Boeing now holds firm orders and commitments for 948 737 Max aircraft from 13 customers, and expects that figure to climb to as high as 1,500 by the end of 2012, said the company's top executive.
With the announcement of its first firm order for 150 737 Max aircraft from Southwest Airlines, Boeing CEO Jim Albaugh said the firm order pushes the airframer's combined commitments toward the 1,000 mark.
Albaugh said the pace of commitments and firm orders should see the 737 Max tally climb to 1,400 or 1,500 by the end of 2012.
Southwest is the first official customer for the 737 Max.
Southwest, American Airlines, Aviation Capital Group and Lion Air are the only disclosed 737 Max customers to date, accounting for 486 of the 948 commitments for the new CFM Interntational Leap-1B powered aircraft.
ISLAMABAD – Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) cancelled additional domestic and international flights December 15 because of a financial crisis that has forced the grounding of 18 of its 39 aircraft, media reported.
PIA has cancelled 42 flights in the past two days for reasons ranging from battery problems to general aircraft maintenance, SAMAA News reported.
The list of grounded planes includes four Boeing 747’s, two 777’s, two 737’s, six Airbus A310’s and four ATRs.
PIA December 14 cancelled a Lahore-to-Riyadh flight after learning that a 9-volt battery powering one of the plane’s emergency exits was out of order, media added.
PIA first grounded 12 planes December 12 because of financial problems.
Qantas will roll out in-flight Internet on selected Airbus A380 flights from February next year.
Six of the airline's flagship Airbus A380s flying from Sydney and Melbourne to Los Angeles will take part in a six-week trial.
Passengers will be able to connect their smartphone, tablet or notebook to the A380's internal wireless network, with signals beamed through Inmarsat’s SwiftBroadband satellite system.
The system will support regular Web browsing, email and apps but VoIP services such as Skype will be blocked, as will mobile phone calls.
A Qantas spokesperson told Australian Business Traveller that for the first few weeks of the trial – when access will be limited to passengers in the First and Business cabins – the service will be offered free of charge, before introducing a range of pay-to-surf packages to test uptake.
"Initially when we launch the trial it will be free, then there will be a period with several paid packages so we can get an indication of the demand at different price points" she said.
"We're working through the details of those packages at the moment, and once the trial is finished we'll be setting the cost based on that."
Earlier this year Qantas polled a select group of passengers from its 12,000-strong Customer Experience Panel of frequent flyers on how they would typically use in-flight Internet and how much they'd be prepared to pay for the privilege.
While Qantas hasn't shared the details of that survey, our own poll of Australian Business Traveller readers indicated that two-thirds would pay $10-$20 for Internet access on international flights.
Following February's LAX trial Qantas will assess the system for wider deployment on other international flights, including the Kangaroo Route to London via Singapore and the new A380 service to Hong Kong.
Qantas is also set to begin trials of Apple’s iPad for in-flight entertainment in mid-January 2012, having pushed back the tests from October while final testing took place.
The 'Q Streaming' system will use wi-fi to stream content to the tablets from a central server on the aircraft, using technology developed by Lufthansa Systems as part of their BoardConnect platform – which has also been adopted by Virgin Australia for its own in-flight system set to debut in mid-2012.
"Lufthansa Systems are completing the final stages of testing in order to ensure we've got a robust product to launch, and it's now set to launch in mid-January" the Qantas spokesperson told Australian Business Traveller.
The six-week trial will will be limited to a single Boeing 767-300 which will be scheduled across a variety of routes, from Sydney-Melbourne to transcontinental coast-to-coast services. [Read our detailed report here.]
Today's announcement from Qantas comes as other airlines scramble to the starting gate for in-flight wireless.
Emirates this week launched in-flight Internet on its fleet of Airbus A380s (see our report here), while only yesterday Virgin Australia revealed its plans for wireless streaming of movies and music to tablets, smartphones and laptops on domestic flights, with in-flight Internet also on the cards...
A final report by Australian authorities said incorrect entry of take-off weight data resulted in the tailstrike and runway overrun of the Emirates Airbus A340 aircraft, adding that it was not a unique event.
Similar events continue to occur throughout the world, according to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) in a statement.
"These sorts of errors have potentially serious safety consequences," said ATSB chief commissioner Martin Dolan. "It is encouraging to see the significant safety action that is occurring as a result of the ATSB's investigation."
Dolan was speaking on publication of the ATSB's final report of its investigation into a 20 March 2009 accident, when flight EK407, with 18 crew and 257 passengers, sustained a tailstrike and overran the runway end on departure from Melbourne Airport.
The ATSB found that the accident resulted from the use by the crew of incorrect take-off performance parameters.
An Emirates spokesperson was not immediately available for comment on the final report, The airline said at the time of the Melbourne event that it was "being treated very seriously and with the highest priority at the most senior level in the company".
The initial error was likely due to mistyping, when a weight of 262.9 tonnes, instead of the intended 362.9 tonnes, was entered into a laptop computer to calculate the aircraft's take-off settings, the report said.
The error passed through several subsequent checks without detection, it added.
"We now understand what caused the error and why it wasn't picked up," Dolan said. "We also know there have been a number of other accidents and incidents that involved similar errors in a range of different aircraft operated by different airlines around the world."
He added: "A lot of work is being done to minimise the risk of similar events in future.
"This includes developing technological aids to assist flight crew in recognising both when take-off parameters are inappropriate and when take-off performance is degraded below a safe level" noted Dolan.
"The aviation industry as a whole realises the seriousness of these issues and is working towards a solution."
To stress that further action is still needed with technological aids, the ATSB has issued a safety recommendation to the United States Federal Aviation Administration.
Commercial aircraft net orders came in at 362 for November. Only six cancellations occurred during the month.
In the highlight of the month, Republic Airways Holdings ordered 60 A320neos and 20 A319neos. Kuwait’s ALAFCO ordered 50 A320neos and also cancelled six Boeing 787s. Emirates ordered 50 777s while Qatar Airways placed orders for 50 A320neos, five A380s and two 777s. Aviation Capital Group ordered 30 A320neos and 20 737s. In China, the Bank of Communications Finance Leasing ordered 30 Comac C919.
Airbus totalled 220 new orders in November while Boeing received 78 and Comac 40. Embraer also received 26 orders during the month while ATR received three and Bombardier one.
In the narrowbody market, 190 A320neos, 30 C919s, 20 737s and 20 A319neos were placed. The widebody orders in the month were for 52 777s, six 787s, five A330s and five A380s. In the regional sector, the orders were for 25 195s, ten ARJ21s and one each for the 175 and the CRJ.
Overall, the order backlog for airliners ended November at 9,402, up 270 on the previous month.
Malaysia Airlines (MAS) will be withdrawing its services on eight loss-making routes starting January 2012 to cut losses and improve its regional network.
The affected services are: daily Langkawi-Penang-Singapore, twice weekly Kuala Lumpur-Karachi-Dubai, twice weekly Kuala Lumpur-Dubai-Damman, daily Kuala Lumpur-Surabaya, thrice weekly Kuala Lumpur-Johannesburg, twice weekly Kuala Lumpur-Cape Town-Bueno Aires, thrice weekly Kuala Lumpur-Dubai and thrice weekly Kuala Lumpur-Rome.
"The withdrawal was based on our own independent internal profitability and yield analysis. This accounts for almost 12% of our passenger capacity and we estimate the ongoing route rationalisation will improve loads, increase yields and have a profit impact of RM220 million-302 million for 2012," said CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya.
The rationalisation of these routes is also in line with MAS's focus to make Kuala Lumpur International airport (KLIA) the hub of its global network, and MAS will retime its existing frequencies to increase connectivity between KLIA and global destinations, said the airline.
The carrier also expects the rationalisation to have minimal impact on its cargo operations and Malaysia's position as a top tourist destination.
To tap on strong growth in regional demand, the carrier will increase its frequencies to key regional cities, said MAS.
Last week, the airline unveiled a business plan to bring the airline back to profitability by 2013. It had said then that it will stem losses by cutting loss-making routes, spin off ancillary businesses and set up a premium regional carrier by 2012.
MAS incurred a loss of M$1.25 billion for the first nine months of 2011 and does not expect to make a profit for the full year.
Southwest Airlines has placed a firm order for 150 Boeing 737 Max aircraft - valued at $19 billion at list prices, the largest firm order in Boeing's history - and will become the launch customer for the re-engined narrowbody.
The carrier is the first customer to place a firm order for the 737 Max.
The Dallas-based airline, which was also the launch customer for the Boeing 737 Next Generation series, will take delivery of its first 737 Max in 2017.
Alongside the firm order for 150 737 Max aircraft, Southwest has also firm-ordered an additional 58 737 Next Generation aircraft. Of these, 25 were existing options.
The new orders increase Southwest's firm orders with Boeing to 350 aircraft, scheduled for delivery between 2012 and 2022.
Southwest has substituted 737-800s for all 737-700 deliveries scheduled for 2012 and 2013, in addition to a portion of its 2014 deliveries. It has also taken 150 737 Max options, the carrier said.
Its Max order includes the flexibility to accept the -7 or -8 variants.
"Today's environment demands that we become more fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly, and as the launch customer of the Boeing 737 Max, we have accomplished both," said Southwest chief executive Gary Kelly.
Boeing said 13 customers have now ordered more than 900 737 Max aircraft. On 12 December it set a list price of $77.7 million for the 737 Max -7, $95.2 million for the -8 and $101.7 million for the -9 variant.
Airbus's lawsuit against Seattle-based winglet specialist Aviation Partners follows a claim by the US company that the airframer should pay royalties over its own wing-tip design. The two sides had worked closely during a period when Airbus assessed the Aviation Partners blended winglet for the Airbus A320.
Aviation Partners filed the patent for its winglet in February 1993, and it was issued the following year, but Airbus has since created its own "sharklet" wing-tip, which it will offer to customers next year and which will become a standard fit on the re-engined A320neo.
"In written and oral communications with Airbus, [Aviation Partners] has stated repeatedly that Airbus's winglet design falls within the claims of [its] patent, and that Airbus must therefore pay [Aviation Partners] a royalty for its allegedly infringing design," the formal complaint states.
The lawsuit, dated 1 December, has been brought before the US district court for the western district of Texas. Aviation Partners' original patent describes the blended winglet as featuring a "critical departure" from regular winglet designs, which are hampered by "sharp corners" and rapid changes in chord.
"The object of the present invention is to provide a winglet configuration concept which includes an efficient transition between the wing and the winglet, which maintains a near-optimum loading over a substantial range of operating conditions, thereby achieving the full drag-reduction potential of the wing-tip device," it said.
It added that the leading-edge curve provides a smooth, gradual chord variation and limits the leading-edge sweep to less than 65° - necessary to avoid vortex shedding, which would compromise surface loading and increase drag.
The Airbus lawsuit argued that Aviation Partners, by demanding royalties, is directly charging the airframer with infringing this patent. "[Aviation Partners'] threats are a significant hindrance to Airbus and, without an early resolution, place Airbus at a competitive disadvantage," it added.
"Under all the circumstances, [Aviation Partners'] threats and actions show that it is prepared and willing to enforce [its] patent against Airbus and that there is substantial live controversy between [the two companies], having adverse legal interests of sufficient immediacy to warrant the issuance of a declaratory judgement."
Aviation Partners said it was "surprised" at the legal action by Airbus, particularly given the previous close co-operation between them during tests of the US company's winglets on A320s. It added that it would "vigorously protect" its patented technology.
Australian carrier Jetstar has banned the practice of "bookmarking" pages in aircraft performance manuals, to stress the importance of pilots independently checking take-off data.
The decision came days after the crew of a Jetstar Airbus A321 performed an intersection take-off from Darwin using performance data for a full-length runway departure. While Runway 11 is 3,354m (11,000ft) long, the intersection take-off cut the available distance by more than 30%.
Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigators determined that, while the captain performed an external inspection, the co-pilot had consulted performance charts, to revise critical speeds, after detecting an error in take-off weight calculations.
But the co-pilot inadvertently referenced the performance chart for the full-length runway, and then bookmarked the chart to assist the captain with cross-checking the revised data. "Such bookmarking was not precluded by the operator and some pilots used the practice to save time," said the ATSB.
When the captain checked the data, he automatically turned to the bookmarked page. With the error undetected, the aircraft took off from the taxiway B intersection and became airborne with 450m of runway remaining. It would have been unable to stop if the crew had rejected take-off at the nominated 160kt (296km/h) V1 decision speed.
Jetstar issued an internal notice five days after the 12 June incident, stating: "Bookmarking the page by the [non-flying pilot] is not acceptable. This practice must cease immediately."
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted Boeing an amended type certificate (ATC) for its 747-8 Intercontinental, the largest passenger aircraft in its history and the third Boeing commercial aircraft certified in 2011.
The certification validates that the 467-seat 747-8I complies with all aviation regulatory requirements and Boeing's production system is capable of manufacturing a conforming design that is safe and reliable. The ATC clears the way for the first 747-8I to be delivered to a VIP completion centre early next year.
The European Aviation Safety Agency is expected to follow the FAA's approval on 15 December.
Boeing completed certification flight testing on 31 October.
The General Electric GEnx-2B-powered 747-8I joins the 787 and 747-8 freighter in Boeing's stable of certified products, both achieving US regulatory validation in August.
The 747-8I's certification comes approximately after two years of delays incurred by its freighter sibling, which entered service in October, following supply chain issues, design changes and flight test discoveries that slowed the development of both models. The delays to the 747-8F, as well as the 787 slowed the 747-8I's development, pushing it a year beyond its original late-2010 first delivery target.
Boeing holds firm orders for 38 747-8 passenger aircraft, including nine VIP configured aircraft and 20 for airline launch customer Lufthansa, which expects its first 386-seat aircraft in the first quarter of 2012. Arik Air and Korean Air hold orders for two and five, respectively.
Air China, which announced an order for five 747-8I aircraft in March, is currently pending Chinese government approval, while Hong Kong Airlines is believed to be responsible for an undisclosed customer order for 15 aircraft announced at June's Paris air show, but have not yet been firmed by the carrier.
The aircraft, the largest passenger aircraft ever built by Boeing, features a 442t (975,000lb) maximum takeoff weight and a nose-to-tail length of 76.3m (250ft 2in) and a wingspan of 68.5m (224ft 7in).
Indonesian low cost carrier Lion Air plans another aircraft order in February 2012, and stressed that its November order for 230 Boeing 737-family aircraft is binding.
"In February next year we will sign another order," said Rusdi Kirana, president director of Lion Air. Rusdi declined to provide any more details of the planned deal.
Any Lion announcement could be timed for the Singapore Air Show that will run from 14-19 February.
During a visit to Indonesia by US president Barack Obama in November, Lion Air placed a record provisional order worth $21.7 billion for up to 380 737 aircraft, comprising an order for 230 and purchase rights for 150.
The 230 aircraft component includes 29 737-900ERs powered by the CFM International CFM56, and 201 of the re-engined 737 Max. Rusdi said the legal terms are being hammered out, with the deal to be finalised in January 2012.
"I don't think the president of the United States wants to witness the signing of a non-binding agreement," said Rusdi.
"From east to west Indonesia is 5,000 miles long and we have over 100 airports," he added. "In this context our order is not really that big."
Rusdi declined to comment on whether the Boeing deal and its timing were influenced by politics. Following the announcement of the deal Airbus chief operation officer customers John Leahy reportedly accused the White House of political meddling in the competition for Lion Air's business.
Rusdi said the primary benefit of the new Boeings will be fuel savings and lower maintenance costs. He said Lion's MD-90s are no longer in service, and that it will remove all of its 737-300 and -400s from service by 2013.
He pointed out that the older 737s have a capacity of just 157 compared with 215 for Lion Air's 737-900ERs. "The 737-900ER can carry 215 passengers with the same fuel burn and maintenance costs."
To train the pilots for its growing fleet Lion Air has established a flight school in Indonesia that operates ten Cessna aircraft as trainers. This year 70 students will graduate, with class sizes eventually to grow to 100-150 per annum. It costs $30,000-$40,000 to train a pilot, he said, so graduates are required to work for Lion for ten years.
Lion Air now has 600-700 pilots, of whom 85% are Indonesian. The remainder hail from Southeast Asia or Europe.
FedEx plans to add 27 Boeing 767-300F freighters to its fleet beginning in 2014.
The company in a statement said it signed an agreement covering the freighters, and plans to take delivery of three aircraft in 2014 followed by six per year in fiscal 2015-2018.
FedEx's decision to opt for the -300F follows evaluations it conducted with Boeing earlier this year for the development of a new freighter based on the 767-400ER, which would offer a production bridge to the US Air Force KC-46A refuelling tanker.
"The 767s were selected as the best choice to begin replacing FedEx Express's MD10 aircraft, some of which are more than 40 years old," the company said. FedEx concluded the 767-300Fs will provide similar capacity as the MD-10s, with improved reliability, an approximate 30% increase in fuel efficiency and a 20% reduction in unit operating costs.
At the same time FedEx revealed plans to delay delivery of 11 777Fs. Two aircraft are being deferred from fiscal 2013, five from fiscal 2014 and one per year in fiscal 2015-2018 in an effort to balance air network capacity with demand. FedEx stated it is exercising two 777F options targeted for delivery at the end of its refined delivery cycle.
"FedEx Express took action during the quarter to adjust its network, particularly in Asia, as recent inventory destocking trends have impacted demand for our FedEx Express services," said Alan Graf, FedEx executive chief financial officer.
"The deferral of our 777 aircraft deliveries is a continuation of those efforts, enabling us to make appropriately-timed international 777 capacity additions over the next decade. With these actions, we expect fiscal 2013 capital expenditures to moderate to approximately $3.8 billion."
