Newsdesk — Commercial Aviation

Besides planned US deliveries, at least ten Airbus airliners are scheduled to be delivered to the Middle East this year, including to Egyptair and Royal Jordanian. These airlines are at present facing real operational crises because of the Gulf War, Royal Jordanian for instance having had to move its fleet to Tunis because of increased insurance charges. Deliveries to these carriers may prove difficult because of their operational problems, possibly necessitating some special delivery arrangements. Ironically, one alternative Al customer is Kuwait Airways, which now has insurance money for its aircraft seized by Iraq in Kuwait and can therefore look to purchasing replacements.

On top of current crises, there remains uncertainty as to how many aircraft may be ordered in the near future. While 1990 exceeded all of Al’s expectations, the current worldwide financial and political climate may affect orders and therefore delivery schedules. Airlines may be forced to seek delays in deliveries if the travel market plummets further and costs continue to rise.

First 737-3000CS to Awas:

Ansett Worldwide have established a first with the conversion of three new 737-300s to Quick Change (QC) configuration.

The 737s have been delivered direct from Boeing to Pemco (ex Hayes) in Alabama before entering service with Scandinavian operator, Linjeflyg. After flying regular daytime passenger schedules with Linjeflyg the 7378 will then be converted, a 30 minute process, for nighttime freight operations by Falcon Aviation on behalf of the Swedish Post Office.

Both Boeing and AWAS are keen to promote the 7370C concept and consider it a viable option for airlines to gain additional productivity from their airliner investment.

Rising Scrap Rate:

Avmark has noted that scrapping of older model airliners is again on the increase.

Prior to the early 1980s entire generations of post war transports quite literally vanished from the skies within just a few short years. The DC-48, -6s and -7s, Connies, Britannias, Convair 240/340/440s, Viscounts and Electras “had their short moments in the sun and were gone”, the victims of permanent retirements and subsequent scrapping. These were followed soon after by the Comets, Caravelles, Convair 880s, 707s and DC-8 non fans. In 1980-85 some 769 aircraft were scrapped, 13% of the total fleet.

But in 1986 scrapping virtually ceased, with just 220 aircraft scrapped, or less than 1% of the fleet. Now, however, it has been forecast that scrapping will rise dramatically to some 570 aircraft per year by 1993-bear in mind that between 1958 and 1990 just 1,553 jetliners were scrapped. A rapidly decreasing demand for older model jetliners is blamed for the situation, it being more profitable in many cases to scrap rather than sell. Which leads Avmark to say “If any lessors of old Stage 2 aircraft are wondering whose aircraft are going to the breaker, [then be assured that, unfortunately, they are most likely YOURS”.

Aerospatiale Logs 1990 Success:

Aerospatiale continued its “exceptional” performance in 1990, with strong sales in all its areas of interest.

At the beginning of 1990, Aerospatiale’s order backlog was valued at some FFr90bn (SA23. 7bn), this figure climbing to FF120bn (SA31. 5bn) by the end of the year. Substantial revenue was generated from sales by the Airbus and ATR consortiums, and from Aerospatiale helicopters (289 sold, 92% to export customers, with Japan being the leading export customer with 80 orders) and space transport equipment and satellites. Exports accounted for 66% of orders and 60% of sales during 1990, valued at nearly FFr20bn (SA5. 3bn) of the total FFr32bn ($AB. 4bn) of sales recorded. This strong performance is expected to be maintained during 1991, with sales reaching the FFr40bn ($A10. 5bn) mark.

 Melbourne Atc Delays “Virtually Nil”:

Air traffic control delays at Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport have been cut to virtually nil following a return to normal operations and the introduction of simultaneous runway operations (SIMOPS).

CAA Chief Executive, Frank Baldwin, said the end of the control delays at Melbourne comes after two years of negotiations, during which time the CAA spent about $6m upgrading ATC radar to provide satisfactory air traffic control equipment. According to Mr Baldwin, “The improvement over the past two months has also been due to goodwill and professionalism on the part of the controllers at Tullamarine. ” The elimination of the delays is expected to save operators at least $9m a year in direct operating costs.

The delays have been reduced by increasing the number of arrivals to not less than 20 per hour, leading to a 60% reduction in airborne delays over Melbourne. Further improvements have brought the hourly land- ings average up to 24 for single runway operations, while on 1 February Melbourne controllers commenced simultaneous landing operations with even more encouraging results. For instance on the first day, during the busiest 30 minutes of between 7. 30am and 8. 00am there were 13 arrivals, an hourly landings rate of 26. Just two aircraft were delayed for 3-4 minutes. Within a week an hourly average of 34 landings was achieved during peak periods, with no holding delays. A job well done.

 State Aid to Be Sought for Dhc:

The ATR consortium have signalled that they will seek Canadian Government support for De Havilland Canada if their negotiations to buy the company succeed.

The ATR consortium, jointly owned by French company Aerospatiale and the Italian company Alenia, have proposed to continue aircraft manufacture at DHC. The government aid is stated as being for “research and development work”, though aid will probably also be sought to finance a restructuring of DHC. Whilst concern had been expressed by the Canadians that DHC would become merely a parts manufacturer, ATR have signalled that the company will in fact “participate on an equal footing with Aerospatiale and Alenia in the development, assembly and manufacture of a new commuter family to address the 80 to 130 seat capacity market. This development will offer the opportunity for De Havilland to receive a transfer of technology from its parent companies in the field of jet powered aircraft. ” Besides aircraft construction, DHC will also produce major subsystems for Boeing, Airbus and ATR.

In the meantime, DHC is continuing production of the Dash 8-100 and -300 series aircraft, though development of the -400 has been placed on indefinite hold.

DC-9 Noise Reduction Kit Certified:

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted full certification for a noise reduction kit to bring JT8D poered DC-9-10s within Stage 3 noise levels.

The DC-9 noise reduction kit is a joint effort between the ABS Partnership and original manufacturer Pratt & Whitney. The kit enables operators to not only quieten their fleets but also meet Stage 3 regulations which are progressively coming into force in ICAO member nations. With this in mind, the kit is also a useful tool for extending the otherwise now limited service life of the DC-9, the kitting of the engines at $US1. 2m per aircraft in the short term being a much cheaper alternative to reengineering or buying new aircraft. The noise reduction kit consists of an acoustically treated inlet and tailpipe, modified thrust reverser and the Pratt & Whitney advanced technology internal exhaust mixer. The internal exhaust mixer combines fan and core air in the tailpipe, reducing the velocity of the hot core exhaust and reducing low frequency jet noise.

Also expected to be certified in the near future is a similar noise reduction kit for P&W JT8D-7 and 9 powered DC-9-30s. These latter hush kits are expected to cost between $US1. 5m and $US1. 9m depending on engine and aircraft weight configuration. There are almost 100 DC-9-10/20 and around 580-30 aircraft still in active service.

Rolls-Royce Joins Sst Study:

Rolls-Royce has joined a Japanese initiated study into future supersonic transport (SST) and hypersonic transport (HST) propulsion systems.

Rolls-Royce is now the fourth foreign company to join the seven company study. Also involved are Japanese companies Ishikawa- jima-Harima Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries along with Pratt & Whitney, General Electric and SNECMA. Such cooperation is a welcome feature of studies into future SST transport and the necessary powerplants, the engines being perhaps the most important technological feature of the SST and that which presents the greatest challenges.

The design study will involve research and development of new technologies essential to a combined cycle engine, integration of a high performance turbojet, and a new propulsion technology ramjet which is aimed at high reliability and fuel efficiency from low speed to Mach 5, with a low environmental impact. Rolls-Royce will be responsible for research into a low pollution combustor.