US Transport Safety Board Attacks FAA Process
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ISSN 1718-7966 FEBRUARY 11, 2013 / VOL. 375 WEEKLY AVIATION HEADLINES Read by thousands of aviation professionals and technical decision-makers every week www.avitrader.com WORLD NEWS Airbus ahead in 2013 orders LOT Polish Airbus began 2013 in style, out- Airlines’ pacing Boeing with total orders in woes have increased January for 140 aircraft to its rival’s with the booking for two. American Air- grounding of lines, nearing its emergence from its two 787 bankruptcy protection, started the Dreamliners, as the probe ball rolling with a purchase of 130 into recent A31neos, the largest-ever single battery order for the model. Boeing’s slow malfunctions start will be boosted by the news continues that American firmed up a prior commitment, announced in July Boeing 2011, to acquire 100 of its new- engine variant 737 Max aircraft. 787 crisis: US transport safety board attacks FAA process American’s order also included the firming up of commtiments to buy Fleet could remained grounded for weeks, spelling uncertain future for LOT one 777 and 42 787 Dreamliners, The approval procedures for the Hersman added that the 787 fleet not fly for some time. a much-needed vote of confidence new lithium-ion batteries linked has to date accumulated less than That spells bad news for the eight as the airframer’s 787 battery fire to fires aboard two Boeing 787 100,000 flight hours and in that carriers that have taken delivery of crisis drags on (see story, right). Dreamliners last month were se- time there have been “two bat- the 49 planes so far, none more verely criticised by the head of tery events resulting in smoke less India to need 1,450 planes so than troubled Polish flag car- the US transport safety author- than two weeks apart, on two rier LOT, which had banked on the Even as the domestic market in ity, the NTSB, as the grounding different aircraft”. India slows and troubled low- of the global fleet of 49 of the Dreamliner to help stem growing cost carrier Kingfisher remains all-new composite airliner enters Even so, there was relief at Boeing losses and shrinking market share. grounded, Boeing predicted that the focus of the probe con- a second month. The carrier, which posted losses that the Indian market will re- tinues to fall on the battery - and of close to $65m last year, and is, quire 1,450 commercial aircraft, NTSB chair Deborah Hersman not the wider electrical system, according to government officials worth £175bn, over the next two took aim at processes followed by which would almost certainly close to insolvency, has ordered decades. In its Current Market the Federal Aviation Administra- have more troubling implications a total of five 787s to replace its Outlook for India, Boeing said tion (FAA), which sets safety rules for the airframer. that consistently high fuel prices and standards, saying that as- ageing longhaul fleet of four 767s. would drive orders for new fuel- sumptions used to certify the bat- “The findings...demonstrated a It now faces the choice of continu- efficient aircraft like its 787 Max. tery ‘must be reconsidered’. narrowing of the focus of the in- ing to fly its gas-guzzling 767s or vestigation to short circuiting ob- bringing in other aircraft on costly Aeroflot blasts SuperJet 100 Some of those ‘faulty’ assump- served in the battery,” the com- short-term leases. tions’, according to Hersman, in- pany said in a release. Russia’s Aeroflot has complained clude an assessment that a failure “Even with the Dreamliner, LOT about the quality of the new Su- in a single battery cell would result Late last week, Boeing was grant- might not survive a long time, but khoi SuperJet 100, which, it says, in smoke emission less than once ed permission by the FAA to restart this situation makes it worse,” said was responsible for 40% of all every 10 million flight hours, and test flights with one 787, a move Warsaw-based analyst and pub- ‘incidents’ although it comprises that such a failure was not likley to that will allow it to monitor the lisher Grzegorz Sobczak. only 8% of its total fleet of 125 affect other cells in the battery. batteries’ in-flight performance. passenger aircraft. According to The remaining seven operators of Kommersant, documents issued But she said that the battery that But it could be weeks before the the 787, Air India, ANA, Ethiopian by Aeroflot show that there were caught fire on a 787 operated by NTSB is able to determine what Airlines, JAL, LAN Airlines, Qatar 95 incidents in 2012 of which Japan Airlines last month demon- happened and what needs to be Airways and United Airlines, have 63% related to parts failure, while strates that the failure of a single changed, leading observers to sug- been less affected, as the 787s 25% were linked to external fac- cell could - and did - spread rap- gest that the global fleet of 787s, form a smaller percentage of their tors and 11% were staff-related. idly to the rest of the battery. grounded since January 16th, will overall long-haul fleets. 2 AviTrader WEEKLY AVIATION HEADLINES AIRCRAFT & ENGINE NEWS AIRBUS AND BOEING: ORDERS AND DELIVERIES Airbus was the clear leader last month, with two orders for a total of 140 aircraft. Ameri- GECAS signs purchase-and-leaseback can Airlines, which is expected to emerge from bankruptcy proceedings in the coming deal with Mexico’s Volaris months, made a strong statement regarding its fleet renewal with an order for 130 A321 neo aircraft - the largest single order to date for the A321neo. The US-based global air- GE Capital Aviation Services Limited (GECAS) craft lessor CIT Group also placed a significant order for 10 A350-900s. signed a purchase-and-leaseback transac- The airframer also de- tion with Volaris for seven new Airbus A320 livered 30 A320 family Airbus v Boeing: Orders and Deliveries aircraft. The aircraft come from the airline’s current engine option Through January 2013 existing orderbook with Airbus and will be aircraft and five wide- Airbus Boeing delivered in 2013 and 2014. body A330s. Type Orders* Deliveries Type Orders* Deliveries Sikorsky begins delivering record S- Boeing, meanwhile, A318 0 0 737-700 0 2 92 helicopter order got off to a slow start in A319 0 2 737-800 2 28 2013 after winning the A320 0 24 737-900 0 2 Sikorsky Global Helicopters (SGH) delivered order race in 2012. It the first of 16 completed S-92 helicopters booked a solitary order A321 130 4 737-MAX 0 0 that the Avincis Group will use to provide for two 737-800s from A330 0 5 747 0 0 transportation for its customers’ offshore oil an unidentified cus- A340 0 0 767 0 1 and gas crews and for search and rescue. The tomers. It was slightly A350 10 0 777 0 6 aircraft order announced in February 2012 is ahead of Airbus in the the largest single purchase of S-92 helicop- delivery stakes, hand- A380 0 0 787 0 0 ters to date, known for their robust design, ing over 32 737 fam- Total 140 35 Total 2 39 safety features and performance especially in ily narrowbodies and *Gross Orders Source: Company websites harsh environments including the North Sea. seven widebodies. The aircraft, which will go first to Norway before being deployed in the UK North Sea sector, was accepted last weekend at SGH’s ing and financing company of GE, who is leas- the addition of five new Boeing 777-300ER facility in Coatesville, Pa., by Bjorn Seljevold, ing the aircraft to Villa Air. The aircraft, after aircraft. In addition to two Boeing 777-300ER Managing Director of Norsk Helikopterserv- arriving in the Maldives, will perform its inau- aircraft previously announced that will be de- ice. Avincis’ subsidiaries operate under the gural flight between Malé and Maamigili, the livered in June and August 2013, Air Canada Bond (UK, Norway, Ireland and Australia), main hub of Villa Air in early February. announced that it will add three new Boeing Norsk Helikopterservice (Norway), Inaer 777-300ER aircraft to be delivered in Novem- (Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, Chile and Peru) Air Canada to add five new Boeing ber and December 2013 and February 2014. and Australian Helicopters brands. 777-300ER aircraft to mainline fleet With the addition of these five aircraft, Air Canada’s Boeing 777 fleet will consist of 23 Villa Air introduces ATR 72-600 in the Air Canada will introduce a new International aircraft comprising the latest generation of Maldives Premium Economy cabin with the addition of 300ER and 200LR models. five new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. Air Cana- Maldivian carrier Villa Air, commercially known da’s Premium Economy cabin will be intro- A350 XWB’s Trent XWB engine as FlyMe, is about to become the very first op- duced on Air Canada’s Montreal-Paris flights achieves EASA type certification erator of an ATR -600 series aircraft in the ar- effective July 11 , 2013. Additional routes of- chipelago. The airline will start operating an fering Premium Economy will be added over The Airbus A350 XWB programme achieved ATR 72-600 which has been delivered to the time as new aircraft enter the carrier’s main- yet another important milestone with the US-based lessor GECAS (GE Capital Aviation line fleet. Air Canada will expand and mod- European Aviation Safety Agency’s (EASA) Services Limited), the commercial aircraft leas- ernize its international widebody fleet with award of the Engine Type Certification of the Expect the Best Engine Services We are offering more than repair and overhaul but Full Service Solutions tailored to individual customer needs at highest quality levels.