision on engines for its latest A380s, ordered at the Dubai airshow, by the end of the month.

(Reuters)

Rolls-Royce has won a USD$5 billion contract to supply engines to power 50 new Airbus planes ordered by Delta Air Lines. Rolls-Royce said the order for engines also included the provision of long-term post-delivery services as part of a "TotalCare" support package. The engines ordered are the Trent XWB engines to power 25 Airbus A350s, and Trent 7000 engines to power 25 Airbus A330neo aircraft. Rolls-Royce is the only supplier of engines for both aircraft.

(Reuters)

Leasing company CIT Aerospace has confirmed an order for the recently launched Airbus A330-900neo, an upgraded version of the popular jet. CIT Aerospace firmed up an order for 15 A330-900neos and five current-generation A321s, Airbus said in a statement. The combined order is worth USD$5 billion at list prices.

(Reuters)

The UN's ICAO will propose a new standard that requires commercial aircraft to report their position every 15 minutes as part of a global tracking initiative in the aftermath of the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. The loss of MH370 last March sparked a global drive for a system that would make it possible to pinpoint the exact route and last location of an aircraft. An ICAO spokesman said the standard, if adopted, could go into effect in the near term because it would not require new technology on aircraft. ICAO members are set to discuss the proposal at a major safety conference in Montreal next month.

IATA promised to lead an industry task force last year on the issue and to voluntarily improve tracking while ICAO developed its standard. In December, the industry task force recommended that airlines start tracking planes in at least 15 minute intervals within 12 months, but IATA said the deadline was not practical. ICAO spokesman Anthony Philbin called the ICAO scheme a "foundational flight tracking standard." The agency is developing more stringent tracking recommendations.

"If (member states) agree to the standard, the safety conference will also be asked how quickly it expects it to be implemented and if it would want ICAO to expedite that process," Philbin told Reuters news agency. "Once our states have made their views known in that regard, we'll have a better idea of the time frame." ICAO could effectively force airlines to act because the standards it sets typically become regulatory requirements in its 191 member states. But the agency prefers to make decisions by consensus, making February's conference crucial.

Many airlines already track their planes by satellite. An ICAO working paper recently noted that the majority of long-haul aircraft already have systems on board that can transmit their position. But it noted that the equipment is not always turned on and that in some locations, including along polar routes, there are gaps in satellite coverage. Asked if radio could be used to meet the draft standard, ICAO's Philbin said voice communication could serve as a fallback for planes that do not have newer technology.

(Reuters)

Indonesian authorities have announced sanctions against five airlines. Indonesian transport minister Ignasius Jonan said the five airlines — national carrier Garuda Indonesia, Lion Air, Wings Air, Susi Air and TransNusa.

Airbus has begun talks with European regulator EASA on proposals to make ejectable flight data recorders available on its two largest models, the A380 and the new A350, potentially making them the first commercial planes to use the technology. Airbus said it was also not ruling out expanding the use of ejectable recorders, which combine both voice and data recordings, to new versions of the A330 and A320.

The first Airbus A350 from Qatar Airways made its first revenue flight kicking off the true career of the A350XWB. The flight went from Qatar to Frankfurt.

American Airlines confirms that flights between Dalas Fort Worth and Beijing, China will start on May 7th 2015. The carrier intends to use Boeing 777-200 aircraft with 247 seats. American intends to increase the seating on its 777-200 fleet in the next few years.

India faces growing pressure over financial uncertainty at budget carrier SpiceJet after leasing company BOC Aviation demanded the return of three leased aircraft, in what is seen as a test of global rules on aircraft investments. The leasing arm of Bank of China warned that India's fast-growing airline industry could struggle to attract funds unless India upholds a pact designed to protect the owners of leased jets, widely used across the world. "SpiceJet is a very frustrating situation," chief executive Robert Martin told Reuters news agency. "Obviously when we lease planes we like people to pay us. And if they don't pay us, then generally the way an operating lessor reacts is by moving its planes to somewhere else in the world."

India's Economic Times this week reported lessors wanted permission to retrieve 11 jets. BOC Aviation said it had asked for three Boeing 737s to be removed from the Indian register, a step towards repossession. The Singapore firm is among half a dozen lessors with exposure to SpiceJet, which is trying to finalise a new shareholder structure and cash lifeline. Others involved include Canada's export credit agency, which financed 15 Bombardier Q400s. A spokesman said it had not yet asked for these to be deregistered and was working with the carrier. SpiceJet said it was trying to resolve any disputes.

"In general with the imminent change of ownership and re-capitalisation, we expect all matters related to payables to be resolved soon in co-operation with our partners and suppliers, and are in regular contact with them," Sanjiv Kapoor, SpiceJet's Chief Operating Officer, said by email. It is the second such standoff in as many years after lessors clashed with now-inactive Kingfisher Airlines over Airbus aircraft. But financiers are watching SpiceJet's case especially closely because it is the first formal test, in one of the world's biggest markets, of the so-called Cape Town Convention.

The 2001 pact is a key part of efforts to harmonise trade with developing countries that dominate aircraft demand, but which is only now being implemented in key markets like India. In return for 10 percent cheaper fees, the pact gives owners clearer rights to pull assets in the event of default. Martin said ignoring the pact would hurt other carriers. "It means the industry will be less interested in leasing planes to India, relative to other jurisdictions," he said. Airlines have 60 days to return planes, but officials said SpiceJet still had time to meet this deadline.

(Reuters)

Japan Airlines (JAL) firms an order for up to 32 MRJ's (Mitsubishi Regional Jet).

Etihad presses their first Dreamliner into service today!

The last passenger flight for N252AU, a 25-year-old Boeing 767-200. But more significantly, it was the last flight of the last 767-200 in the US Airways fleet. It started its last day at US Airways’ Charlotte, N.C., hub. It then flew to Philadelphia, back to Charlotte, back to Philadelphia, back to Charlotte and finally in Philadelphia. American Airlines Group spokeswoman Michelle Mohr said the airline marked the occasion with a small celebration when the airplane departed Philadelphia on Wednesday, including boutonnieres and corsages for the plane’s crew.

“We know many folks have grown up on this airplane. They loved flying it, working it, maintaining it. We want to pay tribute to it and our heritage,” Mohr said. “But really, this is a big step forward for us. It’s the new American, and we’ll be using A330 aircraft on some of the international routes that the B767 flew, also the A321 and [Boeing] 757 on some other routes,” she said. (AB)

Southwest grounds 120+ planes after it missed needed inspections...

At the start of the week, KLM’s latest Boeing 777 left the hangar in Seattle ready for its first test flight. Once delivered at the end of March, it will become KLM’s 24th Boeing 777.

China's COMAC has completed the basic assembly of its medium-range C919 large passenger aircraft and is expected to launch test flights this year, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Xinhua said state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, which is touting the aircraft as China's answer to airliners from Boeing and Airbus, had secured 450 orders from 18 customers. The agency gave no further details and COMAC executives were not available for comment during the Lunar New Year holiday. China is keen to develop a successful commercial aircraft to prove it can match the United States and Europe. But it has been held back by inexperience, a shortage of local aerospace design and engineering talent, as well as a lack of home-grown companies with the technology to help drive the project. Airbus has forecast China's domestic aviation market to become the world's biggest in the next decade.

(Reuters)

Russia could assemble the Sukhoi Superjet regional jet in India to take advantage of lower production costs, the president of United Aircraft (UAC) said on Thursday. UAC executives had visited several Indian aircraft assembly facilities in India and were impressed with their capabilities, Yury Slyusar, UAC's new president, said at a press conference at the Aero India air show in Bengaluru. "We are looking at domestic production (in India) to help reduce the final price of the aircraft," he said. This will also support Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Make in India" campaign, he added. He declined to say when an agreement might be reached.

State-owned Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) has the only complete aircraft production facility in India. Companies such as Tata Sons, Reliance Group and Mahindra & Mahindra have also been keen to move into the industry. Producing the Superjet, which can seat up to 100 passengers, in India would help the country's nascent hopes of designing and producing a passenger aircraft. State-owned research agency National Aerospace Laboratories and HAL have, for the past few years, separately worked to develop a Regional Transport Aircraft that can carry around 100 passengers. UAC manufactures the Superjet as part of a joint venture with Italy's Alenia Aermacchi, a subsidiary of Finmeccanica. Just over 50 aircraft have been delivered since 2011, with orders for around 300 planes.

Aviation consultancy Flightglobal Ascend has forecast a market for 4,071 regional jets worth USD$128.3 billion by 2033. UAC officials also confirmed they had begun work with China on the preliminary design of a proposed 250 to 280 seat wide-body aircraft. Full-scale development is expected to begin in 2016, with the plane scheduled to enter service around 2025. If successful, this will target the market dominated by the Airbus A330 and A350 and Boeing 787. China is also developing the Comac C919, a narrow-body jet that it hopes will break into the market dominated by the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737.

(Reuters)

Airbus won 37 gross orders in the first two months of the year, or 28 after cancellations, driven by demand for its A320-family of narrow-body aircraft. Airbus delivered 82 aircraft to customers, including two A380s. An unidentified customer booked 18 A320neo and five A320ceo aircraft in February, while nine A320neos were ordered by AirAsia," Airbus said in a statement.

(Reuters)

Well... Etihad an its Penthouse suite makes the news... again

http://www.forbes.com/sites/tedreed...-penthouse-flight-as-critics-decry-subsidies/