787 in delivery squeeze
Boeing Chairman, President and
CEO Jim McNerney last month
conceded that flight testing of
the 787 will have to “go by the
books” in order for first delivery
to be made on time to ANA next
May. His comments came after
the company reported that first
flight for the 787 will not occur
until November or December,
giving Boeing six months at
most to flight test and certify
the aircraft.
“It’s an aggressive plan
but it has substance to it,”
McNerney said. “Is there
room for major glitches at this
stage? The answer is no.” He
explained that problems with
putting the first 787 together in
time for the planned September
first flight “became clear to
us in August,” when detailed
system installation commenced.
He pointed to problematic
documentation on work done
by offsite suppliers, a global
fastener shortage and delays by
Honeywell in completing flight
control system software.
McNerney said Boeing is
“making progress” regarding fasteners “but it’s still a scramble.”
The airplane that rolled out in
July contained thousands of
temporary fasteners and was
missing systems essential for
flight. Four Rolls-Royce Trent
1000-powered aircraft will
operate test flights in the first
months of 2008 with two GE
GEnx-powered 787s to follow.
China Eastern
finalizes share sale
Singapore Airlines and its
parent Temasek ended
months of speculation by
agreeing to purchase 15.7%
and 8.3% stakes respectively
in China Eastern Airlines
in early September, giving
them a combined 24% holding valued at HK7.15 billion
($917 million). Based on the
agreement, SIA and Temasek
will be entitled to nominate
three CEA board members.
In addition, CEA and SIA will
cooperate on marketing and
sales, personnel training and
flight management.
Chairman Li Fenghua noted
that the carrier hopes to take
advantage of SIA’s experience in
airline management to upgrade
service levels and raise profit-
ability. CEA posted a CNY384
million ($50.8 million) net loss
in the first half, narrowed from
a CNY1.71 billion deficit in the
year-ago semester.
AirAsia to start
Vietnam LCC
Malaysian LCC AirAsia signed
a letter of intent to launch a
budget airline in the country
in partnership with Vietnam
Shipbuilding Industry Group,
one of the nation’s largest
state-owned corporations,
according to AirAsia. The
joint venture carrier will serve
domestic, regional and international routes and will have
initial capital of approximately
$30 million, AirAsia said.
AeroMexico sale
draws interest
AeroMexico, which has languished on the auction block
for three years, has become the
target of a bidding war. In late
August, Alberto Saba Raffoul
and his son Moises Saba Masri
made a $100 million bid to
acquire the airline from state-controlled holding company
Consorcio Aeromexico and this
was followed in early September
by a $150 million bid from
Banamex, Citigroup’s Mexican
banking unit, which said it had
lined up a consortium of 14
private investors. Also, Grupo
Posadas, which led a group that
purchased Mexicana from the
state in 2005, is seeking permission to bid on AeroMexico.
737 inspections
ordered
Emergency inspections of
737NGs were being carried
out by operators last month
after a China Airlines 737-800
was destroyed in a ground fire
on Aug. 20 at Naha Airport in
Okinawa. All 157 passengers
and eight crew escaped the
aircraft with only minor injuries
reported. The 737 had just
parked when the fire started.
Cause of the fire was traced to
a fuel leak that occurred after a
fastener came loose on the main
slat track downstop assembly
and punctured a slat can.
US FAA initially required
US operators to carry out
“repetitive detailed inspections” of the main slat track
downstop assembly within
24 days but shortened that
to 10 days citing “additional
reports” of parts coming off
the assemblies. The emergency AD called on operators
to verify the installation of
proper hardware, perform one-time torquing of the nut and
bolt, and “corrective actions if
necessary.” Although the order
applies only to US operators,
aviation regulatory authorities
typically follow each other in
such situations.
Sky Team welcomes
associate members
Air Europa, Copa Airlines
and Kenya Airways officially
became Sky Team’s first “
associate airlines” early last month,
which the alliance said grows
its network by 47 additional
destinations and nearly 500
additional daily flights.
EUROPE Report
» Alitalia, which posted a
consolidated net loss of
€211.1 million ($292.7 million) for the first half of
2007, intends to scrap 150-
170 of its 340 daily flights
from Milan Malpensa as part
of a new business plan,
Italian media reported.
Without specifying details or
concrete numbers, AZ said its
survival/transition strategy
includes increasing activities
at Rome Fiumicino while
repositioning Milan Malpensa
flights by focusing on specific
business segments.
» SAS said that as a result of a
commitment by Danish unions
to “work for a total no-strike situation,” it is modifying its decision to operate flights between
Copenhagen and Stockholm
and Oslo with only Swedish and
Norwegian crews. It said the
schedule among the capitals
now will involve “a relatively balanced distribution of production
(aircraft and crews).”
» Aer Lingus said it had an
underlying profit of € 6. 8 million ($9.2 million) in the first
six months of 2007, a 58%
decline from € 16. 3 million in
the year-ago period. It noted that
current-period results include an
exceptional charge of € 7. 8 million related to Ryanair’s unsuccessful takeover bid. Revenue
rose 12.9% to €574 million
against an 11% lift in expenses.
While not reflected in its first-half performance, EI will suffer
an estimated € 3. 5 million loss
as a result of a threatened two-day pilot strike, which ultimately
was called off.
» Ryanair began charging a
£2/€ 3 ($4.00-$4.07) fee for
passengers using airport check-
in desks rather than its online
service. It formerly charged
travelers £2/€ 3 to check in
online but now this will be free
for passengers traveling with
only carry-on baggage.
Ryanair also confirmed the
purchase of a further 4% of
FINANCIAL RESULTS, NEW DEALS, AND REPORTS FROM EVERY CORNER OF THE GLOBE
NewsBriefs
A
ir
bus
ph
o
t o Airbus A380 shows off its stuff over Hong Kong minus its
wingtip fences, which were removed after one was damaged
in a taxi incident in Thailand.
» SOMETHING’S MISSING
