Commercial Aircraft Sales

Airliner Subsidy Row Flares:

Fresh allegations that Airbus Industrie has been unfairly subsidised by European governments has reignited this long running battle between the US and Europe.

New allegations that European subsidies are damaging America’s competitiveness have been followed by the introduction into Congress of legislation designed to counter the ‘unfair’ competition. A US International Trade Commission study suggests that as a result of government subsidies, Airbus was able to pare back the US manufacturers’ market share from a high of 81% in 1988 to just 64% in 1992, saying that the consortium has received over $US13. 5bn in direct gov- emment support.

In its defence, Airbus points out that all of its government support has been in the form of repayable loans, and that indirect sponsorship from NASA and the Pentagon has greatly supported the two US manufacturers. Indeed, Airbus indicates it is highly unlikely that Boeing would have been able to proceed with its jetliner family had it not built some 700 plus KC-135 tankers for the USAF, while the 60 KC-10 Extenders or dered from Douglas was no doubt a great aid in keeping open the DC-10 line in preparation for the MD-11.

Despite the complaints, Boeing still holds a market share of almost 60%, a figure al- most unheard in other industrial manufacturing sectors.

 New small engine Consortium Formed:

A new collaborative agreement between Snecma, MTU, General Electric and Pratt & Whitney has been signed to develop a new 12,000 to 20,000lb thrust class turbofan.

In competition with the BMW Rolls-Royce BR700, the four companies have recently signed a memorandum of understanding for the new engine and talks will now take place with prospective Japanese partners.

Currently the two European manufacturers will take a 30% in the programme, with the remaining 40% to be divided among P&W and GE, plus any Japanese partners who choose to join. A final agreement is due to be signed early in the new year, allowing full scale development to proceed with a view to achieving certification in 1998.

As with the BR 700 series, the new engine will be aimed at large business jets and small airliners.

Boeing’s 1000th 747:

September 10 saw another aviation milestone logged as Boeing proudly rolled out the 1000th 747, a -400 for Singapore Airlines.

A quarter century after the prototype made its first flight, and 23 years since the first example entered service with Pan American, the 747 has since transported 1. 4bn passengers or the equivalent of a quarter of the world’s total current population. Total value of the 1000 aircraft so far delivered, in adjusted dollars, is $US148bn whilst the programme is responsible for some 80,000jobs including 10,400 at Boeing’s suppliers worldwide, including Australia Initially the programme was thought to extend to no more than 400 aircraft over a 15 or 20 year period with half that number being freighters. It is now obvious that the 747 will still be in production a decade from now and eventually total orders could exceed 2000 units. The only other jetliners to 727, 737 and the McDonnell Douglas DC-8/ have exceeded 1000 units delivered are the MD-80 series twinjets.

Big Regional Jet Orders:

SkyWest Airlines, a Delta Connection operator based in St George, Utah, has placed a firm order for 10 Canadair Regional Jets and placed options on a further 10.

The $US170m order brings the Regional Jet orderbook to 46 firm and 46 options. Sixteen aircraft have now been delivered and letters of intent cover a further 92 Regional Jets. One of those is from Air Canada, which has signed a letter of intent for 24 aircraft and has options to acquire a further 24 at a later date.

Meanwhile, the RJ has also suffered a setback, the result of the crash of the first prototype during a flight to test aerodynamic stability. The aircraft was flying at an increased weight and with its centre of gravity further aft than usual when it crashed whilst performing low speed manoeuvres at low to medium altitude and was operating outside the normal flight envelope.

This particular flight test was in no way related to regular certification flight test requirements, this being fully achieved prior to the RJ gaining its JAR and FAA certification late last year.

Asta’s Dual Milestones:

Aerospace Technologies of Australia’s heavy aircraft maintenance division, ASTA Aircraft Services (ASTAAS) has received European Joint Aviation Authority JAR 145 approval, the first organisation outside the European Community to be so approved.

This means ASTAAS can perform maintenance and modification work on all European registered Boeing 747s and thus provide the company with an expanded business base.

Fifty 747s have now entered the ASTAAS facility at Avalon, this milestone aircraft being a Nippon Cargo Airlines 747-200. The most recently completed projects have been a British Airways 747-100 and an All Nippon Airways 747SR.

In other ASTA news, the first of 1000 Boeing 777 rudders the Australian company will build has been handed over to the American manufacturer. ASTA will be the sole supplier of rudders for the 777.

777 Engine Problems:

the three engine suppliers for the Boeing 777- General Electric and Pratt & Whitney-are working on development problems with the engines for the widebody twin which is due to be rolled out next March.

The GE90 engine has suffered mechanical damage to the high pressure turbine inner flowpath which initiated “a stall related event’. The PW4084 engine is still set for certification in April next year but is having some new materials incorporated in its low pressure turbine to cope with the 777s increasing weight and the extra power (and resulting operating temperatures) needed to handle that.

P&W is also considering changes which will increase the capacity of the low pressure compressor. Both engines are in the 90,000lb thrust class.

Convair Lives On:

Yet another variation of the seemingly indestructible Convair 240/340/440 series of propliners has DEUTSCHE GA been revealed in North America.

Canada’s Kelowna Flightcraft (KF) Convair 5800 is a stretched conversion of the earlier Convair 580, which was itself a successful Allison turboprop conversion of the original piston engined design. The 5800 should have been awarded US and Canadian certification by the time these words are read.

The aircraft features a 4m (13ft) fuselage stretch, increased payload and is designed mainly for cargo work. Modernised features include a four tube electronic flight instrument system (EFIS), dual digital automatic flight control systems and upgraded propellers for the Allison 501-D-22G turboprops. Conversions are expected to cost about $US6. 5m each.

Reduced Saab 340 Maintenance Costs:

European and US airworthiness authorities have approved a reduced maintenance programme for the Saab 340 regional turboprop fleet which will save operators of the aircraft up to $US35,000 per aircraft per year.

The programme-called the Saab Maintenance Optimisation Programme (SMOP), substantially increases the aircraft’s scheduled maintenance check intervals. The present A check interval is increased from 150 to 400 flight hours, the B check from 600 to 800 hours and the C check from 3000 to 4000 hours. In addition, a number of specific tasks have been either deleted or simplified.

The new programme has been approved after an extensive analysis of scheduled maintenance checks from selected Saab 340 operators. The data collected from 63 aircraft included nearly 193,000 flight hours, 1142Achecks, 296 B checks and 58C checks.