Newsdesk – Commercial Aviation

In Catch 22, every time a WW2 bomber crew approached the end of its mandatory tour of ops, the base CO raised the number of ops so that nobody ever survived. Sounds silly, well unfortunately real life can be even less logical as just when the Australian civil aviation community has been bleeding to death to pay for its aviation bureaucracy, the goal posts are allow for even more avi- moved to be initiated.

From July 1, action, when the Civil Aviation Authority is scheduled to become operational, the former $20 Departure Tax will revert to a charge of $10 wh action Fee will be d while the il conceived $5 Immigr dropped e entirely after threat of court action from the airlines. The income from the $10 Departure Tax will now go entirely to consolidated revenue which means a shortfall of around $80m in 1988/89. The aviation community will now be additionally responsible for raising this amount to fund the new CAA and FAC.

AA Comment – It is worth noting that both the FAC and CAA will have problems in depreciating their corporate structures due to the valuation procedures being placed on their assets reflecting inflated replacement costs standards rather than the historical cost status that most feel is justified.

In other words, the rent you pay on that forty year old hangar is technically made equivalent to what it would be 1f the hangar was demolished and replaced with a brand new 1988 version. You end up therefore paying a highly inflated cost (the hangar is merely an example of how the system works) for something that is not truly representative of the value artificially placed on it. What this means is that the entire industry will also be forced to pay unrealistic rentals for goods and services which are deliberately over priced And all this at a time when the FAC is still deliberately denying private companies like Ansett and Qantas the right to lurid construction of their own terminals at selected airports. . .

When the CAA takes to wing on July 1, It will boast one employee for each civil aircraft in Australia an unprecedented ratio that 1s unequalled anywhere in the world. If you have had enough of being bled dry then write to the ministers concerned, Senator Gareth Evans or Peter Morris, c/o Parliament House, Canberra, ACT, 2600. In addition why not I0m the industry body that best represents your interests and help put an end to this Catch 22 attitude of our political masters.

 Airbus Consortium to Form Into a Corporation:

The goverments of the partner companies comprising the multinational European airliner manufacturer, Airbus, have agreed to sweeping changes in the upper level management of the company.

Airbus Industrie will now move towards establishing a supervisory board of 5 members that in turn would oversee a working board of 7 members. A financial director would also be appointed with responsibility for full cost accounting of Al from 1992 onwards while senior Al positions would also be open to people from all nationalities.

The move would also allow a greater use of sub contracting as supply of parts and components would be opened to the international marketplace in a greater form than it presently is.

Qantas Selects Collins Sensors and Data Link for 747-400:

Qantas has selected a package of advanced digital avionics for their new fleet of 747-400 aircraft from the Collins Air Transport Division of Rockwell International.

The Collins series 700 avionics ordered by Qantas includes the new DLM-700B Data Link system and the following communications and navigation sensors: the new TPR-720 mode S ATC transponder, automatic direction finder, high frequency transceiver, distance measuring equipment, instrument landing system receiver, VHF comm and VOR navigation receiver.

Qantas has also ordered the Collins WXR-700 digital Doppler weather radar with a WXI-711 dedicated weather radar display. The new Boeing 747-400 will also include, as standard equipment, an integrated display system, an autopilot flight director system and a central maintenance computer system, all provided by the Rockwell division.

Boeing to Study Big-Wing 767:

Boeing are investigating the feasibility of offering a big-wing option on all models of the 767 twinjet, including the as yet officially unlaunched 767-400.

The new wing would be around one third greater in area and forty feet wider in overall span. The new wing would also carry more fuel, possibly feature drag reducing winglets and a sweep angle more in line with the ultra long-range operations it is principally intended for.

The new wing would be primarily optimised for the 767-400, which is a stretched version of the existing-300 and possibly an even greater capacity version designated the -500 which would compete head to head with Airbus Industrie’s A330. Boeing claim though that there isn’t a market for the A330 class of airliner though industry pundits also note that the Seattle manufacturer was saying the same thing about the A320 when Al launched that ultimately very successful project in 1984.

The new wing would also be available for very long-range versions of the existing 767-200 and 300 models though principally the -400 would trade range for capacity and would typically be used on routes of less than 5000 miles.

Primary brake on extending the range potential of the largest 767 is the requirement to remain within the thrust limits of existing and immediately proposed powerplants. All three existing 767 variants are optimised around powerplants of a maximum takeoff thrust rating of 63,000lb which corresponds with GE, Pratt & Whitney and Rolls Royce engines that will be certificated by 1992.

Updated Coalition Aviation Policy Released:

Coalition Aviation Spokesman, Julian Beale, launched the Opposition parties’ aviation policy in Canberra on May 30th.

The policy is essentially similar to that released in 1986 in that it supports a 100% privatisation of both Australian and Qareas with strict provisions on foreign ownership, etc. Companies and individuals associated with, or owning shares in, arival airline are limited to an involvement of no more than 10% in either carrier, while no foreign ownership at all of Qantas would be allowed.

Other aspects of the policy dealt with supporting the building of a third runway at Mascot, retention of Badgery’s Creek’ as Sydney’s next major airport and the institution of a review of the CAA and its legislation to ensure it serves the needs of the industry rather than merely its own.

The Coalition also supports domestic airline deregulation though does not support the policy of encouraging a merger between Qantas, Air New Zealand and Australian Airlines, an idea that surfaced at the political level in March but quickly died a natural death upon the altar of corporate reality.

 1987 a Big Year for Us Regionals:

Figures recently released by the US Regional Airline Association indicate the enormity of this sector of air transport

The 169 US regionals uplifted 31. 7m passengers in 1987, an increase of 18% over 1986 and around two and a half times greater than Australia’s total domestic passenger uplift for the same period! In the USA there are 9 airlines that are classified as regionals that are as large or larger than our own East-West Airlines. The average number of passengers enplaned for 1987 was 187,000 (up 18%) while the average seating capacity increased to 19 seats. While the total fleet grew by only 2% to 1,841 aircraft, hours flown remained static reflecting a viable increase in productivity and revenue load factors. Average sector length was 130nm while Revenue Passenger Kilometres exceeded 9 million for the first time ever Regionals also posted a greater growth than did the majors which between them uplifted 450m passengers, a growth over 1986 of 7. 6% Even the regionals are getting big though and last year the leading 20 operators claimed just more than three quarters of all commuter passenger movements. Equipment trendines pointed towards a rapid reduction in the number of piston engined 9/10 seat Chieftain and 404 dass aircraft while most carriers re-equipped with modern propjets in the 19 and 30/36 seat class.

 Boeing’s Ugly Duckling Comes of Age:

An aircraft the entire industry continuously liked to knock as an also-ran and a commercial failure, was the elegant Boeing 757.

Indeed, the only people not knocking the 75 were its operators who knew all along that they had the most fuel efficient airliner ever built. Nowadays the knockers though are having second thoughts as the 757’s time has well and truly come with sales and options on the twinjet amounting to a almost 200 aircraft in the April May period alone! Boeing jointly launched its two twingets back in 1978. At the time the twin aisle 767 was optimised prima primarily as a challenger to the successful Airbus A300 and A310. The smaller 757 however was aimed specifically at the 727 replacement market. The genesis of this concept was that as air traffic grew, most airlines would choose to replace their 150 seaters with aircraft of around 170/190 seats.

Unfortunately, deregulation led to a massive growth in the new phenomenon of hub and spoke operations and it was thus the 757’s smaller cousin, the 737, which began to capture the the airlines attention. On top of this came a severe recession through the early eighties which slashed growth and reduced the spectre of overcrowded airports the very thing the 757 had been designed to alleviate by way of its larger capacity Falling of prices through the mid eightes also took its toll as many airlines decided to remain with their economically revitalised 727 fleets.

What this resulted in, was a much lower than expected demand for the 757 which at March 1988 had recorded ended firm sales of only 246 air- craft in nearly ten years of availability In the meantime, the larger 767 had stayed ahead of the 757 in the sales race by a slim, though consistent margin largely thanks to the initially unexpected market opportunities by its long range EROPS opened up capabilities. However, during May this situation altered dramatically as 757 sales soared to 359 units (64 up on the the 767) as American Airlines signed for up t to 100 and United for an additional 60 These large orders were mooted back in our September 87 edition (p7) but due to the October 87 stock market crash, the mega orders were put on the back burner while the airlines regained sufficient confidence to proceed.

As the monthly production rate increases from 4 to a minimum of 7 aircraft, Australian industry also benefits as HdH and ASTA are the exclusive suppliers of all 757 inspar ribs with BAe Australia and Dunlop providing door components and assemblies.

International Safety Seminar:

The Flight Safety Foundation will hold its 41st annual International Aviation Safety Seminar this December 5-8 at the Sydney Hilton.

The seminar will present an internationally recognised group of aviation experts speaking on a variety of current and important aviation safety subjects. Speakers will address flight

Boeing Cop Flak Over Quality Control Standards:

Boeing, the world’s largest manufacturer of airliners, has been in trouble lately with some of its biggest customers over varying standards of its new aircraft.

Boeing’s number one customer, Japan Air Lines, publicly moved to openly criticise the Seagle airframer after finding that vital engine temperature sensors had been installed in reverse order meaning that it would have been almost impossible to monitor or rectify an engine overheating problem if it had eventuated. One day later a new JAL 747 had to abort a takeoff following engine problems due to an incorrectly mounted engine sensor.

JAL’s major competitor, ANA, also suffered the inflight disintegration of an outer wing flap aboard one of its 767s during its first commercial flight. The Japanese are particularly sensitive about such matters, particularly where they concern Boeing, since that company admitted responsibility in botching a repair of the rear pressure bulkhead on one of JAL’s 747s which subsequently crashed in August 1985 with a loss of 521 lives.

It is not only the Japanese who are edgy though. British Airways, which operates well over one hundred Boeing aircraft, also publicly cited a number of primary deficiencies in quality control that have affected aircraft delivered over the past year.

Not helping the situation was the spectacular mid air near breakup of the Aloha 737 which fortunately was able to make a safe emergency landing at Maui with the loss of only one life. This accident was prescribed to structural failure through suspected fatigue of the horizontal lap splice and the fuselage stringer frames caused by the age, usage and operating environment of this particular 737. The Aloha 737 was a 1969 build aircraft that had flown some 35,000hrs for an amazing 89,000 cycles.

The only other 737 to have flown that number of cycles is also owned by Aloha and it is now permanently grounded. The aircraft operate in a humid, salt ridden environment with average flight sectors of barely a half hour. Though Boeing quality control is not at fault here, the accident could not have come at a worse time for the company’s faltering image.

Ansett New Zealand Boeing 737s, despite being the first off the line, are not affected by the series of emergency FAA Airworthiness Directives which were quickly put out following the accident. Ansett New Zealand has also moved to publicly confirm its purchase of 5 737-500s for delivery through 1990 to replace its present 737-100s Boeing meanwhile have placed the blame for the manufacturing oversights on having to rapidly expand their workforce to be able to cope with the increasing output of its product lines. In the Everett division alone, some 3,000 new people have joined the company in recent months as 747 production moves from 2 to 5 and 767 production from 3 to 5 a month by mid 1989. Boeing 737 production is also running at 14 a month and the 757 is likewise scheduled for a substantial increase following a recent sales surge for the type.

Airline Anti-smoking Movement Grows:

Effective April 23, all domestic US passenger fights of less than two hours duration became non smoking services. Northwest Airlines however, has taken this a step further and placed a blanket ban on smoking on all internal US US services aboard its 300+ aircraft.

In announcing the move, a a Northwest spokesman stated that the airline had taken this course of action as an average more t than 80% of its passengers clearly wanted a non smoking flight Northwest also stated that t was concerned about the health of its fight crews, the vast majority of whom favoured the ban, who have to work in cabin zones where the long-term effects of smoke are far greater than that experienced by the ave average passenger. Northwest hopes that it will gain additional uplift from the non smoking majority who prefer and appreciate a totally smoke free cabin. Air Wisconsin has also taken a similar stance and has banned sm smoking on on all its flight as have the vast ajority of North America’s 200 plus regional arlines. Meanwhile, Geoffrey Lipman, Executive Director of the International Foundation of Airline Passengers Assn (IFAPA), has stated that most western carriers will ban smoking on short to medium range fights within three to five years.

Locally, smoking will be banned on all interstate coach services effective July 1st. Theban has met with widespread support from major coach and transport operators

Three Australian Firms Receiving Boeing Contracts:

Boeing has awar ded contracts to three Australian firms for production of components for its model 757 and 737 aircraft. The contracts are for 50 ship-sets each and are due to commence in early 1989.

British Aerospace of Australia will produce 757 passenger door components. Dunlop Aerospace will supply 757 passenger door link assemblies while PTA Engineering of Launceston will furnish wing leading edge bracket assemblies for the model 737.

The e awards result from a supplier evaluation conducted by a Boeing team last year at the request of the Australian Government’s Department of Industry. Technology and Commerce. In the course of the evaluation the Boeing team reviewed more than 20 firms’ potential for becoming suppliers.

Boeing has to date placed orders in excess of $A350m within Australia and currently has an outstanding offset commitment of several hundred million dollars more which needs to be contracted to Australian industry. Australian firms already working with Boeing include Hawker de Havilland, a supplier since 1971 which provides wing inspar ribs for the hot selling 757 and leading edge flaps to the 747 programme and Aerospace Technologies of Australia (ASTA) which works as sub contractor with HOH on the 757 and 747 programmes.

Air New Zealand Retains Rolls Power:

Air New Zealand has selected the Rolls Royce RB211-524G, of 58,000lb thrust, for its first 747-400.

The NZ flag carrier already has five RR powered 747-200s in service and while presently having only one of the new -400s on order, it is expected that ANZ will acquire up to a dozen of these aircraft over the coming decade.

hat The RB211-524G has now been ordered or optioned for 57 747-400s by British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Qantas and now Air New Zea land. ANZ’s 747-400 is due for delivery in July of next year, a month or two after Qantas is due to receive its first of type

ILFC Sign Massive Jet Order:

International Lease Finance Corporation of Beverley Hills, California has signed the largest civil jet order in history.

The order, valued potentially at over $8bn, covers some 170 jets covering every product of both Boeing and Airbus. Total order is for 124 Boeings (100+24) and 46 Airbus aircraft (30+ -16) comprising 78+19 7378, 4+1 747-4005, 9+2 7578, 9+2 7678, 4+2 A300-600s, 6+1 A310-300s, 18+11 A320s and 2+2 A340s. ILFC already has previous lease agreements on various members of the Boeing line in addition to the Airbus Industrie A320 and A330 twinjets. Deliveries are scheduled to run between 1988 and 1995.

Boeing Twins Set New Distance Records:

Proving that twinjets don’t necessarily have to be restricted to short to medium range sectors, Boeing recently set two new type distance records with delivery flights of its 757 and 767 twinjets.

A Rolls Royce RB211-535E4 powered 757 flew 4,985nm (9,244km) non stop from Seattle to Palma de Mallorca in Spain during its delivery flight to Air Europa during April. The 10 hour, 21 minute flight was made with 35 persons aboard while fuel used on the flight was 31,900kgs (10,496 US gals). Boeing 757s are beginning to be used more frequently in EROPS operations and are now flying the transatlantic with UK charter operator Monarch.

a lengthen- Another EROPS performer with an Ing track records is the 767 Boeing also scored yet another type record with this aircraft within days of of the 757’s crossing with a non stop eastbound delivery fight from Seattle to Mauritius. On delivery to Air Mauritius, the GE CFG powered 767-200ER few the 7,575nm (14,044km) in 16 hours and 27 minutes with 39 passengers and crew. Air Mauritius will use their new 767-200ER to operate 13 hour non stop services linking the Indian Ocean resort with London and Europe.