Operated by Irish Air LLC, this lovely aircraft is caught on a very short final to Rwy 30 at Long Beach Airport (LGB/KLGB) on April 30, 2017.
(Photos by Michael Carter)
Sunday, April 30, 2017
Saturday, April 29, 2017
Qantas to adjust long-haul network with advent of Perth-London
Qantas Airways will drop its daily Melbourne-Dubai-London route in March 2018 when it launches daily Melbourne-Perth-London service.
The Oneworld carrier detailed the network change in its announcement that tickets for the Perth-London route have gone on sale.
The Melbourne-Dubai-London route is served by Airbus A380 aircraft, while it will use the Boeing 787-9 aircraft on the new routing.
Qantas passengers in Melbourne will still have the option of flying on a Qantas code to Dubai with its partner airline, Emirates.
From 25 March 2018, Emirates will upgauge its third daily Melbourne-Dubai service from a Boeing 777-300ER to an A380.
By dropping the Melbourne-Dubai-London routing, Qantas frees up an A380 aircraft. This will be deployed during high demand periods from Melbourne and Sydney to cities in Asia such as Singapore and Hong Kong.
"The travel experience for customers connecting in Perth will be seamless, with Qantas building a new international transit lounge at Perth Airport," adds the carrier.
"People joining the flight to London from other parts of Australia (including regional Western Australia and Adelaide) will find it a smooth transition with international and domestic flights arriving and departing from the same terminal, complete with dedicated customs and immigration."
The Oneworld carrier detailed the network change in its announcement that tickets for the Perth-London route have gone on sale.
The Melbourne-Dubai-London route is served by Airbus A380 aircraft, while it will use the Boeing 787-9 aircraft on the new routing.
Qantas passengers in Melbourne will still have the option of flying on a Qantas code to Dubai with its partner airline, Emirates.
From 25 March 2018, Emirates will upgauge its third daily Melbourne-Dubai service from a Boeing 777-300ER to an A380.
By dropping the Melbourne-Dubai-London routing, Qantas frees up an A380 aircraft. This will be deployed during high demand periods from Melbourne and Sydney to cities in Asia such as Singapore and Hong Kong.
"The travel experience for customers connecting in Perth will be seamless, with Qantas building a new international transit lounge at Perth Airport," adds the carrier.
"People joining the flight to London from other parts of Australia (including regional Western Australia and Adelaide) will find it a smooth transition with international and domestic flights arriving and departing from the same terminal, complete with dedicated customs and immigration."
(Greg Waldron - FlightGlobal News)
Pemco launches 737-700 freighter conversion
US MRO company Pemco World Air Services has created a Boeing 737-700 passenger-to-freighter conversion programme, with the first aircraft going to Dubai-based launch customer Chisholm Enterprises.
Pemco will convert aircraft into straight 737-700 Freighters and into passenger-freighter combination variants that Pemco calls 737-700FC FlexCombis, according to the company.
Pemco announced the news on the first day of the MRO Americas trade show in Orlando.
Pemco will convert aircraft into straight 737-700 Freighters and into passenger-freighter combination variants that Pemco calls 737-700FC FlexCombis, according to the company.
Pemco announced the news on the first day of the MRO Americas trade show in Orlando.
Rendition of Pemco's 737-700F and 737-700FC
(Pemco)
The MRO provider will begin conversion work on the first aircraft – a 737-700FC for Chisholm – at its Tampa site in the second quarter of 2017, Pemco says.
The company expects the Federal Aviation Administration will certify the type by mid-2018, after which Pemco will seek certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency and the Civil Aviation Administration of China.
The launch customer is Chisholm subsidiary Texel Air, a charter cargo airline, which will operate the 737-700FC from Bahrain International Airport, Pemco says.
Texel already operates two Pemco-converted 737-300Fs, Pemco adds.
The company offers the 737-700FC in configurations of 12 or 24 passengers.
The 12-passenger derivative will carry seven pallets, 15,876kg (35,000lb) of cargo and hold 85m3 of cargo volume, while the 24-passenger variant will carry six pallets, up 13,608kg of cargo and have 75m3 of cargo volume, Pemco says.
Stripped of seats, the 737-700FC will have 95m3 of cargo volume, carry eight pallets and up to 18,144kg.
The all-cargo 737-700F will carry up to nine pallets, 20,412kg and have 109m3 of cargo volume, according to Pemco.
The company expects the Federal Aviation Administration will certify the type by mid-2018, after which Pemco will seek certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency and the Civil Aviation Administration of China.
The launch customer is Chisholm subsidiary Texel Air, a charter cargo airline, which will operate the 737-700FC from Bahrain International Airport, Pemco says.
Texel already operates two Pemco-converted 737-300Fs, Pemco adds.
The company offers the 737-700FC in configurations of 12 or 24 passengers.
The 12-passenger derivative will carry seven pallets, 15,876kg (35,000lb) of cargo and hold 85m3 of cargo volume, while the 24-passenger variant will carry six pallets, up 13,608kg of cargo and have 75m3 of cargo volume, Pemco says.
Stripped of seats, the 737-700FC will have 95m3 of cargo volume, carry eight pallets and up to 18,144kg.
The all-cargo 737-700F will carry up to nine pallets, 20,412kg and have 109m3 of cargo volume, according to Pemco.
(Jon Hemmerdinger - FlightGlobal News)
SIA changes takeoff procedure after 777-300 tail strike
Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-312(ER) (34575/623) 9V-SWJ arrives at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX/KLAX) on October 26, 2016 sporting the carriers "Star Alliance" livery.
(Photo by Michael Carter)
(Photo by Michael Carter)
Singapore Airlines has called on its Boeing pilots to use higher thrust and rotation speed for take-off in gusty wind and crosswind conditions, following a 777-300 tail-strike incident at Melbourne airport on 9 October 2016.
In its final report into the incident, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau cited that the aircraft, registered 9V-SYG, was operating from Melbourne to Singapore with two flight crew, 16 cabin crew and 261 passengers. There were no reports of injuries.
The captain was operating as pilot flying (PF) and the first officer operating as pilot monitoring (PM). The first officer had earlier commented to the captain that while on the apron ‘they had difficulty walking straight due to the strong wind’. The automatic terminal information service (ATIS) had advised that wind conditions at Melbourne Airport were 325°at 25kt, gusting to a maximum of 45kt, and turbulence had been reported in the control zone.
During take-off at 11:45 local time, both flight crew observed airspeed fluctuations due to wind gusts. Both flight crew stated that they considered the aircraft’s acceleration rate to be normal during take-off. At the pre-calculated rotation speed (Vr), the PF initiated the aircraft rotation.
During rotation, the PM observed a downward speed trend, below Vr and called ‘SPEED’. The PF did not recall hearing this call-out. The PF continued rotation, however, the aircraft did not achieve lift-off at the manufacturer’s stated lift-off attitude of 7 degrees. Flight data analysis shows the aircraft became airborne at 10.7 degrees pitch attitude.
After take-off, air traffic control contacted the flight crew alerting them of a ‘possible tail strike’. However, no tail strike caution message was displayed on the engine indication and crew alerting system. The flight crew then carried out the unannounced tail strike non-normal checklist and determined the aircraft structural integrity was intact. The cabin crew stationed at the rear of the aircraft had however heard a 'loud bang' during take-off.
With the aircraft pressurization system indicating no abnormalities the captain made the decision to continue to Singapore.
Investigations later found contact marks on the runway, consistent with a tail skid contact. No metallic debris was observed on the runway. Air traffic control advised the flight crew that ‘only superficial concrete debris was found’ during the runway inspection.
An inspection of the aircraft in Singapore found no damage to the fuselage. Damage was evident to the tail skid system with indications of a scraped tail shoe, compression of the crushable cartridge and one indicator pin extended.
(Aaron Chong - FlightGlobal News)
Spirit sheds A320neo deliveries in 2018 after engine issues
Spirit Airlines will no longer take any Airbus A320neos in 2018, becoming the latest airline to adjust deliveries after widely-reported problems with the Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan engine.
The ultra low-cost carrier says it has converted two of four A320neos for delivery in 2018 to A320ceos. These aircraft will be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2017, says chief financial officer Ted Christie.
The other two A320neos have been pushed into 2019, he says on an earnings call.
Spirit is frustrated by the problems it faced with the P&W GTF on its first A320neos, but believes the issues will be resolved, says Christie.
"The company felt it was important to de-risk its delivery stream going forward," he adds.
Spirit has five A320neos, but said earlier this month it had parked three of the aircraft. P&W confirmed to FlightGlobal that Spirit's engines faced a carbon air-seal problem that had been reported by other operators.
Christie says an interim fix has been installed on Spirit's engines that will extend their on-wing life. It is not immediately clear if the airline's A320neos have returned to service. A Spirit spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions.
A P&W spokesperson says the manufacturer continues to work with Spirit and other airlines to support their operations. She reiterates that P&W is on track to produce 350 to 400 engines this year.
P&W parent UTC said earlier this week that it will roll out an improvement package that will address the carbon air-seal issue. The fix has already been installed on 25% of the engines in service today and the remainder should be retrofitted by mid-May, said UTC chief executive Greg Hayes.
Spirit is in further talks with Airbus and P&W for the A320neo delays, says Christie, indicating that compensation is likely.
"We are in discussions with Pratt and Airbus to reach an agreement that provides us with the consideration we need and that supports the [A320]neo fleet in the short and long term," he says.
Spirit is the third airline in two weeks to report delays to Pratt-powered A320neo deliveries as a result of the engine issues. JetBlue Airways said on 25 April that it had switched three A321neos in 2018 to A321ceos. Last week, Mexico's Volaris said it will take delivery of fewer A320neo family aircraft this year.
(Ghim-Lay Yeo - FlightGlobal News)
Pratt PW1100G Performance Not Satisfactory, Says Airbus CFO
Prototype Airbus A321-271N(WL) (c/n 6673) D-AVXA, captured at Toulouse-Blagnac (TLS / LFBO) on September 28, 2016.
(Photo by Michael Carter)
(Photo by Michael Carter)
Airbus continues to reserve judgment on any progress Pratt & Whitney has made in resolving several production problems plaguing its PW1100G turbofan, as deliveries of Pratt-powered A320neos remain stunted and the first Pratt-powered A321neo sits undelivered more than four months after certification. Out of an expected 200 A320neo-family deliveries by the end of the year, Airbus 66shipped only 26 during the first quarter, including the first CFM Leap-1A-powered A321neo, signaling a significant “backloading” of the 2017 delivery profile.
Speaking during the company’s first-quarter earnings call with financial analysts, Airbus chief financial officer Harald Wilhelm noted that customers also continue to experience “a number of in-service issues” involving the PW1100G-powered machines and that the company’s ability to meet its 2017 delivery goal will depend on its engine suppliers, particularly Pratt & Whitney.
“The situation in terms of the actually demonstrated performance right now is not satisfactory,” said Wilhelm. “That is why improvements have been defined and the root causes have been analyzed…the key ones on the bearing, on the blades, on the combustion chamber, they are defined, they are coming through. I think you heard a pretty positive tone from [Pratt & Whitney parent company] UTC yesterday in that respect. This still needs to be proved in terms of flight testing and making sure it really does what is expected. So it appears we are going in the right direction, but I always tend to be more cautious until we have demonstrated performance.”
Wilhelm added that if Pratt does what it promises, Airbus will accelerate its A320neo production rate to meet its 200-unit goal by the end of the year. Meanwhile, Wilhelm blamed much of the Airbus Group’s sharp drop in profits during the first quarter to the delays in delivering A320neos. Airbus Commercial Aircraft’s adjusted EBIT in the first quarter totaled €281 million ($307 million), compared with €406 million ($443 million) in the first quarter of last year.
On Wednesday, UTC reported good progress on the solutions to the geared turbofan’s problems and maintained delivery guidance of 350 to 400 engines this year.
During an industry finance conference last month, Pratt & Whitney vice president of sales and marketing for commercial engines Rick Deurloo detailed some of the problems the PW1000G family has encountered. The industrial “piece,” as he called it, involves a shortage of hybrid metallic fan blades due to manufacturing complexities. Deurloo said that Pratt will triple production of the fan blades after opening two new assembly facilities this year. Separate durability deficiencies, particularly in the A320neos operating in India, involve combustor liners. Another problem centers on the Number 3 oil seals in the A320neos’ PW1100G geared turbofan (GTF) engines.
“Basically, it’s causing a lot of unplanned removals by our customers,” Deurloo acknowledged.
Separately, Airbus reported “good progress” on the A350 widebody program, as it delivered 13 of A350-900s in the quarter. It also said the program remains on track to reach the monthly production target of 10 aircraft by the end of 2018. “The level of outstanding work has improved in the industrial system and supply chain bottlenecks are also beginning to improve,” it said. “A key area of focus remains recurring cost convergence, which is challenging, as the ramp-up pace accelerates.”
Overall Airbus group revenues for the first quarter of 2017 increased 7 percent on the same period in 2016 at just under €13 billion ($14.3 billion). The Commercial Aircraft division achieved the strongest revenue growth at 13 percent (to €9.8 billion). The Defence and Space division saw a 17 percent decline, largely attributed the sale of its Defence Electronics business.
Overall new order intake for the group in the first quarter of this year declined by 47 percent. Net order count for airliners totaled only six units.
(Gregory Polek - AINOnline News)
Southwest Airlines to end overbooking, cites United incident
Southwest Airlines said it will end the practice of overbooking flights at some point in the current quarter.
Chairman and CEO Gary Kelly conceded to reporters on an April 27 conference call that the recent United Airlines passenger bumping incident put overbooking “under a bright light” and led Dallas-based Southwest, which had already been considering ending the practice, to move forward with stopping overbooking.
“We’ve been thinking about it for a long time and now is the right time to do it,” Kelly said. “It wasn’t on my list this month to work on [before the United incident, which placed overbooking] under a bright light and hey, why not do it now? We’re ready to do it and we’re going to get it done.”
The incident in which United passenger David Dao was involuntarily bumped and dragged off of an aircraft occurred because United and regional operator Republic Airlines determined his seat was needed for a crew member, not overbooking. But United has said the flight was in fact initially overbooked, and the practice of airline overbooking became a major topic in the media in the immediate aftermath of the Dao incident.
Kelly said making a commitment not to overbook flights is in line with other consumer-friendly aspects of the Southwest product, such as not charging checked bag fees and flight change fees. “For quite some time, we have been challenging ourselves to make the travel experience better for our customers and [an overbooking leading to a bumped passenger is] one of the pain points we’d like to eliminate,” he said. “As time has gone by, we have been fortunate to have fewer and fewer and fewer no-shows, so the gross amount of the problem is far less today than it was 20 years ago. We don’t overbook much at all already. On a 143-seat airplane, we might overbook by one.”
Southwest CFO Tammy Romo said the economic impact on Southwest of ending overbooking is expected to be “really fairly small,” adding, “The net impact is really not that meaningful.”
Kelly cautioned that, even absent overbooking, there will still be instances in which a passenger gets bumped. “If we took bookings for a Boeing 737-800 and that airplane type is not available [on the day of the flight for mechanical or other reasons] and we substitute a smaller type,” then passengers may have to be bumped, he explained. There is also the potential for needing seats for crew, but “we work very hard to avoid displacing our customers” for crew, Kelly said.
Chairman and CEO Gary Kelly conceded to reporters on an April 27 conference call that the recent United Airlines passenger bumping incident put overbooking “under a bright light” and led Dallas-based Southwest, which had already been considering ending the practice, to move forward with stopping overbooking.
“We’ve been thinking about it for a long time and now is the right time to do it,” Kelly said. “It wasn’t on my list this month to work on [before the United incident, which placed overbooking] under a bright light and hey, why not do it now? We’re ready to do it and we’re going to get it done.”
The incident in which United passenger David Dao was involuntarily bumped and dragged off of an aircraft occurred because United and regional operator Republic Airlines determined his seat was needed for a crew member, not overbooking. But United has said the flight was in fact initially overbooked, and the practice of airline overbooking became a major topic in the media in the immediate aftermath of the Dao incident.
Kelly said making a commitment not to overbook flights is in line with other consumer-friendly aspects of the Southwest product, such as not charging checked bag fees and flight change fees. “For quite some time, we have been challenging ourselves to make the travel experience better for our customers and [an overbooking leading to a bumped passenger is] one of the pain points we’d like to eliminate,” he said. “As time has gone by, we have been fortunate to have fewer and fewer and fewer no-shows, so the gross amount of the problem is far less today than it was 20 years ago. We don’t overbook much at all already. On a 143-seat airplane, we might overbook by one.”
Southwest CFO Tammy Romo said the economic impact on Southwest of ending overbooking is expected to be “really fairly small,” adding, “The net impact is really not that meaningful.”
Kelly cautioned that, even absent overbooking, there will still be instances in which a passenger gets bumped. “If we took bookings for a Boeing 737-800 and that airplane type is not available [on the day of the flight for mechanical or other reasons] and we substitute a smaller type,” then passengers may have to be bumped, he explained. There is also the potential for needing seats for crew, but “we work very hard to avoid displacing our customers” for crew, Kelly said.
(Aaron Karp - ATWOnline News)
Southwest 1Q net profit down 32% despite record revenue
Southwest Airlines posted 2017 first-quarter net income of $351 million, down 31.6% from a net profit of $513 million in the 2016 March quarter, even as the Dallas-based carrier generated record first-quarter revenue of $4.9 billion, up 1.2% year-over-year (YOY).
First-quarter expenses increased 8.8% YOY to $4.2 billion as labor costs rose 12.6% to $1.7 billion and fuel costs heightened 8.2% to $922 million. Operating income was $658 million, down 30.3% from an operating profit of $944 million in the prior-year quarter.
Southwest’s first-quarter traffic rose 3.3% YOY to 29.3 billion RPMs on a 4.1% increase in capacity to 36.7 billion ASMs, producing a load factor of 79.9%, down 0.6 points. Yield dropped 2.6% to 15.1 cents.
Southwest took delivery of nine Boeing 737-800s and three 737-700s in the first quarter and is scheduled to take delivery of another 55 aircraft in 2017, comprising 30 737-800s, 11 737-700s and 14 737 MAX 8s. Its first 737 MAX 8 is scheduled to enter service Oct. 1.
First-quarter expenses increased 8.8% YOY to $4.2 billion as labor costs rose 12.6% to $1.7 billion and fuel costs heightened 8.2% to $922 million. Operating income was $658 million, down 30.3% from an operating profit of $944 million in the prior-year quarter.
Southwest’s first-quarter traffic rose 3.3% YOY to 29.3 billion RPMs on a 4.1% increase in capacity to 36.7 billion ASMs, producing a load factor of 79.9%, down 0.6 points. Yield dropped 2.6% to 15.1 cents.
Southwest took delivery of nine Boeing 737-800s and three 737-700s in the first quarter and is scheduled to take delivery of another 55 aircraft in 2017, comprising 30 737-800s, 11 737-700s and 14 737 MAX 8s. Its first 737 MAX 8 is scheduled to enter service Oct. 1.
(Aaron Karp - ATWOnline News)
UPS posts $1.2 billion 1Q net profit as B2C and B2B deliveries rise
United Parcel Service (UPS) posted a $1.2 billion net profit for the first quarter of 2017, up 2.4% from net income of $1.1 billion in 1Q 2016, on a 6.2% year-over-year rise in total company revenue to $15.3 billion.
First-quarter revenue from UPS’s domestic package business rose 5% year-over-year (YOY) to $9.5 billion, with next day air revenue up 5.7% to $1.7 billion. International package revenue increased 4.9% YOY to $3.1 billion. Total fuel expenses were up 43% YOY to $621 million.
UPS said its revenue per piece increased across all products in its US domestic segment, up 2.4% in total, as the company benefited from previously implemented price increases. Total domestic revenue was up $451 million YOY in the 2017 first quarter as business to consumer (B2C) deliveries rose. UPS said its Next Day Air and deferred air shipments were up 3.9% and 4.1%, respectively, compared to 1Q 2016. The company said construction is underway on 17 new facility projects, adding over 5 million square feet of capacity to support further B2C and B2B (business-to-business) growth.
International package operating profit was down 7.8% in the first quarter, to $529 million. UPS’s US domestic package operating profit also declined YOY, down 2.4% to $1.1 billion.
“Revenue came in strong this quarter with all segments adding to the topline,” UPS chairman and CEO David Abney said. “[Our] customers are benefiting from expanded capacity, choice and improved time-in-transit.”
“Our current momentum, combined with accelerated investment initiatives gives us confidence in our ability to attain our full-year guidance,” UPS CFO Richard Peretz said.
The company reaffirmed its 2017 adjusted EPS guidance to be between $5.80 and $6.10., which included over $400 million, or 30 cents per-share, of pre-tax currency headwinds.
First-quarter revenue from UPS’s domestic package business rose 5% year-over-year (YOY) to $9.5 billion, with next day air revenue up 5.7% to $1.7 billion. International package revenue increased 4.9% YOY to $3.1 billion. Total fuel expenses were up 43% YOY to $621 million.
UPS said its revenue per piece increased across all products in its US domestic segment, up 2.4% in total, as the company benefited from previously implemented price increases. Total domestic revenue was up $451 million YOY in the 2017 first quarter as business to consumer (B2C) deliveries rose. UPS said its Next Day Air and deferred air shipments were up 3.9% and 4.1%, respectively, compared to 1Q 2016. The company said construction is underway on 17 new facility projects, adding over 5 million square feet of capacity to support further B2C and B2B (business-to-business) growth.
International package operating profit was down 7.8% in the first quarter, to $529 million. UPS’s US domestic package operating profit also declined YOY, down 2.4% to $1.1 billion.
“Revenue came in strong this quarter with all segments adding to the topline,” UPS chairman and CEO David Abney said. “[Our] customers are benefiting from expanded capacity, choice and improved time-in-transit.”
“Our current momentum, combined with accelerated investment initiatives gives us confidence in our ability to attain our full-year guidance,” UPS CFO Richard Peretz said.
The company reaffirmed its 2017 adjusted EPS guidance to be between $5.80 and $6.10., which included over $400 million, or 30 cents per-share, of pre-tax currency headwinds.
(Mark Nensel - ATWOnline News)
Japan Air Commuter launches ATR operations
(Japan Air Commuter)
Japan Air Commuter (JAC)—a Japan Airlines subsidiary—launched its first ATR 42-600 flight April 26 on service from Kagoshima to Yakushima.
The aircraft then performed three flights: from Yakushima to Kagoshima, from Kagoshima to Okinoerabu, and back to Kagoshima.
Japan is preparing for a huge influx of tourists. The Japanese government hopes to welcome 40 million visitors by 2020.
JAC took delivery of its first 50-seat ATR 42-600 in January.
The carrier ordered eight of the type, plus one option and 14 purchase rights, at the 2015 Paris Air Show. The remaining aircraft will be delivered over the next three years, according to ATR.
The new ATRs will operate on connections from and to small islands and communities across the country.
(Linda Blachly - ATWOnline News)
Spirit 1Q net profit down 48%, but touts operational improvement
Ultra low-cost carrier (ULCC) Spirit Airlines reported a first-quarter net profit of $31.9 million, down 48.4% from net income of $61.9 million in the prior-year period, but the Fort Lauderdale-based airline believes it is on the upswing.
The aggressive price matching of major US airlines has led the airline to focus more on improving operating performance and on managing its fares more thoughtfully, CEO Bob Fornaro told analysts. “We still have very low fares, but it’s no longer load factor at all cost,” he said. “We are getting better at managing our capacity … [With] the pricing environment today, which is a lot of price matching, you have to be more nimble with the way you manage your schedules, and I think you’re going to see a lot more of that going forward.”
Fornaro noted that Spirit’s on-time performance improved 10.2 percentage points year-over-year (YOY) to 75.5% in the first quarter. “While we still have a ways to go to reach our desired operational goals, this was a significant improvement,” he said.
Spirit’s first-quarter revenue rose 10% YOY to $591.7 million while expenses jumped 21.9% to $532.3 million, including a 62.6% leap in fuel costs to $139.8 million and a 9.2% increase in labor costs to $127.1 million. Operating profit was $59.4 million, down 41.4% from operating income of $101.3 million in the prior-year period.
Spirit’s first-quarter traffic rose 10.7% to 5.6 billion RPMs on a 14.9% increase in capacity to 6.9 billion ASMs, producing a load factor of 81.6%, down 3.1 points. Yield decreased 0.7% to 10.5 cents.
The aggressive price matching of major US airlines has led the airline to focus more on improving operating performance and on managing its fares more thoughtfully, CEO Bob Fornaro told analysts. “We still have very low fares, but it’s no longer load factor at all cost,” he said. “We are getting better at managing our capacity … [With] the pricing environment today, which is a lot of price matching, you have to be more nimble with the way you manage your schedules, and I think you’re going to see a lot more of that going forward.”
Fornaro noted that Spirit’s on-time performance improved 10.2 percentage points year-over-year (YOY) to 75.5% in the first quarter. “While we still have a ways to go to reach our desired operational goals, this was a significant improvement,” he said.
Spirit’s first-quarter revenue rose 10% YOY to $591.7 million while expenses jumped 21.9% to $532.3 million, including a 62.6% leap in fuel costs to $139.8 million and a 9.2% increase in labor costs to $127.1 million. Operating profit was $59.4 million, down 41.4% from operating income of $101.3 million in the prior-year period.
Spirit’s first-quarter traffic rose 10.7% to 5.6 billion RPMs on a 14.9% increase in capacity to 6.9 billion ASMs, producing a load factor of 81.6%, down 3.1 points. Yield decreased 0.7% to 10.5 cents.
(Aaron Karp - ATWOnline News)
North Korean airline’s meal sounds like the most disgusting thing ever
(Air Koryo)
They’re not loving it.
North Korea’s sole airline serves a lone in-flight meal that is almost as bizarre as the Hermit Kingdom itself — a stone-cold burger made with mystery meat and served on a paper doily that many passengers say had them reaching for the barf bag.
“The Air Koryo burger was the worst example of soft power I’ve ever tasted,” Beijing-based writer Alec Ash told the LA Times.
The state-run Air Koryo’s signature “Koryo burger” comes on a stale bun, and is topped with processed cheese, a sad sprinkling of cabbage or a lone lettuce leaf and a runny sauce that is as mysterious as the patty, according to those who’d sampled it.
“An equally mysterious thin red sauce, which appeared when the meat was squeezed but was thankfully far too watery to be blood, added to the sense of confusion that was intensified by the bizarre war-themed propaganda films on the TV screens,” said writer Jamie Fullerton in a review for Vice.
Koryo is ranked as the world’s worst airline by review site Skytrax, where users also often weigh in on the room-temperature snack.
“The food was a burger with a mystery meat inside which was not very nice and I did not finish in,” Englishman Alistair Baker wrote.
But Fullerton describes the “fridge-cold” snack as bland rather than bad.
“I, too, did not finish my Koryo Burger — but this was largely due to chewy blandness rather than revulsion,” he wrote.
And the secretive sandwich does have its fans — one Skytrax reviewer said he could’ve polished off several.
(Air Koryo)
“Their famous Air Koryo burger was a very tasty snack and I would have eaten another,” Brit Roger Tilling wrote. “All in all, a very pleasant experience.”
North Korean tour operator Simon Cockerell insists the Koryo burger is actually perfectly edible — people are just weirded out by seeing an American dish on a North Korean airline.
“I think it’s just that North Korea, to tourists, is so inherently sinister and funny at the same time,” he told the Times. “That ‘Oh, my God, it’s a burger!’ — that’d be an absurd reaction on any other airline. But on Air Koryo, it’s a normal thing to do.”
(Ruth Brown - New York Post)
Thursday, April 27, 2017
JetBlue delays some jet deliveries, swaps Airbus models
JetBlue Airways Corp said it was postponing delivery of 13 aircraft scheduled for 2019 and 2020, and had swapped its 2018 Airbus order of A321neos to 11 A321ceos, which have an earlier engine design.
In its first quarter earnings call, JetBlue said it was deferring eight aircraft from 2019 to 2023 and five aircraft from 2020 to 2024.
Deliveries of Pratt & Whitney engines have been disrupted by various technical problems, forcing Airbus to replace some A320neo jets with the earlier model to keep production lines flowing smoothly. It has made extra copies of the earlier type available for airlines that want them.
Differences in fuel performance are less obvious when planes fly shorter routes.
One expert said as many as 72 of the new Pratt engines have been taken off the wings of A320neo aircraft for inspection or repairs since entering service.
As of mid-April, Airbus had delivered a total of 100 A320neo aircraft since the fuel-efficient plane entered service in January 2016, including 53 fitted with Pratt & Whitney engines and the rest with CFM engines.
These include 32 so far this year out of a total of some 200 targeted for 2017 as a whole.
Chief Financial Officer Steve Priest said swapping the neos for the ceos between 2018 and 2019 "is just prudent" for the carrier.
In its first quarter earnings call, JetBlue said it was deferring eight aircraft from 2019 to 2023 and five aircraft from 2020 to 2024.
Deliveries of Pratt & Whitney engines have been disrupted by various technical problems, forcing Airbus to replace some A320neo jets with the earlier model to keep production lines flowing smoothly. It has made extra copies of the earlier type available for airlines that want them.
Differences in fuel performance are less obvious when planes fly shorter routes.
One expert said as many as 72 of the new Pratt engines have been taken off the wings of A320neo aircraft for inspection or repairs since entering service.
As of mid-April, Airbus had delivered a total of 100 A320neo aircraft since the fuel-efficient plane entered service in January 2016, including 53 fitted with Pratt & Whitney engines and the rest with CFM engines.
These include 32 so far this year out of a total of some 200 targeted for 2017 as a whole.
Chief Financial Officer Steve Priest said swapping the neos for the ceos between 2018 and 2019 "is just prudent" for the carrier.
(Reuters / Yahoo Business News)
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
Gulfstream 280 (c/n 2037) N55AL
Short final to Rwy 30 on April 24, 2017.
Operated by KRT LLC, this gorgeous G280 departs Long Beach Airport (LGB/KLGB) on April 26, 2017.
(Photos by Michael Carter)
Gulfstream G550 (c/n 5055) N755VE
Taxies on delta towards a Rwy 30 departure.
Operated by Valero Services Inc., this lovely G550 rolls for takeoff on Rwy 30 at Long Beach Airport (LGB/KLGB) April 26, 2017.
(Photos by Michael Carter)
As Deliveries Climb, Gulfstream Bucks Industry Trend
Gulfstream delivered 30 completed business jets (23 large-cabin, seven midsize) in the first quarter, up from 28 (20 large-cabin, eight midsize) in the same period a year ago, parent company General Dynamics announced today. Thanks to the more favorable mix at Gulfstream, revenues at General Dynamics’ aerospace division, which also includes Jet Aviation, soared $293 million year-over-year, to $2.074 billion, while profits climbed $111 million, to $443 million, it said.
Even though the aerospace backlog slipped by more than $600 million from a year ago, to $12.579 billion, and book-to-bill was 0.7:1 in the quarter, General Dynamics chairman and CEO Phebe Novakovic was upbeat about sales prospects at Gulfstream. “The market has shifted back to large-cabin business jets, and we’ve seen nice demand for our products in this range,” she said. “We’ve also seen sharp increases in interest from buyers in Europe and China during the quarter.”
According to Novakovic, G650 production “will come down a touch” next year, as the company ramps up production of the G500 and G600, which are expected to enter service late this year and in late 2018, respectively. Meanwhile, she is optimistic about the aircraft completions and services businesses at both Jet Aviation and Gulfstream, saying that the completions side is “steady,” while the services business is “seeing nice growth.”
Even though the aerospace backlog slipped by more than $600 million from a year ago, to $12.579 billion, and book-to-bill was 0.7:1 in the quarter, General Dynamics chairman and CEO Phebe Novakovic was upbeat about sales prospects at Gulfstream. “The market has shifted back to large-cabin business jets, and we’ve seen nice demand for our products in this range,” she said. “We’ve also seen sharp increases in interest from buyers in Europe and China during the quarter.”
According to Novakovic, G650 production “will come down a touch” next year, as the company ramps up production of the G500 and G600, which are expected to enter service late this year and in late 2018, respectively. Meanwhile, she is optimistic about the aircraft completions and services businesses at both Jet Aviation and Gulfstream, saying that the completions side is “steady,” while the services business is “seeing nice growth.”
(Chad Trautvetter - AINOnline News)
Airbus Gets A350 Boost With $6 Billion China Southern Order
China Southern Airlines plans to buy 20 A350 wide-body aircraft from Airbus in a deal worth about $6 billion, providing a boost for the manufacturer amid production delays and order deferrals.
The Guangzhou-based company, which ranks as Asia’s largest airline by passenger numbers, will take delivery of the A350-900s starting in 2019, with all of the planes to be handed over by the end of 2022, according to a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange Wednesday.
The deal for the A350s, which are priced at $311 million apiece but sell at a discount for larger orders, comes amid delivery holdups linked to a shortage of interior fittings for the model. The biggest U.S. carriers have also cooled on the plane, with American Airlines last year deferring delivery of 22 jets by an average of 26 months and United Continental Holdings Inc. saying it may swap its order for A350-1000s to smaller aircraft.
China Southern, which recently agreed to sell a minority stake to American Airlines, is buying its first A350s as part of a push to expand the fleet to 1,000 planes by 2020 from 700 now. Adding the twin-aisle aircraft will boost capacity by 12 percent versus the level as of Dec. 31, without accounting for retirements, according to the statement.
The carrier didn’t say if it was taking jets made available by deferrals at other operators. Delta Air Lines Inc., which has an order for 25 A350s, also said this month it was reviewing wide-body requirements amid industry over-capacity.
China Southern and its units have ordered more than $15 billion of new aircraft from Airbus and Boeing Co. since 2015 as more people fly in the world’s most populous nation. The state-owned carrier has been adding routes to Australia, New Zealand and countries in Southeast Asia as it competes with China Eastern Airlines Corp. and Air China Ltd.
The International Air Transport Association predicts China will surpass the U.S. to become the world’s biggest air-travel market by 2024.
The Guangzhou-based company, which ranks as Asia’s largest airline by passenger numbers, will take delivery of the A350-900s starting in 2019, with all of the planes to be handed over by the end of 2022, according to a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange Wednesday.
The deal for the A350s, which are priced at $311 million apiece but sell at a discount for larger orders, comes amid delivery holdups linked to a shortage of interior fittings for the model. The biggest U.S. carriers have also cooled on the plane, with American Airlines last year deferring delivery of 22 jets by an average of 26 months and United Continental Holdings Inc. saying it may swap its order for A350-1000s to smaller aircraft.
China Southern, which recently agreed to sell a minority stake to American Airlines, is buying its first A350s as part of a push to expand the fleet to 1,000 planes by 2020 from 700 now. Adding the twin-aisle aircraft will boost capacity by 12 percent versus the level as of Dec. 31, without accounting for retirements, according to the statement.
The carrier didn’t say if it was taking jets made available by deferrals at other operators. Delta Air Lines Inc., which has an order for 25 A350s, also said this month it was reviewing wide-body requirements amid industry over-capacity.
China Southern and its units have ordered more than $15 billion of new aircraft from Airbus and Boeing Co. since 2015 as more people fly in the world’s most populous nation. The state-owned carrier has been adding routes to Australia, New Zealand and countries in Southeast Asia as it competes with China Eastern Airlines Corp. and Air China Ltd.
The International Air Transport Association predicts China will surpass the U.S. to become the world’s biggest air-travel market by 2024.
(Bloomberg Business News)
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Gulfstream G650 (c/n 6246) N646GA tbr N595TG
Captured returning to Long Beach Airport (LGB/KLGB) on April 25, 2017 following a short pre-delivery test flight.
(Photos by Michael Carter)
Boeing Roundup: Layoff notices issued… Silk Way Group orders 10 Boeing 737 Max 8 jets
Chicago-based Boeing has operations around the country. Here are other recent stories reported by The Business Journals.
Boeing hands out hundreds of layoff notices
Boeing Co. handed out 429 new layoff notices to Washington state workers Friday, with the biggest cuts coming to the aircraft manufacturer's widebody operations in Everett. Of the 277 layoff notices to employees represented by the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, 191 work in Everett, according to a union spokesman. That's where Boeing makes its 747 jumbo jets, long-range 777s and 767 jets and some of its 787 Dreamliners.
Meet the Maxes: What's different about the Boeing Max 7, 8 and 9 jets?
Boeing’s new 737 Max 9 jetliner made its first flight last week, taking off from Boeing’s complex in Renton and landing at Seattle’s Boeing Field to officially kick off the single-aisle aircraft’s flight testing program. The 737 Max 9 is the second member of Boeing’s 737 Max family, a new product line approved by Boeing’s board in 2011. The planes compete with the Airbus A320-A321 family.
Boeing customer WestJet in Canada plans new ultra-low-cost airline
Canadian discount airline WestJet, an important Boeing airplane customer, said Thursday it's launching a new, ultra-low-cost carrier in Canada later this year. The Calgary, Alberta-based discount airline, which operates in Canada much like Southwest Airlines does in the U.S., said in a news release that its new carrier launch is subject to reaching an agreement with its pilots and to securing required Canadian regulatory approvals.
Silk Way Group orders 10 Boeing 737 Max 8 jets worth $1 billion at list prices
Overseas aviation conglomerate Silk Way Group has placed an order for 10 Boeing 737 Max 8 airplanes. The deal for the Renton-made jets is worth $1.1 billion at list prices. Chicago-based Boeing did not say when the order was placed.
Boeing hands out hundreds of layoff notices
Boeing Co. handed out 429 new layoff notices to Washington state workers Friday, with the biggest cuts coming to the aircraft manufacturer's widebody operations in Everett. Of the 277 layoff notices to employees represented by the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, 191 work in Everett, according to a union spokesman. That's where Boeing makes its 747 jumbo jets, long-range 777s and 767 jets and some of its 787 Dreamliners.
Meet the Maxes: What's different about the Boeing Max 7, 8 and 9 jets?
Boeing’s new 737 Max 9 jetliner made its first flight last week, taking off from Boeing’s complex in Renton and landing at Seattle’s Boeing Field to officially kick off the single-aisle aircraft’s flight testing program. The 737 Max 9 is the second member of Boeing’s 737 Max family, a new product line approved by Boeing’s board in 2011. The planes compete with the Airbus A320-A321 family.
Boeing customer WestJet in Canada plans new ultra-low-cost airline
Canadian discount airline WestJet, an important Boeing airplane customer, said Thursday it's launching a new, ultra-low-cost carrier in Canada later this year. The Calgary, Alberta-based discount airline, which operates in Canada much like Southwest Airlines does in the U.S., said in a news release that its new carrier launch is subject to reaching an agreement with its pilots and to securing required Canadian regulatory approvals.
Silk Way Group orders 10 Boeing 737 Max 8 jets worth $1 billion at list prices
Overseas aviation conglomerate Silk Way Group has placed an order for 10 Boeing 737 Max 8 airplanes. The deal for the Renton-made jets is worth $1.1 billion at list prices. Chicago-based Boeing did not say when the order was placed.
(I-Chun Chen - Chicago Business Journal)
Sunday, April 23, 2017
Boeing issues new layoff notices to 429 workers in Washington state
As Boeing continues to downsize, management on Friday issued 429 new layoff notices to union members in Washington state.
A total of 494 such notices went out, though some went to employees who had already received earlier layoff notices in March, so that the latest notice simply adjusted their layoff date.
Altogether 217 members of the International Association of Machinists (IAM) got layoff notices Friday and 277 were issued to members of the white-collar Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), the two unions confirmed.
The IAM layoff notices are the second batch for that union’s members this year — 111 people received notices in March.
Adjusting for those who had already received notices last month, the number of new layoff notices issued to the IAM was 152, which makes a total of 263 so far this year.
Also Friday, about 1,000 Machinists who took an earlier buyout offer left the company for the last time. Another 500 who took the buyouts will leave in the months ahead.
Boeing vice president of engineering John Hamilton warned on Monday that “hundreds of engineering employees” would get notices of layoff on Friday.
Friday’s SPEEA total breaks down to 194 engineers and 83 technical staff, said union spokesman Bill Dugovich.
Of those, he said 246 are in the Commercial Airplanes unit, 30 work on the company’s defense side and one works on a corporate unit.
Geographically, 191 of the engineering layoffs were in Everett, 35 in Renton and 26 in Tukwila, with smaller numbers at other Puget Sound area locations, Dugovich said.
It’s likely more layoff notices also went out to non-union employees, but the company will not disclose any figures.
The 60-day notices specify that the layoffs will happen in late June.
Jon Holden, president of IAM District 751, said the union’s main concern is that the looming production rate cut on the 777 assembly line, set for August, will mean significantly more layoffs later in the year.
“Boeing hasn’t told us what’s coming,” said Holden. “But we certainly have concerns with regard to lower production rates.”
Boeing announced in December that it would cut the Everett assembly plant’s 777 production rate from seven planes per month to five per month beginning in August.
Shortly afterward, Boeing’s local leadership warned employees that it would need “to continue to reduce the size of our workforce” in 2017.
Boeing spokesman Doug Alder reiterated an earlier company statement that “we are reducing costs and matching employment levels to business and market requirements.”
A total of 494 such notices went out, though some went to employees who had already received earlier layoff notices in March, so that the latest notice simply adjusted their layoff date.
Altogether 217 members of the International Association of Machinists (IAM) got layoff notices Friday and 277 were issued to members of the white-collar Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), the two unions confirmed.
The IAM layoff notices are the second batch for that union’s members this year — 111 people received notices in March.
Adjusting for those who had already received notices last month, the number of new layoff notices issued to the IAM was 152, which makes a total of 263 so far this year.
Also Friday, about 1,000 Machinists who took an earlier buyout offer left the company for the last time. Another 500 who took the buyouts will leave in the months ahead.
Boeing vice president of engineering John Hamilton warned on Monday that “hundreds of engineering employees” would get notices of layoff on Friday.
Friday’s SPEEA total breaks down to 194 engineers and 83 technical staff, said union spokesman Bill Dugovich.
Of those, he said 246 are in the Commercial Airplanes unit, 30 work on the company’s defense side and one works on a corporate unit.
Geographically, 191 of the engineering layoffs were in Everett, 35 in Renton and 26 in Tukwila, with smaller numbers at other Puget Sound area locations, Dugovich said.
It’s likely more layoff notices also went out to non-union employees, but the company will not disclose any figures.
The 60-day notices specify that the layoffs will happen in late June.
Jon Holden, president of IAM District 751, said the union’s main concern is that the looming production rate cut on the 777 assembly line, set for August, will mean significantly more layoffs later in the year.
“Boeing hasn’t told us what’s coming,” said Holden. “But we certainly have concerns with regard to lower production rates.”
Boeing announced in December that it would cut the Everett assembly plant’s 777 production rate from seven planes per month to five per month beginning in August.
Shortly afterward, Boeing’s local leadership warned employees that it would need “to continue to reduce the size of our workforce” in 2017.
Boeing spokesman Doug Alder reiterated an earlier company statement that “we are reducing costs and matching employment levels to business and market requirements.”
(Dominic Gates - The Seattle Times)
Lockheed Martin Green-Lighted to Produce New Helicopter for the Marines
Lockheed Martin's new heavy-lift CH-53K could lift Lockheed's bottom line as well.
(Image: Lockheed Martin)
Two years ago, Lockheed Martin agreed to lay out $9 billion to buy Sikorsky Aircraft from its then-owner United Technologies. The deal's price tag may have sounded steep at the time -- but it's continuing to pay off for Lockheed Martin.
Case in point? For years prior to its sale to Lockheed, Sikorsky had been developing a new heavy-lift helicopter to serve in the U.S. Marine Corps and replace the Corps' aging fleet of CH-53E Super Stallions. Now all that work has resulted in new owner Lockheed inheriting a production contract for the new "King Stallion."
Milestone achieved
Earlier this month, Lockheed Martin confirmed that its first two CH-53K King Stallion helicopter prototypes have passed "Milestone C" in testing by the Pentagon's Defense Acquisition Board. This means the CH-53K program is now eligible for low-rate initial production (LRIP) funding.
That's great news for the Marine Corps, which will get a new heavy-lift helicopter capable of carrying three times the weight that the helo it is replacing could. Indeed, Lockheed Martin calls the King Stallion "the most powerful helicopter our nation has ever designed," capable of carrying an armored personnel carrier in its capacious hold.
Six King Stallions are already under contract and due for delivery next year. Two additional aircraft are part of the first "LRIP." Ultimately, the Corps expects to order 200 of these helicopters through 2029, which will be enough to form 10 active-duty, training, or reserve squadrons. Additionally, Lockheed hopes to sell the CH-53K internationally -- Germany, for example, has expressed an interest in buying as many as two full squadrons of King Stallions for its military.
What it means for taxpayers
Per aircraft, the CH-53K helicopter is looking like it will cost more than Lockheed's even more famous aircraft, the F-35 stealth fighter jet. When the Pentagon ordered its first two prototypes for testing last year, it anted up more than $116 million per aircraft. That's already more than Lockheed's most recent published price of $94.6 million for the F-35A conventional takeoff and landing variant.
Now, the Pentagon has budgeted closer to a $96 million flyaway cost for future CH-53K purchases, anticipating more affordable prices as production ramps up and efficiencies of scale kick in. Still, if you add in research and development costs incurred in developing the helicopter ($34.5 million in R&D costs per aircraft, amortized across the fleet), the CH-53K's all-in cost quickly approaches $130.5 million -- which surpasses Lockheed's quoted prices on its most expensive F-35 variant, the F-35B (which, coincidentally, is also headed for the Marines).
What it means for investors
Investors might prefer to look at things a bit differently. Here, we want to keep our eye on the program cost as a whole and not just the unit cost of the aircraft. According to DefenseNews.com, outfitting the USMC with a fleet of 200 fully functional CH-53K King Stallion helicopters will cost $26.1 billion -- $6.9 billion in R&D costs to develop the aircraft, plus $19.2 billion in procurement costs (plus, potentially, even more procurement dollars from foreign buyers).
At the 5.9% operating profit margin that S&P Global Market Intelligence quotes for Lockheed Martin's Rotary and Mission Systems division, this implies that LockMart investors can anticipate their company earning $1.5 billion in profit for production of the Marines' new whirlybird -- plus maintenance and servicing profits, plus profits from selling and servicing additional King Stallions abroad.
All of which makes this kind of a big deal.
(Rich Smith - The Motley Fool)
Saturday, April 22, 2017
Gulfstream G550 (c/n 5062) N159JA
This lovely aircraft is operated by EBAY Inc., and is captured rolling for takeoff on Rwy 30 at Long Beach Airport (LGB/KLGB) on April 21, 2017 following a visit to the Gulfstream Service Center.
(Photo by Michael Carter)
Gulfstream G550 (c/n 5545) N550GU
Arrives at Long Beach Airport (LGB/KLGB) on Friday April 21, 2017.
(Photo by Michael Carter)
Do Emirates Cuts Threaten Orders at Boeing, a Company That Lately Can Do No Wrong?
It seems lately that Boeing can do no wrong.
Once a target of criticism by presidential candidate Donald Trump, Boeing has transformed itself into a presidential favorite. It contributed $1 million to the January inauguration. Weeks later, Trump visited Charleston, S.C., for the first 787-10 flight.
This month, he reversed himself to back the Export-Import Bank, which helps Boeing compete with Airbus.
Also in February, Boeing easily defeated a bid to unionize its Charleston plant, boosting its ability to play off South Carolina against Washington, where its plants are heavily unionized and where it has built airplanes for a century.
Boeing will report first-quarter earnings on Wednesday.
Of its $95 billion in 2016 revenue, Boeing Commercial Aircraft accounted for $65 billion while Boeing Defense Space & Security accounted for $29.5 billion. Demand for air travel is growing, while Trump has said he wants to spend more on defense.
No wonder Boeing shares closed Thursday at $179.30 or $6 below the all-time high. Among the 30 Dow stocks, Boeing is the third best 2017 performer, up 15% year to date. On Friday, the stock rose 0.5%.
Nevertheless, it cannot be viewed positively that on Wednesday, Emirates -- a key customer -- slashed its U.S. flying by 20%.
Let's acknowledge upfront that Boeing's commercial aircraft order backlog is 5,744 orders worth -- at list price, around $500 billion.
Emirates is the largest of the Middle East carriers that together account for 546 outstanding aircraft orders, about 10% of Boeing's total. The value percentage is higher because the Middle East order books tilt to wide-bodies, including 275 Boeing 777s and 134 Boeing 787s.
Emirates blamed the flying cutback on falling demand due to new security measures that ban laptops -- very peculiarly, only on flights from Middle East airports -- and on the Trump administration's continuing efforts to ban travelers from some Muslim-majority nations.
In truth, it has never been clear how much the growth of Emirates, Etihad and Qatar depends on demand, and how much it depends on government subsidies intended to grow the economies of the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
"Their business model is based on growing their networks without regard to profitability in order to serve their governments' goals to dominate global aviation," said Jill Zuckman, spokeswoman for the Partnership for Open & Fair Skies, a coalition of U.S. airlines and labor unions who oppose the Gulf carrier's rapid U.S. expansion.
Still, "the growth needs to take a breather and allow the market to catch up," said aerospace consulting firm Air Insight in a recent report. "The concern should be how long this breather will be. For Airbus and Boeing, missing big orders from the ME3 will be a reality check -- the rest of the market is mature and buys much more carefully."
Similarly, a recent report by aerospace consultant Leeham Co. was titled, "Middle Eastern airline turmoil hits Boeing." It said Etihad, Emirates and Qatar "face over-capacity now compounded by electronic carry-on restrictions by the U.S. and U.K."
Leeham also sees a potential threat to Boeing and Airbus in Asia, which has not had the sort of airline shakeout the U.S. has experienced.
The two manufacturers could face challenges from the 2016 creation of the Value Alliance of eight Asian low-fare carriers, including Singapore Airlines' Scoot and Tiger Airways; ANA's Vanilla Air; Tiger Airways Australia; Thailand's Nok Air and NokScoot, the Philippines' Cebu Pacific Air and Korea's Jeju Air, Leeham said.
"The ramifications of the coalescing of Value Alliance and its threats to AirAsia and even full-service carriers means that Airbus and Boeing-each with huge backlogs in the region, with the low-cost carriers and the full-service carriers -- may have to up their game on monitoring the health of the airlines once the Value Alliance is in full swing," the firm said.
For the near term, Wall Street analysts remain confident.
"We like Boeing's set-up into Q1 with low expectations," Cowen & Co. analyst Cai von Rumohr said in a recent report. "Light Q1 deliveries don't jeopardize full year 2017 EPS, while commercial & {defense} bookings were encouraging," he said.
"Combined with rising airline load factors, declining {Boeing Commercial Aircraft} headcount, and share award tax benefits, they bolster the 2017-19 outlook," he said. He rates the stock outperform.
CFRA Research analyst Jim Corridore has a buy rating and a price target of $191, 20 times his 2017 estimate. Boeing's five-year average P/E was about 20X.
"We see price appreciation over the next several years," Corridore wrote.
"Commercial aircraft demand remains strong," he said, and "while we remain concerned about a drag from defense, the operation's size relative to the commercial business and the recent election of Donald Trump argue for increases in defense in coming years."
Once a target of criticism by presidential candidate Donald Trump, Boeing has transformed itself into a presidential favorite. It contributed $1 million to the January inauguration. Weeks later, Trump visited Charleston, S.C., for the first 787-10 flight.
This month, he reversed himself to back the Export-Import Bank, which helps Boeing compete with Airbus.
Also in February, Boeing easily defeated a bid to unionize its Charleston plant, boosting its ability to play off South Carolina against Washington, where its plants are heavily unionized and where it has built airplanes for a century.
Boeing will report first-quarter earnings on Wednesday.
Of its $95 billion in 2016 revenue, Boeing Commercial Aircraft accounted for $65 billion while Boeing Defense Space & Security accounted for $29.5 billion. Demand for air travel is growing, while Trump has said he wants to spend more on defense.
No wonder Boeing shares closed Thursday at $179.30 or $6 below the all-time high. Among the 30 Dow stocks, Boeing is the third best 2017 performer, up 15% year to date. On Friday, the stock rose 0.5%.
Nevertheless, it cannot be viewed positively that on Wednesday, Emirates -- a key customer -- slashed its U.S. flying by 20%.
Let's acknowledge upfront that Boeing's commercial aircraft order backlog is 5,744 orders worth -- at list price, around $500 billion.
Emirates is the largest of the Middle East carriers that together account for 546 outstanding aircraft orders, about 10% of Boeing's total. The value percentage is higher because the Middle East order books tilt to wide-bodies, including 275 Boeing 777s and 134 Boeing 787s.
Emirates blamed the flying cutback on falling demand due to new security measures that ban laptops -- very peculiarly, only on flights from Middle East airports -- and on the Trump administration's continuing efforts to ban travelers from some Muslim-majority nations.
In truth, it has never been clear how much the growth of Emirates, Etihad and Qatar depends on demand, and how much it depends on government subsidies intended to grow the economies of the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
"Their business model is based on growing their networks without regard to profitability in order to serve their governments' goals to dominate global aviation," said Jill Zuckman, spokeswoman for the Partnership for Open & Fair Skies, a coalition of U.S. airlines and labor unions who oppose the Gulf carrier's rapid U.S. expansion.
Still, "the growth needs to take a breather and allow the market to catch up," said aerospace consulting firm Air Insight in a recent report. "The concern should be how long this breather will be. For Airbus and Boeing, missing big orders from the ME3 will be a reality check -- the rest of the market is mature and buys much more carefully."
Similarly, a recent report by aerospace consultant Leeham Co. was titled, "Middle Eastern airline turmoil hits Boeing." It said Etihad, Emirates and Qatar "face over-capacity now compounded by electronic carry-on restrictions by the U.S. and U.K."
Leeham also sees a potential threat to Boeing and Airbus in Asia, which has not had the sort of airline shakeout the U.S. has experienced.
The two manufacturers could face challenges from the 2016 creation of the Value Alliance of eight Asian low-fare carriers, including Singapore Airlines' Scoot and Tiger Airways; ANA's Vanilla Air; Tiger Airways Australia; Thailand's Nok Air and NokScoot, the Philippines' Cebu Pacific Air and Korea's Jeju Air, Leeham said.
"The ramifications of the coalescing of Value Alliance and its threats to AirAsia and even full-service carriers means that Airbus and Boeing-each with huge backlogs in the region, with the low-cost carriers and the full-service carriers -- may have to up their game on monitoring the health of the airlines once the Value Alliance is in full swing," the firm said.
For the near term, Wall Street analysts remain confident.
"We like Boeing's set-up into Q1 with low expectations," Cowen & Co. analyst Cai von Rumohr said in a recent report. "Light Q1 deliveries don't jeopardize full year 2017 EPS, while commercial & {defense} bookings were encouraging," he said.
"Combined with rising airline load factors, declining {Boeing Commercial Aircraft} headcount, and share award tax benefits, they bolster the 2017-19 outlook," he said. He rates the stock outperform.
CFRA Research analyst Jim Corridore has a buy rating and a price target of $191, 20 times his 2017 estimate. Boeing's five-year average P/E was about 20X.
"We see price appreciation over the next several years," Corridore wrote.
"Commercial aircraft demand remains strong," he said, and "while we remain concerned about a drag from defense, the operation's size relative to the commercial business and the recent election of Donald Trump argue for increases in defense in coming years."
(Tim Reed - TheStreet)
Friday, April 21, 2017
United States Marine Corps (USMC) Lockheed Martin KC-130J Hercules (c/n 382-5489) 165736 / VMGR-352 "Raiders"
Captured on short final to Rwy 30 at Long Beach Airport (LGB/KLGB) this afternoon, April 21, 2017.
(Photos by Michael Carter)
Thursday, April 20, 2017
Norwegian Air Takes on Asian Rivals With $230 Fares to Singapore
Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA will fly from London to Singapore beginning this fall, taking on British Airways and Singapore Airlines Ltd. as it expands its long-haul budget services in Asia.
Tickets on the new route will start at 179 pounds ($230) one-way, with “premium” seats priced from 699 pounds, Norwegian said in a statement Thursday. The service will commence Sept. 28 with four weekly flights from London’s Gatwick airport and will be operated with Boeing Co. 787 Dreamliner aircraft seating as many as 344 passengers.
“Our transatlantic flights have shown the huge demand for affordable long-haul travel, so we are delighted to expand into new markets,” Chief Executive Officer Bjorn Kos said in the statement. “Travel should be affordable for all.”
Norwegian is betting denser seating and the lower operating costs of the 787 will allow it to steal passengers from costlier rivals and stimulate demand among price-sensitive travelers. The carrier has one of the industry’s most ambitious growth plans with more than 200 aircraft on order as it seeks to transfer the successful low-cost airline model to long-haul services. Norwegian will also fly Boeing’s latest narrow-body jet, the 737 Max, on routes across the North Atlantic starting this summer.
Head-to-Head
The new service between London and Singapore, a popular business route, puts Norwegian in head-to-head competition with IAG SA’s British Airways and Singapore Air -- the only two airlines currently offering non-stop flights between the cities. BA flies the route twice a day, and Singapore Air serves it four times daily. The carriers use larger Boeing 777 and Airbus A380 aircraft.
Norwegian has so far connected London with destinations in the U.S. and the Caribbean, targeting mainly leisure travelers. Its only Asian destination so far is Bangkok, which it serves from Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen. The latest Singapore flight could be part of a broader expansion as the company canvases locations for potential bases around the world, including plans for an arm in Argentina.
To serve Singapore, Norwegian will use its U.K. subsidiary, with planes and crews based at Gatwick airport. The unit can make use of traffic rights to destinations in Asia, Africa and South America, the company said.
Tickets on the new route will start at 179 pounds ($230) one-way, with “premium” seats priced from 699 pounds, Norwegian said in a statement Thursday. The service will commence Sept. 28 with four weekly flights from London’s Gatwick airport and will be operated with Boeing Co. 787 Dreamliner aircraft seating as many as 344 passengers.
“Our transatlantic flights have shown the huge demand for affordable long-haul travel, so we are delighted to expand into new markets,” Chief Executive Officer Bjorn Kos said in the statement. “Travel should be affordable for all.”
Norwegian is betting denser seating and the lower operating costs of the 787 will allow it to steal passengers from costlier rivals and stimulate demand among price-sensitive travelers. The carrier has one of the industry’s most ambitious growth plans with more than 200 aircraft on order as it seeks to transfer the successful low-cost airline model to long-haul services. Norwegian will also fly Boeing’s latest narrow-body jet, the 737 Max, on routes across the North Atlantic starting this summer.
Head-to-Head
The new service between London and Singapore, a popular business route, puts Norwegian in head-to-head competition with IAG SA’s British Airways and Singapore Air -- the only two airlines currently offering non-stop flights between the cities. BA flies the route twice a day, and Singapore Air serves it four times daily. The carriers use larger Boeing 777 and Airbus A380 aircraft.
Norwegian has so far connected London with destinations in the U.S. and the Caribbean, targeting mainly leisure travelers. Its only Asian destination so far is Bangkok, which it serves from Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen. The latest Singapore flight could be part of a broader expansion as the company canvases locations for potential bases around the world, including plans for an arm in Argentina.
To serve Singapore, Norwegian will use its U.K. subsidiary, with planes and crews based at Gatwick airport. The unit can make use of traffic rights to destinations in Asia, Africa and South America, the company said.
(Richard Weiss - Bloomberg News)
Boeing elaborates on 777-9 design details
(Boeing)
Boeing has published further preliminary details of the 777-9’s configuration, three years ahead of entry into service, revealing a slightly lower aircraft with an interior re-sculpted to carve out a precious 10.2cm (4in) of internal diameter.
A 79-page document posted on Boeing’s website offers the first detailed update on the larger 777X variant's dimensions since a brochure version appeared in 2015.
Boeing released both documents to help airport managers prepare for the arrival of the stretched wide-body with its extended wingspan.
Compared with the previous iteration, the update shows the 777-9’s designers have made a few minor tweaks. For example, the height of the vertical tail above the runway is about 17cm shorter, although remains nearly 1m taller than the height of the 777-300ER.
The most critical dimensions for the 777-9 remain unchanged, with a 2.9m-longer fuselage and 7m-wider unfolded wingspan compared with the 777-300ER.
The folded wingspan of the 777-9 measures 64.82m, about 2.54cm wider than the 777-300ER.
Boeing also has worked to make the 777-9 more comfortable with a standard 10-abreast layout in economy class. The 777-300ER originally entered service with a nine-abreast economy cabin, but some airlines now offer 10-abreast layouts. The 777-9 shares an external fuselage cross-section with the 777-300ER, but the internal sidewalls have been carved out by about 10.2cm.
(Boeing (777 airplane characteristics for airport planning document)
Boeing now lists the 777-9’s standard two-class cabin as accommodating 414 passengers, with a three-class cabin holding 349 seats.
The 777-9 is designed to fly with 7% greater useable fuel capacity than the 777-300ER, the document shows.
(Stephen Trimble - FlightGlobal News)
Pilot error blamed for fatal California U2 spy plane crash
A mistake by a pilot on his first flight in a U2 spy plane forced him and an instructor to eject from the plane while on a training mission from a California base in September, killing the instructor after his seat hit the plane's right wing, the Air Force said Wednesday.
Investigators determined that the pilot who was training to fly U2 spy planes either pulled back too fast or too quickly on his stick while learning to recover from a stall shortly after the plane left from Beale Air Force Base about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Sacramento, Air Force Major A.J. Schrag said.
"He probably got a little overenthusiastic," Schrag said.
That caused the plane to go into a secondary stall that forced the student pilot and his instructor, Lt. Col. Ira S. Eadie, to eject before the plane turned upside down. The $32 million plane crashed near Sutter, California.
Eadie suffered fatal injuries when his seat struck the plane's right wing, investigators found. The student pilot also suffered injuries, though he has since recovered and completed his training to fly U2 spy planes, Schrag said.
Schrag said privacy laws did not allow the Air Force to disclose the student pilot's name.
He was on the first of three "acceptance flights" that are part of the process of interviewing to be a U2 pilot, the Air Force said.
The U-2 "Dragon Lady" is a surveillance and reconnaissance plane capable of flying above 70,000 feet (21,336 meters). Developed during the Cold War to spy on the Soviet Union, the single-engine aircraft now carries high-resolution cameras and sensors to gather radio signals and other information useful to intelligence agencies and battlefield commanders.
The fleet is based at Beale, though U2 planes fly missions from other locations.
Before the crash, the Air Force said it had 33 U-2s. The U-2 is slated for retirement in 2019 as the military relies increasingly on unmanned aircraft for surveillance.
Investigators determined that the pilot who was training to fly U2 spy planes either pulled back too fast or too quickly on his stick while learning to recover from a stall shortly after the plane left from Beale Air Force Base about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Sacramento, Air Force Major A.J. Schrag said.
"He probably got a little overenthusiastic," Schrag said.
That caused the plane to go into a secondary stall that forced the student pilot and his instructor, Lt. Col. Ira S. Eadie, to eject before the plane turned upside down. The $32 million plane crashed near Sutter, California.
Eadie suffered fatal injuries when his seat struck the plane's right wing, investigators found. The student pilot also suffered injuries, though he has since recovered and completed his training to fly U2 spy planes, Schrag said.
Schrag said privacy laws did not allow the Air Force to disclose the student pilot's name.
He was on the first of three "acceptance flights" that are part of the process of interviewing to be a U2 pilot, the Air Force said.
The U-2 "Dragon Lady" is a surveillance and reconnaissance plane capable of flying above 70,000 feet (21,336 meters). Developed during the Cold War to spy on the Soviet Union, the single-engine aircraft now carries high-resolution cameras and sensors to gather radio signals and other information useful to intelligence agencies and battlefield commanders.
The fleet is based at Beale, though U2 planes fly missions from other locations.
Before the crash, the Air Force said it had 33 U-2s. The U-2 is slated for retirement in 2019 as the military relies increasingly on unmanned aircraft for surveillance.
(Sudhin Thanawala - Associated Press)
Thursday, April 13, 2017
Here's a look at Boeing and Sikorsky's new gunship helicopter concept
(Lockheed Martin)
Since 1939, aerospace manufacturers Boeing and Sikorsky Aircraft have remained synonymous with dependable fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, respectively, responsible for supplying the US armed forces with illustrious vehicles from the venerable F/A-18 Super Hornet and Air Force One to the combat-ready Black Hawk and Chinook helos.
Now, the two firms are teaming up to develop a brand new gunship for the US military: The SB-1 assault helicopter.
On April 10, Sikorsky owner Lockheed Martin posted a brief concept video detailing the company’s design for an attack craft with "long range, high speed, superior hover performance and unmatched maneuverability" to supplement the military’s helicopter fleet for decades to come.
Developed as part of the Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program under the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, The War Zone reports that the Army is currently exploring replacement craft for both the AH-64 Apache gunship and UH-60 Black Hawk.
Here’s the backstory on the project, courtesy of The War Zone:
In 2015, Sikorsky and Boeing first announced they were teaming up to build a rotorcraft for the Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstration (JMR-TD). This project is supposed to serve as a lead in effort for the larger, long-term FVL plan. This partnership led to the SB-1 Defiant, the unusual nomenclature standing for “Sikorsky and Boeing are greater than one.” A compound helicopter with a push-propeller and co-axial, rigid rotors, the firms boasted this new aircraft would be significantly faster than traditional helicopters, more maneuverable, more stable while hovering, and quieter.
Sure, you can’t really get a sense of those improvements in action from Lockheed Martin’s concept art, but the animation is enough to heighten any mechanophile’s anticipation.
The promotional video states that the copter will boast a cruising speed of 280 miles per hour, far outstripping the attack helos currently utilized by both the Army and Marine Corps.
The craft is reportedly meant to maintain altitude and stability even under “hot-and-high” conditions, hovering more than a mile above the ground in temperatures up to 95 degrees Fahrenheit.
Oh, and let’s not forget the guns, per The War Zone:
The proposal has a chin-turret with an automatic cannon that looks very much like the three-barrel, 20mm M197 gun on the Marine Corps’ AH-1s. As with both the AH-1 and AH-64 series, there are two stubby wings with four external stores pylons for various ordnance and two launch rails on the tips for air-to-air missiles – in this case the artist appears to have mounted AIM-9X Sidewinders – are on either side of the fuselage. In one of the frames, it appears that two of those racks may actually attach directly the chopper’s main body.
While the Army hopes to conduct flight tests of the SB-1 attack prototype by the end of 2017, that’s contingent on whether the collaboration between the two aerospace giants actually makes it, er, off the ground.
The last joint project undertaken by the two was the RAH-66 Comanche five-bladed attack helicopter, commissioned in 1991, built in 1996, and aborted in 2004 … at a cost to the DoD of nearly $7 billion.
With other certain aircraft aggressively over-budget, it’s doubtful the Pentagon will have the patience to sink time and money into another dud.
(Business Insider U.K.)
Airplane maker ATR signs $536M, 20-aircraft deal with Iran
European airplane manufacturer ATR said Thursday it sealed a $536-million sale with Iran Air for at least 20 aircraft, the latest aviation firm to strike a deal following Iran's nuclear accord with world powers.
ATR spokesman David Vargas confirmed the finalized deal for the 20 ATR 72-600s, a twin-propeller aircraft, and said Iran Air had an option to purchase another 20.
"They will definitely help Iran Air to modernize and develop regional connectivity across the country," Vargas told The Associated Press.
Home to 80 million people, Iran represents one of the last untapped aviation markets in the world. However, Western analysts are skeptical that there is demand for so many jets or available financing for deals worth billions of dollars.
Vargas declined to offer a value for the deal with Iran Air. The confirmed portion of the deal is worth $536 million at list prices, though buyers typically negotiate discounts on bulk orders. Iranian state TV described the deal as being worth about $400 million.
The deal also already has the approval of the U.S. Treasury, Vargas said. The Treasury must sign off on aircraft deals when at least 10 percent of the airplanes' components are of American origin. The Treasury could not be immediately reached for comment.
Farhad Parvaresh, the CEO of Iran Air, told the state-run IRNA news agency that the French-Italian company will deliver nine ATR 72-600s in 2017 and the rest in 2018. He said four of the aircraft will arrive within a month after signing the contract.
In February 2016, ATR signed an initial agreement to explore selling the aircraft to Iran Air. ATR is the Toulouse, France-based partnership of Airbus and Italy's Leonardo S.p.A., which specializes in regional turboprop aircraft of 90 seats or less.
The ATR deal comes on the back of the nuclear agreement Iran struck with world powers, which saw Iran agree to limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
That deal allowed airplane manufacturers to rush into the Iranian market.
Boeing has already made a $16.6 billion sale already to Iran Air, while its European rival Airbus signed one estimated to be worth some 22.8 billion euros ($25 billion). The Treasury has signed off on both those deals.
Chicago-based Boeing also signed a $3 billion deal earlier this month to sell 30 737 MAX aircraft to Iran's Aseman Airlines, a firm owned by Iran's civil service pension foundation. The Boeing sales represent the first major deals for an American company in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and U.S. Embassy takeover.
U.S. politicians have expressed concern about the airplane sales to Iran. President Donald Trump remains skeptical of the atomic accord overall and has threatened to renegotiate it, without offering specifics.
ATR spokesman David Vargas confirmed the finalized deal for the 20 ATR 72-600s, a twin-propeller aircraft, and said Iran Air had an option to purchase another 20.
"They will definitely help Iran Air to modernize and develop regional connectivity across the country," Vargas told The Associated Press.
Home to 80 million people, Iran represents one of the last untapped aviation markets in the world. However, Western analysts are skeptical that there is demand for so many jets or available financing for deals worth billions of dollars.
Vargas declined to offer a value for the deal with Iran Air. The confirmed portion of the deal is worth $536 million at list prices, though buyers typically negotiate discounts on bulk orders. Iranian state TV described the deal as being worth about $400 million.
The deal also already has the approval of the U.S. Treasury, Vargas said. The Treasury must sign off on aircraft deals when at least 10 percent of the airplanes' components are of American origin. The Treasury could not be immediately reached for comment.
Farhad Parvaresh, the CEO of Iran Air, told the state-run IRNA news agency that the French-Italian company will deliver nine ATR 72-600s in 2017 and the rest in 2018. He said four of the aircraft will arrive within a month after signing the contract.
In February 2016, ATR signed an initial agreement to explore selling the aircraft to Iran Air. ATR is the Toulouse, France-based partnership of Airbus and Italy's Leonardo S.p.A., which specializes in regional turboprop aircraft of 90 seats or less.
The ATR deal comes on the back of the nuclear agreement Iran struck with world powers, which saw Iran agree to limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
That deal allowed airplane manufacturers to rush into the Iranian market.
Boeing has already made a $16.6 billion sale already to Iran Air, while its European rival Airbus signed one estimated to be worth some 22.8 billion euros ($25 billion). The Treasury has signed off on both those deals.
Chicago-based Boeing also signed a $3 billion deal earlier this month to sell 30 737 MAX aircraft to Iran's Aseman Airlines, a firm owned by Iran's civil service pension foundation. The Boeing sales represent the first major deals for an American company in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and U.S. Embassy takeover.
U.S. politicians have expressed concern about the airplane sales to Iran. President Donald Trump remains skeptical of the atomic accord overall and has threatened to renegotiate it, without offering specifics.
(Nasser Karimi and Jon Gambrell - Associated Press)
AirBridgeCargo expands Asian network with call in fast growing Taipei
(AirBridgeCargo)
AirBridgeCargo Airlines (ABC) has continued the expansion of its operations in Asia with the addition of Taipei to its list of destinations.
ABC will fly to Taipei twice per week utilizing a Boeing 747F aircraft. The new service, which was launched on April 8, will operate from Moscow Sheremetyevo every Wednesday and Saturday, returning via Hanoi in Vietnam.
Sergey Lazarev, general director ABC, said: “Taipei is a mature and stable air cargo market generating volumes close to 500,000 tonnes per annum so it is a major origin, destination and transit point for freight.
"This includes exports of electronic components, machinery, textiles as well as a diverse range of import cargoes.
"We know from listening to customers in Taipei and those in other countries with traffic to and from Taiwan that there is demand for the quality of service and network opportunities AirBridgeCargo is able to offer.
"This is why we are supporting our customers once again with our services and additional capacity in a prime market where they want to work with us.”
ABC said the addition of Taipei means it has doubled its route network for customers in the region in the last two years.
ABC also offers 747F services to and from Tokyo, Seoul, Singapore, Hanoi, Phnom Penh, Hong Kong and the Chinese cities of Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing and Zhengzhou.
The expansion of operations has helped the airline boost volumes from the Asia Pacific region by 25% year on year to more than 265,000 tonnes and said it is "confident of further growth this year".
(AirCargoNews)
IAG Cargo freighter flight caters for pharma demand
(Cygnus Air)
IAG Cargo has launched a new dedicated freighter service between its Madrid hub and Basel to cater for the pharma market.
The cargo group, which offers space on British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus flights, said that the weekly scheduled service will be operated by Spanish airline Cygnus Air using one of its two B757-200F aircraft.
The new service, which flies on Sundays, has been on trial since January and IAG Cargo said it had proved popular with the pharma sector as it offers connections into the group’s Latin America network.
The group added that the service will be “a crucial support to Switzerland’s booming pharmaceutical sector, which makes up more than a third of the country’s export volume”.
It said that 74% of the goods flown out of Switzerland were on its Constant Climate pharma product.
IAG Cargo commercial director David Shepherd said: “IAG Cargo has a flexible network investment strategy where we respond as quickly as possible to customer demand.
“Our latest freighter service underlines our commitment to giving our customers the capacity and routes they need, and further highlights the strength of our industry-leading pharmaceuticals proposition.”
IAG Cargo axed an agreement with Global Supply Systems under which it leased three B747-8Fs on long-haul routes in January 2014, citing overcapacity on the routes the aircraft operated.
Since then, it has been taking space on freighters operated by others. It has scheduled deals with DHL, one of which is also dedicated, Qatar Airways Cargo and Korean Air and also buys tactically – meaning as and when it needs to – from operators out of Latin America, feeding into places like Bridgetown, Barbados and Miami.
Buying tactically allows IAG Cargo to expand and contract capacity depending on requirements.
The B757-200F aircraft used on the new service offers a capacity of 29 tonnes per flight and expands capacity on IAG Cargo’s short-haul freighter network – offered through its partnerships – by 6%.
Last week, IAG Cargo announced a new chief executive, with Lynne Embleton replacing Drew Crawley who had been in the role for just over a year.
(AirCargoNews)
Let Richard Branson kill United Airlines
I found this to be a very interesting read and, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did since I do agree with each point the author brought up!
Michael Carter
Editor and Chief
Aero Pacific Flightlines
Michael Carter
Editor and Chief
Aero Pacific Flightlines
Most semi-frequent travelers have their own private no-fly list—that one airline whose aggressive incompetence and casual cruelty leads them to say “never again.” Even before introducing the term “re-accommodate” into the National Registry of Corporate Euphemisms, United has been that no-go airline for me, the result of a long series of outrages beginning with the near-ruination of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.”
And yet, after grim Expedia searches, I continue to sporadically fly those unfriendly skies, because unlike evil rental car companies (cough *AVIS* cough), air carriers have colluded with government to shield themselves from the consumer-friendly gales of competition. Protectionist legislators have basically made it impossible for us to quit United.
Perhaps you’ve seen that graphic making the rounds, showing how mergers over the last decade have consolidated the largest 11 domestic airlines into a profitable, customer-abusing Big Five? The accompanying BuzzFeed headline is a true enough conclusion: “Airlines Treat You Badly Because They Can.” But like a lot of the how-we-got-here coverage this week, it misses one elephant in the room.
Foreign companies and individuals—think Richard Branson and Virgin Atlantic Airways—are forbidden by U.S. law from owning more than 25% of a domestic airline. That’s why Virgin America could be sold last year to Alaska Airlines over the express wishes of Virgin’s famous founder: He just didn’t have enough votes.
The differently headquartered are banned outright from servicing routes between two American cities, a practice with the sinister-sounding name of cabotage. And carriers from Singapore to the Gulf States are not only barred from competition, but subject to sneering taunts by American legacies from behind the protectionist firewall, such as when United CEO Oscar Munoz this March said that companies including the well-regarded Emirates “aren’t real airlines.”
What on Earth justifies such pre-Trump xenophobic mercantilism in our increasingly globalized world? According to North America’s Air Line Pilots Assn.: “These regulations ensure the national security of our country and the integrity of our airline industry.” Or translated into honest-ese, “These regulations ensure the job security of unionized U.S. nationals and the continued existence of poorly run U.S. airlines.”
The nexus between neglected infrastructure and national security is one of the most reliably insane areas of public policy. Recall the coast-to-coast freakout in 2006 when Dubai Ports World attempted to buy management rights to a half-dozen major U.S. ports. Or, for those of us with longer memories, the shameful panic here in L.A. a quarter century ago when the county awarded a subway-car contract to a company from (shudder) Japan.
In fact, one of the biggest worries among free-market economists about President Trump’s gestating $1-trillion infrastructure bill is that it will contain “buy American, hire American” provisions that would discourage needed investments from foreign companies and financial institutions.
The irony of America’s lagging air travel quality—including the abject lousiness of its airports, which President Trump is absolutely correct about—is that we once led the world in airline innovation. When the domestic industry was deregulated in the mid-1970s, thanks to then-Sen. Ted Kennedy, future Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, liberal economist Alfred Kahn, and President Carter (yes, you read all that right), our trading partners scrambled to become more like us. Then they surpassed us.
It took a couple of decades, but eventually the European Union dismantled subsidies for national carriers, privatized a number of airports (something unheard of here), and let literally hundreds of low-cost airlines run riot. It even allowed some foreign-airline cabotage, on a case-by-case basis. The result is those annoying Instagram pics from friends who live in London, showing off that people in Europe fly everywhere for dirt cheap.
Yes, airlines on the continent come and go faster than New York restaurants. But that’s precisely the point: With real competition comes real failure, hopefully followed by bankruptcy and even liquidation, instead of American-style too-big-to-fail bailouts. How many customers must United pummel before they can Gershwin us no more?
As Marc Scribner of the Competitive Enterprise Institute put it this week: “If American consumers wish to enjoy improved service quality in air travel, they should demand that Congress repeal 90 years of anti-competitive federal law. Less regulation of air travel, not more, is the solution.”
This will be a lonely sentiment in a week when headline-chasers from Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to Democratic Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen elbow each other out with interventionist solutions. But if we really want to punish United Airlines—and Lord, how I’ve dreamed of this day—then letting Richard Branson and his cohort come and compete on American soil will do more to extract justice than a hundred regulators ever could.
(Matt Welch - Los Angeles Times)
Wednesday, April 12, 2017
How FedEx Corporation Makes Most of Its Money
An analysis of operating income by segment reveals much about the underlying earnings trends at the company and what to expect in the future.
How does FedEx Corporation make most of its money? That's a question worth investigating since the company's chief moneymaking segment has changed hands a few times in the past decade. Moreover, a fuller understanding of how the company operates will help investors appreciate what's happening with the investment propositions at FedEx and its main rival, United Parcel Service, Inc. Let's take a closer look.
Express just barely takes the title
A breakout of FedEx's segment operating income shows that, for the first time since 2010, the express segment was the most profitable in 2016. However, ground revenue and profit continue to rise in seemingly inexorable fashion since the last recession. In a sense, you can think of this chart in two periods -- pre- and post-recession:
Data source: FedEx Corporation accounts. Chart by author. In millions of U.S. dollars.
In the pre-recession period, the express segment was clearly the key income generator, but since the 2008-2009 recession, three key underlying trends have changed trading significantly at FedEx.
Post-recession blues
First, post-recession, the market backdrop changed with global trade failing to outgrow GDP growth in the past as countries increasingly adopted mercantilist trade policies. Indeed, the World Trade Organization has warned of increasing protectionism in the global economy.
In addition, customers at UPS and FedEx started preferring cheaper and less time-sensitive deliveries. The result of this trend is slowing growth in the more expensive delivery options in express -- total composite package yield in express is currently around $20, compared with around $8 for ground.
The end result was a relative shift in profitability toward the ground segment and away from express.
E-commerce to the rescue
Second, strong e-commerce growth has led to a marked improvement in revenue and profit for the ground operations at FedEx and UPS:
In the pre-recession period, the express segment was clearly the key income generator, but since the 2008-2009 recession, three key underlying trends have changed trading significantly at FedEx.
Post-recession blues
First, post-recession, the market backdrop changed with global trade failing to outgrow GDP growth in the past as countries increasingly adopted mercantilist trade policies. Indeed, the World Trade Organization has warned of increasing protectionism in the global economy.
In addition, customers at UPS and FedEx started preferring cheaper and less time-sensitive deliveries. The result of this trend is slowing growth in the more expensive delivery options in express -- total composite package yield in express is currently around $20, compared with around $8 for ground.
The end result was a relative shift in profitability toward the ground segment and away from express.
E-commerce to the rescue
Second, strong e-commerce growth has led to a marked improvement in revenue and profit for the ground operations at FedEx and UPS:
U.S. change in e-commerce sales data by YCharts
However, e-commerce doesn't come free. UPS and FedEx have both had issues servicing e-commerce deliveries during peak season. Consequently, capital expenditure plans have been increased and ground margin has come under pressure, particularly at UPS.
These factors show up in operating margin movements. FedEx's ground segment margin has declined in recent years:
However, e-commerce doesn't come free. UPS and FedEx have both had issues servicing e-commerce deliveries during peak season. Consequently, capital expenditure plans have been increased and ground margin has come under pressure, particularly at UPS.
These factors show up in operating margin movements. FedEx's ground segment margin has declined in recent years:
Data source: FedEx Corporation accounts. Chart by author
In addition, return on assets, measured here by segment operating income divided by segment assets, has declined in recent years for the ground segment as the ground network has been expanded.
In addition, return on assets, measured here by segment operating income divided by segment assets, has declined in recent years for the ground segment as the ground network has been expanded.
Data source: FedEx Corporation accounts. Chart by author
All told, ground income grew strongly post-recession, but it's started to slow in recent years because of margin pressure.
Express profit improvement plan
Third, the express segment's productivity has improved since 2013, largely a consequence of the company's profit improvement plan. In late 2012, management announced a three-year plan to cut express costs by some $1.7 billion. The plan involved actions such as modernizing the air fleet, making network efficiencies, and undertaking organizational rationalizations.
These actions have resulted in a margin recovery and a more productive express network in recent years. The end result has helped express take back its position as the leading money spinner for FedEx.
All told, ground income grew strongly post-recession, but it's started to slow in recent years because of margin pressure.
Express profit improvement plan
Third, the express segment's productivity has improved since 2013, largely a consequence of the company's profit improvement plan. In late 2012, management announced a three-year plan to cut express costs by some $1.7 billion. The plan involved actions such as modernizing the air fleet, making network efficiencies, and undertaking organizational rationalizations.
These actions have resulted in a margin recovery and a more productive express network in recent years. The end result has helped express take back its position as the leading money spinner for FedEx.
The FedEx express fleet has been modernized. Image source: FedEx Corporation
Looking ahead
For the next few years, management's focus will be on integrating the TNT Express acquisition, but -- in common with UPS -- it also needs to stop the decline in ground margins so it can best take advantage of burgeoning e-commerce growth. Meanwhile, a recovery in overall growth will be good for FedEx freight, and a concomitant pickup in global trade will particularly benefit the express segment.
Looking ahead
For the next few years, management's focus will be on integrating the TNT Express acquisition, but -- in common with UPS -- it also needs to stop the decline in ground margins so it can best take advantage of burgeoning e-commerce growth. Meanwhile, a recovery in overall growth will be good for FedEx freight, and a concomitant pickup in global trade will particularly benefit the express segment.
(Lee Samaha - The Motley Fool)
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