Coming Down The Line

“It’s rare that an aircraft program brings both an improvement in operating economics and an improvement in the customer proposition,” says Mark Dal Pra, Jetstar’s 787 program director, in Seattle to see his first aircraft taking shape.

Dal Pra leads a team of 26 people in Jetstar preparing for the 787’s arrival and entry into service. All going well the first 787, to be registered VH-VKA and the 123rd 787 to be built, will roll out of the Boeing factory in late June, enter the paintshop in July, and be handed over in Seattle in late September before its delivery flight to Australia. Then will follow a series of crew training flights before entry into service in mid-November, initially on domestic flights as pilots gain experience on the aircraft, before beginning international services from December.

Service entry will be a significant and welcomed event, given the delays the 787 has endured and the promise it should realise. The Qantas Group first ordered the 787 in late 2005 at which time first delivery was expected for August 2008.

More than most, Dal Pra understands the promise of the aircraft and the challenges of a program that has endured significant delay, having first worked on 787 implementation planning at Jetstar in 2007-08 in his role as group general manager of Jetstar’s long-haul business. After a number of other roles in Jetstar he took on responsibility for the 787’s introduction into service in 2012.

“Over time we have had to change the size and composition of the project team to adapt to the changes in delivery dates,” Dal Pra explained to Australian Aviation.

But now Dal Pra’s team covers “all the different operational streams. In flight operations we’ve got three project pilots focused on the 787, an engineering stream that is focusing on ordering spares, completing engineering training and setting up line maintenance. We have a customer service stream that is working on updating the manuals for the cabin crew, cabin crew training and some of the inflight service aspects of the project. We also have an airports team making sure all the appropriate airports are ready for the 787. Finally, we have an AOC stream getting our aircraft operator’s certificate updated for the 787 and coordinating all the updating of the manuals. We have 28 different manuals that we need to update for the 787, and we have over 40 applications that we need to submit to CASA as well. ” Dal Pra and his team also draw on and work with areas in the parent Qantas on 787 introduction into service, including fleet trading, flight operations training, Qantas Engineering and corporate areas such as treasury and aircraft financing, and contracts.

Delays from the recent 787 grounding created an extra level of challenge in preparing for the aircraft’s arrival.

“But when you have degrees of ambiguity you have to plan for different eventualities and make sure we have got everything ready for the most likely timings. ” Dal Pra speaks highly of Boeing’s efforts to communicate with Jetstar and Qantas to keep them best informed on progress with the grounding and likely dates that deliveries would resume.

With the aircraft now taking shape, its configuration has been long defined, with Jetstar confirming its 787-8s will seat 335 passengers in a fairly high density configuration featuring 21 Recaro recliner business class seats in three rows of 2+3+2 abreast, and 314 slimline economy class seats set at nine abreast (3+3+3), after having decided to reduce business class seat count slightly.

Prior to the Qantas Group’s 2012 decision to rationalise its 787 buy with the cancellation of orders for 35 787-9s, it was decided the 787-8s would be dedicated to Jetstar for

Entry into service is planned for mid- November, initially on domestic flights.

the the long term and not be an interim aircraft to be replaced by the 787- 9s, with the 787-8s in turn then being transferred to Qantas, as had been first planned. That in turn allowed Jetstar to make decisions on configuration and fit that were optimised for its business model and not compromised by having to configure an aircraft ultimately bound for Qantas.

With slightly more seats than in Jetstar’s 310-seat A330s, Dal Pra confirms the 787 should yield direct operating cost savings per seat of double-digit percentage points.

“With our low cost model we are really pleased to have an aircraft that delivers the efficiencies that come with the 787,” Dal Pra says.

For passengers, Jetstar is promising levels of comfort including seat pitch comparable to that on to current A330s, but with increased amenity thanks to Panasonic’s eX2 inflight entertainment system for every seat (offering video on demand on 9in (23cm) screens in economy and 10. 6in (27cm) screens in business, USB accessibility and in-seat power in both cabin classes).

“Travelling for leisure entertainment is critical,” Dal Pra says. In addition there are the 787’s signature features of the larger windows and overhead bins, and the better cabin environment thanks to the lower cabin pressure altitude and higher humidity that a composite fuselage design allows.

“We do think these features will represent a significant improvement on the customer experience,” Dal Pra says.

On current planning Jetstar will have an all-787 long-haul fleet of 11 787s, allowing the replacement of its existing A330-200s on a one-to-one basis (the first of the 11 A330s was returned to parent Qantas in May) some time in 2015. Delivery dates for the final three 787-8s on order have yet to be announced.

With current planning based around that one-for-one replacement of the A330, Jetstar’s route network for the 787 will reflect today’s A330 network, which will see the aircraft fly to Honolulu, Denpasar, Auckland, Singapore, Beijing, Phuket, Bangkok, Tokyo and Osaka, routes typically between five and 10 hours long.

Our first priority will be transition existing A330 routes to the 787. MARK DAL PRA

only three growth aircraft over the current fleet size, earlier plans for Jetstar to operate the 787 through an Asian hub to southern European destinations look to be on ice.

“Our first priority will be to transition all those existing A330 routes to the 787, then we’ve got opportunities to grow into other destinations thereafter,” says Dal Pra. “As always we continue to look at what are the best destinations to fly to and we’re continually optimising the network. ” Utilisation rates, meanwhile, will be similar to the A330 too, at around 14-15 hours of flying a day.

But first will be domestic flying from November to build up aircrew experience in operating the 787. Jetstar has yet to confirm what domestic services the 787s will operate on, but has suggested it will include flights to destinations such as Cairns and the Gold Coast, current A330 long-haul ports from which it can begin to build experience with operating the 787.

As for the first international destination, that has yet to be decided.

“We look at where we think the best route would be commercially and for our customers we also look at how it would work for all the different operational areas. There’s a whole range of criteria we look at,” explains Dal Pra, who says a decision on that first service will be made in the next few months.

But a look at the Jetstar long-haul route map suggests that logical options for that first destination could include Denpasar, because of the short duration allowing two cycles a day, which benefits crew training needs, or Japan given All Nippon and Japan Airlines are key early 787 operators and could provide technical support if needed.

In the meantime, the focus is on training of pilots, cabin crew and maintenance engineers on the 787. To date four Jetstar pilots have been type-rated on the aircraft while 32 engineers and a number of lead cabin crew instructors have been qualified on the type. Like it does for the A330, Jetstar will typically operate the 787 with eight crews and one check captain (ie, 17 pilots) per aircraft.

Initially Jetstar is using Boeing Flight Training in Singapore for type conversion training using the standard FAA-approved 21 day training program that includes seven four-hour simulator sessions and one five-hour check ride.

From early 2014 simulator training will be conducted using Jetstar’s own 787 simulator that is currently being built by CAE in Canada.

One of two 787 simulators on order for the Qantas Group, the location of Jetstar’s 787 sim is yet to be decided, but will be on the Australian east coast, likely either with Qantas at Sydney Airport or Airport West in Melbourne, CAE’s own Silverwater facility in Sydney or with Ansett Aviation Training in Melbourne.

Responsible for implementing and conducting the airline’s 787 pilot training program and working with CASA on the AOC approval process is Captain Jeremy Schmidt, Jetstar’s 787 stream lead for flight operations.

He explained that under CASA regulations (CAO 40. 1. 0) pilots in command of high capacity transport aircraft require 50 flight hours on type before being cleared for flying with revenue passengers, hence the need for crew training flights with the 787 after it arrives in Australia before it enters service, initially supported by a Boeing training captain, who will also be part of the aircrew for the first 787 delivery flight to Australia.

Understandably, Schmidt is excited at the prospect of introducing the aircraft into service. Although he has come off the A320, in former lives he flew 737s with Ansett and briefly 747s with Qantas, so is very familiar with Boeing’s philosophy and speaks highly of the 787’s flightdeck design and handling qualities.

“It’s a pleasure to fly,” he noted. “It’s very well designed with its Class 3 EFB (electronic flight bags), HUDs (head-up displays) and larger displays. ” Other features of note include lower flightdeck noise as there are no opening windows (there is a pilot emergency escape hatch in the roof) and vertically, rather than horizontally-mounted windscreen wipers (which also reduces drag), and careful design so the control column doesn’t obstruct the pilots’ vision of the flighdeck displays.

So for its pilots and passengers, the 787 represents a new era for Jetstar.

Said Dal Pra: “It’s a great thing for Jetstar, it’s terrific for our staff, and I think as we get closer to delivery of the aircraft the anticipation and the excitement is definitely building across the company. ”

“It’s a pleasure to fly. It’s very well designed with its Class 3 EFB, HUDs and larger displays. JEREMY SCHMIDT