Qantas 767-300ER Enters Service

Prior to the 1980s, General Electric had a relatively small share of the Australian civil aircraft powerplant market. However over recent years this has changed dramatically. First with the Australian Airlines Airbus A300s, then Ansett’s Boeing 767s and now with Qantas’ Boeing 767-338ERs, the General Electric CF6 family is poised to play an important part for Australian civil aviation, both internally and now on overseas routes. In addition, through their share in CFM, General Electric has seen a large number of the CFM56 family in service here on Boeing 737-300s and others will soon start to arrive as powerplants on Ansett’s Airbus A320s. General Electric is also a major supplier to the Australian military with the F404-GE-400 for the F-18 Hornets, the T700 for the Black Hawks and Seahawks and the LM2500 for the RAN FFG-7 frigates.

In conjunction with the delivery of Qantas’ first 767-338ER, a group of specialist aviation writers including a representative from Australian Aviation was invited to the United States to visit both the General Electric engine plant at Evendale, Cincinnati and various Boeing facilities located around Seattle. This was a timely opportunity to visit both the engine and airframe manufacturers prior to flying from Seattle on the delivery flight of the first aircraft.

The sale of the CF6-80C2B6 engine to Qantas for their Boeing 767-338ER fleet has been the culmination of a long-term effort mounted by General Electric for many years to interest Qantas in their engines. Although General Electric has had success with the sale of their engines to the two major Australian domestic operators, the long awaited sale to Qantas had eluded them until now. Michael Wall, GE Aircraft Engines’ General Manager-AsiaAustralasia Sales told Australian Aviation that GE was absolutely delighted and proud of their new relationship with Qantas. He said that GE had made many sales trips to Qantas over several years. Having won this battle there is no doubt that GE have their goals set on further engine sales to Qantas on both the 747 and 767.

A major arm of the General Electric Company, GE Aircraft Engines had 1987 sales of US$6. 7bn which represents 17% of all General Electric sales. Commercial aircraft engine sales comprised 32% of the total, military 64% and marine and industrial 4%, Research and Development absorbed $885m in 1987, which was about 30% of the overall $3bn spent by the whole General Electric Company on R&D. GE Aircraft Engines is also a joint partner with Snecma in CFM International and they share sales revenue and split work on a 50/50 basis. Production of the CFM56 is currently running at 55 per month and is building to 60 a month. This production rate will ensure that both Airbus and Boeing have no delays with the receipt of powerplants for the A320 and 737.

GE Aircraft Engines has 37,800 employees with its main plants at Evendale, Ohio and Lynn, Massachusetts. There are other smaller plants each employing about 2,000. By far the largest is Evendale with 17,500 employees and a 6. 6 million sq ft floor space. It was originally a Curtiss-Wright engine plant in World War II. Although externally not much has changed since that time, internally the plant is state of the art. In particular, the cleanliness of the plant, considering its huge size and large workforce is quite remarkable and is indicative of GE’s approach. The success of the market penetration of GE aircraft engines can be illustrated by the fact that as at August 1988, 6,196 engines were installed in 2,515 large commercial aircraft. Of these, 3,032 CF6 engines were fitted to 912 aircraft and had accumulated 63. 4m flight hours. These aircraft had an overall 99. 86% despatch reliability and a 02/1000 hours in flight shutdown rate {this represents one shutdown per 50,000 hours).

The CF6 family stems from the 41,000lb thrust TF39 originally fitted to the Lockheed C-5A Galaxy in the mid 1960s. The first version to enter service was the 40,000lb CF6-6 installed in the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 Series 10 in 1971. Since then the engine was developed to the extent where the CF6-80C2B6 delivered to Qantas now offers 60,800lb static thrust. Vince DiGiovanni, Manager CF6 Market Development told Australian Aviation that current development plans for the CF6-80E1 version would see the availability of a 70,000lb powerplant for the Airbus A330 and a stretched Boeing 767 by the early 1990s. This could be further increased to 72,000lb by 1994 if materials and the technology to manufacture are available.

The prime reason for the GE engine sale to Qantas is its suitability for EROPS use on the Boeing 767-338ER. Although currently restricted to 90 minutes, GE are expecting this to be progressively extended universally to 120 minutes and later 180 minutes during 1989. Another plus for GE is that this powerplant is fully interchangeable between the Boeing 767-338ER and the 747-400. This latter point is sure to provide for intense competition amongst the three major powerplant manufacturers for Qantas’ 747 business in the years ahead.

Although General Electric are the newcomers as powerplant suppliers to Qantas they are confident of the future. They stress very much their commitment to quality and support for their product. The Senior Vice President in charge of the GE Aircraft Engines Group, Brian Rowe has said, “The primary objective of GE Aircraft Engines will be the support of our customers”. This attitude was echoed throughout the plant during our visit. General Electric has fought hard for the new relationship with Qantas and it is a position they very much want to expand.

At Seattle we inspected the Boeing 747/767 line at Everett which is a scene of high activity. Amongst a multitude of aircraft on the assembly line inside the vast Everett building, Qantas’ second 767-338ER was well advanced while outside, the Martinair Combi PH-MCF which will be chartered by Qantas for several months was resplendent in a variation of the usual Qantas colour scheme.

Production of all models of 747s is now running at 6 per month and testing of the 747-400 is well advanced for FAA certification during the course of this issue. The third 747-400, an aircraft for Cathay Pacific with Rolls-Royce RB211-524Gs had its first flight on 28 August, the day before our visit. The fuselage is currently installed with a plethora of test equipment and is in contrast to the interior it will display when delivered next April. A total of 872 747s have been sold at early September with 701 delivered. Sales of the 747-400 stand at 153 aircraft to 20 customers.

The sales situation for the Boeing 767 is progressing well with 301 aircraft to 34 customers including 52 767-300ERS. Qantas has been instrumental in increasing the gross weight of the 767-300ER to 407,000lbs and this standard has been adopted by Boeing. Boeing executives said that although current EROPS limitations of 90 or 120 minutes depending on the model, pres- ently apply, the eventual 180 minutes approval will open up a whole new era for large twinjet operations. (Refer p. 17 May 88 AA) At present the 767 (and its long range twinjet cousins) is prevented from flying across the Central Atlantic and from South America to Africa but the biggest problem is their current inability to fly between the US West Coast and Hawaii. The granting of 180 minute EROPS would enable Qantas to fly from Australia to the USA via Hawaii, a not insignificant point considering the present granting of up to eleven destinations in Qantas’ new US network. (Refer Airline Affairs).

Even until that approval is granted, the range of the 767-338ER would enable Qantas to fly distances such as Sydney/Honolulu, Sydney/Tokyo, Sydney/Beijing and Sydney/ Bombay with a 407,000lb MTOW and full passenger payload. Boeing offer an interesting comparison between the 767 and 747 by explaining that the 767 is half the size, carries half the passengers and half the fuel of the 747. It is this size of aircraft which will give Qantas the flexibility it needs now and in the years ahead. As for future 767 improvements, Boeing are studying winglets for the 767 and they will probably be introduced in three years time. There is also the possibility of a stretched 767-400 powered by more powerful engines such as the GE CF6-80E1, PW4000 or RB211-524H. There is little doubt that the current -200 and -300 versions are the forerunners of a much larger family to follow in the years ahead.

Qantas’ first Boeing 767-338ER (QF’s 72nd Boeing airliner) VH-OGA ‘City of Whyalla’ first flew on 26 August. Valued at SA130m with spares, it is the first of five such aircraft on order. Four will be delivered this year with the fifth aircraft due September 1989. As it was the first aircraft of its type for Qantas, it had flown more hours than was usual prior to the delivery flight from Paine Field, Everett. The additional hours were used for performance testing of the General Electric CF6-80C2B6. At the time of departure from Paine Field, VH-OGA had flown 22 hours while 8-10 hours is more the norm. The Qantas crew for the flight to Australia comprised Captains Alan Bones, Manager Flight Technical and Development, who was in command, Ken Davenport, Flight Operations Manager and Peter Laing, Check Captain 767s.

Prior to departure on 30 August, Captain Bones alerted us to the fact that this would be a short takeoff. At 12. 17pm local time, VH-OGA departed Paine Field with a sparkling rate of acceleration and initial rate of climb. With a 120,000kg Brake Release Weight (max BRW is 184,615kg), the V1 121kt, VR 129kt and V2 140kt speeds were reached very rapidly. For this first leg of the delivery flight there were 25 people on board. We departed from the Seattle area with both snow capped Mt Rainier and the volcanic Mt St Helens appearing magnificently through a mantle of cloud beneath their summits. Setting a course 200 miles out to sea, VH-OGA intercepted an Alaska/Los Angeles track and then turned south.

The crew members said they were impressed with the General Electric powerplant. Some of the reasons advanced were smoothness, quietness, the ease of engine relights and the general overall performance. Captain Davenport said Qantas would now be in a good position to evaluate engines from all the three engine manufacturers when the Rolls-Royce RB211-524G engined 747-400s were received next year. We landed at Los Angeles at 3. 16pm and left the Boeing 767-338ER to join a regular Qantas flight later that evening. After VH-OGA was refuelled, it continued the delivery flight to Honolulu for an overnight stop before setting out on the Honolulu/Sydney leg for an arrival in Sydney on 1 September.

The Boeing 767-338ER differs primarily from Qantas’ earlier 767-238ER aircraft with a fuselage extension of 121 inches in front of and 132 inches behind the wing. This enables an additional 40 passengers to be carried in a three class configuration. The MTOW is up from 345,000lb to 407,000lb and this is compensated for by the greater power of the GE CF6-80C2B6 engines. Fuel capacity is increased as are passenger and freight loads. The flight deck layout is identical to that of the 767-238ER. The configuration of the first and business class areas is a departure from previous arrangements. In the 767-338ER the front of the aircraft is bisected down the middle with a dividing partition in the centre of the cabin. This arrangement provides for six first class seats (three rows of two) on the right side of the right aisle and 17 business class seats on the left side of the aircraft arranged two seats to the left and one to the right of the left aisle. This is an unusual configuration to say the least and it will be interesting to see if it wins long term acceptance. Qantas’ 767-200s are configured in a business/economy arrangement and the airline has gone to great lengths to integrate a first class into its latest 767 twinjets.

Typical of the enthusiastic Qantas reaction to their new 767-338ER fleet, was that of Ernst Krolke, the airline’s Manager of Fleet Planning and scheduling. He said he was particularly excited about the greatly increased flexibility which will be introduced through the entire Qantas fleet. What should be realised is that the influence of this aircraft extends into many parts of the whole Qantas network. This will be particularly evident in a major restructuring of several services and the introduction of additional ones from late October. (Refer p. 15/16 July 88 AA) Mr Krolke said that the first of the 767-338ERS would be used on Trans-Tasman services and as additional aircraft were received, they would be placed on other routes.

The prime intention is to use the 767-338ER on routes involving a long overnight sector. Qantas feels that the six sleeper, 17 business class and 208 economy seats will give it a particularly attractive configuration for these flights. By mid December with four 767-338ERs in the fleet, they will be certainly earning their keep. On a weekly basis they will be operating the following services; 6 Brisbane/Singapore flights, 5 Melbourne/Singapore, 1 Adelaide/Singapore and trans-Tasman routes from Sydney to Auckland and Sydney to Wellington. The average utilisation will be about 12 hours a day.

Ernst Krolke said that one important side benefit of the Qantas 767-338ER deliveries will be that they will enable their Boeing 767-238ERS to be released to operate other routes. Qantas’ seven 767-238ER aircraft were delivered between July 1985 and August 1987. With the estimated establishment cost of $15m behind them, Qantas is now reaping the benefits which had flowed from the types’ introduction into their fleet. From late October, Qantas 767-238ERs will be flying Perth/Singapore/ Bangkok four times a week. Other new Qantas 767-238ER services will be weekly flights from Adelaide/Singapore/Bombay and Townsville/Darwin/Singapore/Bombay with both of these returning to Townsville and a second Perth/Tokyo service. This latter service is the longest non stop sector currently operated by Qantas 767s with a scheduled 10hr 10min and 10hr 25min for the return flight to Perth. The twice a week extension by Boeing 767-238ĒR to Bombay is interesting in that it will mark the end of Qantas Boeing 747 services to Bombay. The imposition of new fuel taxes at Bombay has made it a very expensive location to take on fuel and as a consequence the 767s are being introduced to reduce fuel costs.

This ever widening Qantas Boeing 767 network is indicative of the versatility of the aircraft. It was not so long ago that Qantas was actively promoting its all 747 fleet status. If it was a perfect world for airlines and they only operated from large cities with consistently high load factors, then the 747 is certainly the aircraft to operate. However, as is becoming increasingly evident, the reality is much more difficult and airlines like Qantas are faced with the need to operate to ports of differing sizes. Qantas’ steadily improving profitability is directly attributable to the skilled balance they maintain with their 747 and 767 operations.

The advances in technology have brought about a transformation for the airlines with aircraft like the 767-338ER. Twenty years ago, Qantas’ then flagship the Boeing 707-338C with a 338,000lb gross weight, carried 20 first class and 120 economy passengers or 165 passengers in an all economy configuration over distances comparable to today’s 767s. The Qantas Boeing 767-338ER with a 407,000lb gross weight will carry its 231 passengers with much greater economy. The newer aircraft is about 20% heavier than the 707 but carries a 40% greater passenger load and substantially more freight. Its per seat/ kilometre fuel burn is more than 50% better than the 707! It is also, through the inclusion of a multitude of improvements, a much more attractive proposition for both crew and passenger alike. It would have been unimaginable in the 1960s that a twin-engined long distance jet airliner could offer so much.

The scenario for Qantas in 1989 is certainly looking increasingly exciting and optimistic. The fuel efficient 767 family will continue to consolidate their position on routes which are tailor made for them. And the new 747-400 series aircraft due for delivery from April 1989 onwards are certain to enjoy similar success in their chosen domain, the high density long haul routes. With the outlook for tourism into Australia continuing to indicate a steady growth rate and the economic indicators, both domestically and internationally looking quite favourable, Qantas will be well placed to take advantage of the opportunities in the international air transport arena.