Tag: FlightBlogger Archive

Q: Can an order for three aircraft justify the development of a sluggish selling derivative?

Airbus officials say Air France plans A380 service to Washington-Dulles Airport from Charles De Gaulle beginning in the summer of 2010.

“Air France has said they are committed to flying the A380 to Washington Dulles in the Summer of 2010,” said Dan Cohen-Nir, Programs Director for Airbus Americas speaking at the Transportation Research Board conference in Washington, DC.

A spokeswoman for Washington Dulles Airport confirmed that the airport has been in conversation with Air France and is preparing for A380 service to begin in 2010.

Air France, which is expected to receive its first A380 later this year, declined to comment on specific markets that would be served, but said the airline is planning to serve the US with the 538-seat superjumbo.

The airline added that an announcement of planned service would come in the 3rd quarter of 2009.

Image courtesy Air France

Dreamliner Five Deliveries
The Dreamlifter showed up in Everett Sunday night carrying the aft fuselage for Dreamliner Five. Just two more fuselage pieces (center and fwd) await delivery for final assembly kickoff, which may come as early as the end of this month. Section 47/48, according to sources, was 95% complete with the fastener issue fully addressed. Speaking of Section 47/48, it looks as though window gap where the center fuselage barrel meets the aft, is here to stay on the 787-9.

Embraer 2008 Delivery Report
The Brazillian manufacturer delivered 162 commericial aircraft in 2008, up from 130 in 2007. Of the 162 aircraft, 92 were E-190/195s, 64 E-170/175s, and six ERJ-145s.

Reopen the A380 RVSM debate?
From Aviation Herald:

An Armavia Airbus A320-200, flight U8-968 from
Sochi (Russia) to Yerevan (Armenia), was enroute about 30nm north of
Tiblisi (Georgia), when the airplane encountered severe clear air
turbulence, which caused the autopilot to disconnect and threw the
airplane into steep banks three times. The crew managed to regain
control of the airplane and completed the flight without further
incident. No injuries have been reported.

Armavia reported, that
their aircraft was cruising 1000 feet below an Emirates Airbus A380-800
registration A6-EDB flight EK-201 enroute from Dubai (United Arab
Emirates) to New York,NY (USA) and suspects, that the turbulence was
caused by wake vortices created by the A380.

A380 Goes Kangaroo
Starting on Friday, QANTAS will kick off Kangaroo service to London from Sydney by way of Singapore. The thrice weekly A380 service will be flown on QF31 and 32 between the three cities. This makes London the only place in the world you can see A380s flown by all three of its operators.

Boeing Flight Test Reorganization
Scott Hamilton has an interesting item on his blog this morning that details substantial changes to Boeing’s flight test programs.
The company plans to consolidate BCA and IDS flight testing into a
single unit to harmonize operations into a single organization. Boeing
says any impact on 787 flight testing is currently unclear
because the consolidation would be happening in phases.

This week’s Movie Monday was found with some deep digging around the digital vault. It’s a 1940s film detailing the flight characteristics of the North American P-51 Mustang fighter. When you watch, please take into account the historical era in which the film was produced. It really provides an interesting historical and technical viewpoint on the development of the WWII fighter aircraft.

The Seattle Times is reporting that Boeing Commericial Airplanes will layoff 4,000-4,500 employees, citing a person familiar with the plan. According to the report, the announcement is expected to come later today. Boeing employs 76,400 68,000 in its commercial airplanes division, the vast majority in Washington state. 

UPDATE 1:27 PM ET:

This message was sent to employees from BCA Chief Scott Carson:

From: Scott Carson
Sent: Friday, January 09, 2009 10:00 AM
Subject: Meeting the challenges of 2009

***This message is being sent by Scott Carson, president and CEO of Commercial Airplanes, to all Commercial Airplanes employees.***
 
Meeting the challenges of 2009
 
As we look forward to 2009 and see daily headlines of how a growing global recession is impacting economies, it is clear that industries and individuals must prepare for a year of tough challenges.
 
Airlines are seeing passenger and freight traffic decline. Our customers are cutting back on capacity by parking older airplanes, reducing orders for spares and taking other steps to deal with the current business environment.
 
Orders for new airplanes, while still at high levels, tapered off in 2008 after three consecutive record years. In addition, Commercial Airplanes delivered fewer airplanes than projected and rescheduled the 787 Dreamliner and the 747-8 development programs.
 
To stay ahead of these challenges, we are taking prudent actions to make sure Commercial Airplanes remains well positioned in today’s difficult economic environment. These steps will allow us to be in a financial position to adapt to uncertainties, meet our customer commitments and continue investing in our current and future product lines. We must also protect our competitiveness in a fiercely competitive business environment – our competition is not standing still, and neither can we.
 
We have already begun a program to reduce overhead costs and discretionary spending. This includes cutting back on travel and carefully managing inventory costs. We also took steps in the final months of 2008 to slow our hiring and leave some open positions unfilled.
 
As part of this overall effort to meet our business plan and address current business realities, we will be reducing employment by about 4,500 positions. Normal attrition and a reduction in non-Boeing labor will account for some of the job reductions, but layoffs of Boeing employees also are necessary. This is a difficult and painful decision. Many of the job reductions will be in overhead functions and other areas not directly associated with airplane production. This will enable us to continue our high production rates and successfully execute our key development programs.
 
Initial 60-day layoff notices will be issued on Feb. 20, and most layoffs will occur in the second quarter of the year. As we’ve always done, Boeing will support employees with layoff benefits and career-transition services. Next week, Doug Kight will provide managers with more information about the process we’ll use.
 
Any decision involving involuntary job reductions is hard to make, but decisive steps now will improve our ability to meet our commitments and remain competitive as we move through this economic recession. At the same time, we must keep our focus on key imperatives in 2009, which include:
 
    •    Successfully executing our development programs (including certifying the 777 Freighter, flight testing the 787 Dreamliner, beginning final assembly of the 747-8 and continuing production of the P8-A).
    •    Delivering on our strong backlog by meeting our commitments to our customers.
    •    Continuously improving quality and productivity.
    •    Continuing the high level of customer support provided by Commercial Aviation Services.

Given these challenges, we will take special care to ensure that we retain the skills and resources needed to continue to be successful. We regret the disruption to employees and their families, but we believe that acting now will allow us to keep employment reductions to a minimum while we meet these key challenges, enhance our competitiveness and adapt to the uncertainties of this economic cycle.
 
Through this uncertain period, I must ask everyone to stay focused on meeting our commitments. Our customers are depending on us.
 
Scott

The famous French “barcode” era is coming to a close after 33 years in service on the tails of the Air France fleet. Aerocontact.com, a French aviation website, reports that the Paris-based airline will unveil a new livery for its aircraft (French) in the next few days. The redesign coincides with the airline’s 75th anniversary this year and there’s speculation that the first A380 (seen here) will be among the first to carry the new look. The last time Air France changed its livery, it was introducing the Concorde.

The DEW Line just got a hold of the RFI for a new Presidential transport to replace the VC-25A as Air Force One in 2017. 

Frankly, what’s important here is what’s not said in the RFP. There’s no specification on a twin or four engine requirement or anything about where final assembly has to take place. I think this leaves open the door for A380 as a contender here as Airbus has already demonstrated its willingness to conduct modifications to commercial aircraft in the US.

Boeing just released its order and delivery totals for 2008. The year concluded with 662 commercial airplane orders, bringing the backlog to above 3,700. Boeing received orders for 93 787s, 484 737s, 54 777s, 28 767s, 3 747-8 VIPs. Of those 162 orders, unidentified customers ordered 162 aircraft, including 38 787s, 9 767s, 6 777s and 109 737s. Airbus is expected to release its 2008 order and delivery total later this month.

Deliveries in 2008 were down significantly from 2007, as a result of the IAM strike in September and October that halted jetliner production for 57-days.

The new year has brought MSN033, the first A380 for Air France (European launch customer), out to the flightline in Toulouse today. This particular airframe was delivered to final assembly in December 2007 and completed its initial body join on February 12, 2008. F-WWSB, which will eventually wear F-HPJA, now has its four GP7200 engines installed and should take its maiden flight within the next two to three weeks. F-HPJA is expected to enter service in April 2009 between Paris and Montreal.

Special thanks to David Barrie for the photograph.

For two hours this afternoon, Continental Airlines will undertake the first US biofuel flight test in the skies ab
ove Houston. The airline will use one of its 737-800s (ship 516) powered by twin CFM56-7B engines. The number two engine will run on a mix of jatropha and algae derived biofuel. This will be the first time a twin-engine aircraft will be used for a biofuel flight.

Special thanks to Megan Kuhn for the photos of Continental CEO Larry Kellner and the pilots prior to the flight in Houston moments ago.

COA9990 FLIGHTPLAN:
VUH2 MUSYL DRAGS SBI STROS4

Here’s the live track map from Continental 9990 Flightaware.com: