Singapore Airlines' (SIA) long-haul, low-cost subsidiary, Scoot, has unveiled its aircraft painted in full livery.

The airline, which will operate ex-SIA Boeing 777-200s, is in final stages to prepare for its inaugural flight on 4 June to Sydney, followed by Gold Coast on 12 June.

Scoot will also operate services to Tianjin and Bangkok in the coming months.

Images courtesy of Scoot Pte Ltd

Japan Airlines (JAL) will deploy a specially painted aircraft on selected domestic routes to show its support for the country's sportsmen and sportswomen, who will be participating in this year's summer Olympics.

A Boeing 777-200, registered JA772J, will feature the official slogan of the Japanese Olympic Committee - "Gambare! Nippon!" ("Go for it! Japan!"). The face of Yohei Ucimura, a two-time Olympic silver medallist for gymnastics, will be on the aircraft, alongside the logos JAL and the committee's official sports club partner, Konami Sports and Life.

The aircraft will be used on flights from Tokyo's Haneda airport to Sapporo, Fukuoka, Okinawa and Osaka from 27 May till September 2012.

Credit goes to Japan Airlines.

While i'm usually happy to have a drink or two at the airport lounge or bar before a flight, it has never crossed my mind that the pilot on my flight could be doing the same.

Just imagine the beer guzzling guy sitting beside you at the bar later in the cockpit of the aircraft you're on. 

This may sound bizarre and unlikely, but judging from figures released by India's civil aviation minister recently, some pilots are definitely boozing it up before their flights.

From January to March this year, 14 pilots and 31 cabin crew members in India failed the pre-flight breath analyzer test.

Last year, 17 pilots were "found drunk" before a flight. The number was 23 in 2010.

Under Indian regulations, pilots who fail the breath analyzer test for the first time will be suspended for three months. If he fails a second time, he will then be suspended for five years.

These numbers may not seem huge given the number of pilots in the country. But still, shouldn't all pilots have the professionalism to take their job seriously, and the decency to turn up for work sober, considering how hundreds of passengers' lives are in their hands on each flight?

Airbus Military is highly displeased with Australia's decision to go for the C-27J over its own C-295 (Surprise! Surprise!). In recent months Airbus Military made a compelling offer, the promise of more A330 multi role tanker transport (MRTT) conversion work provided Canberra plumped for 10 C-295s and a sixth A330 MRTT - designated the KC-30 in Australian service. This was not, alas, sufficient to defeat the C-27J.

It was inevitable that Airbus Military would issue a statement protesting the decision - although for some reason they failed to post it on their web site. In any case, I thought it would be of interest to our readers to post their comments on the C-27J selection in full - see below.

Doubtless, journalists (including this one) bombarded defence minister Stephen Smith's office for his views on Airbus Military's comments. Given all the queries, his PR team apparently opted for an easy fix, replying only to the Canberra Times, but posting the riposte on the Department of Defence web site. Click here for my story about his comments. 

Apart from Airbus Military, there are others who question the buy. One Australian industry source I spoke to called the C-27J "a shiny toy picked by the fighter pilots" who he believes hold sway in the air force. He said Australia would have been better off forgoing the C-130J and following New Zealand's example by upgrading its C-130Hs with new glass cockpits and avionics.

He believes the old C-130H can get into 90% of the airfields that the C-27J can get into. The counter argument to this, of course, is that the smaller, lighter C-27J is much gentler on fragile remote airstrips than the big Hercules.

Anyway, opinions about aircraft and their merits are never in short supply in the defence aerospace sector.

Below is Airbus Military's position in full: 

AIRBUS MILITARY EXPRESSES SURPRISE AT CARIBOU REPLACEMENT DECISION

            Defence Minister Stephen Smith yesterday announced that the C-27J from Alenia will be Australia's new Battlefield Airlifter via a $1.4 billion AUD sole source acquisition of 10 aircraft through a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) process.

            In a press conference immediately following the announcement, the Minister clearly stated that there had been a competition between the C27J and the Airbus Military C295 airlifter.

            Airbus Military is obliged to place on the public record our disappointment at the Minister's choice of words, because there was no tender process and certainly no competition.

            We are even more disappointed that this decision appears not to have been made out of rigorous evaluation of tender-quality information for which Australia is justly renowned and which is normally required before such large sums of taxpayer dollars are spent. The Department of Defence seems to have rejected its own tried, tested and proven process of evaluating competing platforms. Following the selection last year of a new naval combat helicopter, the Department of Defence stated publicly that holding a competition between the two contenders had resulted in a 25 percent savings in acquisition cost. 

            We certainly do not begrudge the ADF making decisions about preferred capability and platforms following careful consideration of tender-quality and commercially-binding information. But on this occasion, selection of the C-27J for $1.4 billion seems to have been based largely on the RAAF's own desktop assessments. When compared to other projects with similar size price tags that go through an arduous process of tender responses and deep investigation of all areas concerning ownership of a capability, this effort falls short of a full evaluation process.    

            Airbus Military proposed the C-295 aircraft as the Caribou replacement. The C-295, like the C-27J, has recognised strengths and weaknesses. The C-295 is the world's most popular battlefield airlifter, with global sales at 100 units. It is cheaper to buy and operate than the C-27J. For the RAAF's fleet of 10 Battlefield Airlifters, a C-295 purchase, offered at 400 million AUD would have provided savings of $1 billion compared to the C-27J FMS.  In addition, the industry involvement Airbus Military had committed to the Department of Defence and Industry had substantial components for Australian Small/Medium Enterprises (SME's) we doubt could be complied through an FMS case.

            In the current climate of fiscal restraint and public concerns over Government waste and expenditure, it is surprising  that the opportunity to save at least $1 billion AUD of taxpayer's money was not sufficient justification to hold a competition to determine which aircraft option represented the best overall value for money.

            It should also be noted that Australia has committed $1.4 billion to an aircraft that will be delivered in 2015 only, representing a three year time gap. Airbus Military is of the opinion a competition could have been done in this period, complying with the same schedule, as the C295 could be available in a six months time period. 

            Airbus Military considers that the current situation would allow the Government to take the necessary time to put in place the processes to understand precisely what it will cost to own and operate the C-27J over the next 30 years, and what might be the risks involved in operating an aircraft that, according to a US military report, is "not operationally suitable" and did not achieve the desired reliability or mission availability rates when deployed to Afghanistan.

            Despite Airbus Military expending considerable resources responding to enquiries and requests for rudimentary information, we are concerned that the outcome may have been pre-determined from the start.

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COMAC has posted an update of ARJ21 crosswind testing taking place in western China. Apparently all is going well, with an ARJ21-700 (aircraft 102) conducting tests at Jiayuguan airport in Gansu province.

 

The MRJ PR office sent out a few cool photos this morning of the Pratt & Whitney PurePower PW1200G geared turbofan for the MRJ mounted on a 747SP test bed. The engine has started testing - a bit of good news after last week's news of a one year delay in the MRJ flight test schedule.