Original Equipment Manufacturers: October 2008 Archives

Last week, when Bluebox slung a little good-natured mud by suggesting that Pansonic and Thales perhaps "weren't up to the challenge" of providing wireless IFE on the Boeing 787, I felt compelled to speak to the two hardware giants about whether or not wireless IFE is now viable, and if it has a place in new aircraft programmes, say for instance, the Airbus A350. Oh yes, and what they each think of Bluebox.

First up, Panasonic. My interview with the manufacturer's director of product marketing Cedric Rhoads focused on three main questions. Here is the first of my queries to Cedric in blue and the first of his oh-so-interesting responses in a box.

1) Is Panasonic still working on wireless IFE solutions (it appears that Airbus is pretty keen to have something for the A350)?

A Bombardier testbed aircraft equipped entirely with an all-electric braking system has executed its first flight. Bombardier's Global 5000 flying testbed aircraft was modified by removing its hydraulically actuated brake-by-wire control system and replacing it with Meggitt's EBrake suite.

Check out the full story here. Key info from my conversation with Bombardier:

Although the manufacturer used the Global 5000 for the test, it does not plan to equip its business jets with an all-electric braking system. Rather, Bombardier believes the technology is more applicable to commercial aircraft, says a spokesman for the company.

Bombardier has said it intends to use electric brakes on its 110/130-seat CSeries aircraft. However, it has not confirmed if it will choose Meggitt's system, notes the spokesman.

Some big news out of US Airways today. But you've got to look hard to find it. Go to page 56 of the carrier's latest SEC filing. That's where the Star Alliance member reveals its plan to delay the start of delivery of its 22 A350 XWBs until 2015 (as well as a few other gems). Check out my story now running on Flight.

Is this the first A350 delivery delay by a carrier? And does it foretell of things to come?

Maybe this is geek squad stuff, but Brazilian start-up Azul is certainly warming to the idea of operating a sizeable fleet of Embraer 190s.

Earlier this year, the brainchild of JetBlue founder David Neeleman ordered 36 118-seat Embraer E-195s (which will feature LiveTV satellite television).

Embraer has since revealed that the 36-strong order was altered during the third quarter. Instead Azul is now in the books for 31 E-195s and five brand new E-190s from the airframer.

This is in addition to the six E-190s being leased by Azul (two directly from JetBlue and four from Jetscape, which has acquired from JetBlue four E-190 deliveries).

And so, using some very simple addition that allowed me to squeak by in High School maths, it is evident that Azul plans to operate a fleet of at least 11 E-190s.

The carrier doesn't make mention of this apparent change in strategy on its web site. Indeed, Azul still indicates it intends to fly 36 E-195s.

Will Azul convert its entire order for E-195s to smaller-capacity E-190s? I can't rightly say. As recently as last month, Neeleman told me that Azul would launch in early 2009 with a mixture of E-190s and E-195s.

Just don't change the LiveTV plan, okay?  

Travel expert Johnny Jet is running a killer video of his two-hour VIP flight on Qantas' new Airbus A380. Lucky duck. Qantas ambassador John Travolta and Australian singer Olivia Newton-John were also aboard the flight. Check out Johnny's web site at www.johnnyjet.com for more pics from the flight.

American Airlines' recent order for up to 100 Boeing 787s provided the weary airframer with a respite - albeit brief - from the near constant flow of negative news pertaining to the machinists' strike and the potential that this industrial action will delay the twinjet's delivery....again.

A nice firm CSeries order would also give a needed public relations boost to Bombardier, which has seen its shares struggle in the face of what the Globe and Mail rightly refers to as "the current climate of fear and uncertainty".

I had a great chat today with Forecast International senior aerospace analyst Raymond Jaworowski, who says Bombardier needs to get a firm CSeries order on the books in the not too distant future. Read the entire piece here, but the key quote is:

"I think they could probably go into next year without a firm order but not much more than early [next] year."

In short, Bombardier cannot afford the blow to its image if an order remains outstanding for its geared turbofan (GTF) bird, which has been a paper airplane for years (one that this RWG would love to see fly).

So what about Lufthansa? The carrier in July inked a letter of interest for 30 CSeries aircraft, enabling Bombardier to formally launch the programme. Three months later and the German operator has not yet firmed the deal. Lufthansa has "no date yet when we will firm the CSeries order", says a spokesman for the carrier.

In the same conversation, however, he reveals that Lufthansa is open to the possibility of ordering more 112-seat Embraer 195s. That's in addition to the 12 E-195s on order plus 18 E-190s that may very well be converted to the larger-capacity type.

"We will decide on the remaining 18 [E-190] aircraft later on, if we want them as E-190s or E-195s. So in the end, we might get 30 E-195s," says the spokesman.

And yes, Lufthansa believes there is room for both types in its fleet. "The CSeries aircraft has a capacity of 100-130 seats, which goes beyond the capacity of the E-190 family and thereby already caters to a different category. So we do not necessarily see too much interference."

Okay, grand. So what's the hold-up? Maybe Lufthansa is waiting for just the right moment. Personally, I can't think of a better place and time then the Wings Club luncheon in New York City on 19 November.

That's where Lufthansa chairman and CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber will give his perspective "on a range of issues currently confronting the airline industry, including a weakened economy, the need for consolidation, changes in customer behaviours and the challenges and opportunities on Lufthansa's horizon", says the carrier in a press invite to the event.

Heck, it would be just in time for the US holiday of Thanksgiving...

(Photo care of Flightblogger...check out his photo stream on Flickr here)

Labour relations at American Airlines keep getting uglier. Last week, news emerged that the company's 14-year old Aviation Safety Action Plan (ASAP) - which allows employees to report safety problems confidentially - has been terminated. In light of this, the Allied Pilots Association (APA) is warning membership: "You have the right to remain silent. If you give up the right to remain silent, everything you say can and WILL be used against you!"

Now the APA is accusing management of using outside PR firm Weber Shandwick to advise on the ASAP campaign. "How would you feel if e-mail exchanges between APA and AA in which APA was desperately seeking to come to an agreement [on ASAP] were CC'd to the PR firm?" asks the APA in an internal message.

I don't know what role, if any, Weber Shandwick is playing in management's correspondence with APA over ASAP. On somewhat of an aside, however, I will be the first to say that American's relationship with the press improved mightily the day it decided to hire Weber Shandwick to assist its PR efforts. That was at least a few years ago.

American has responded to the ASAP termination with the following statement:

"The APA's willingness to discard a 14-year program that has done so much for our pilots, our airline and our industry is impossible to understand. While we are disappointed by the APA 's action, we do not believe that the safety of American's operations will not be affected by the program's expiration. American will provide its pilots with a confidential hotline and online reporting system to report concerns directly to our safety department."

But the ASAP argument is just the tip of the iceberg. It's no secret that American and APA leadership have been embroiled in rather acrimonious contract negotiations. Proposals have been traded back and forth for months without success. One of the hot button issues is American's request for scope relief. Management wants to lift the cap on the number of seats in aircraft flown by commuter affiliates. Scope language in American's current pilot contract prohibits American Connection carriers from flying aircraft with more than 50 seats.

In an internal message to members, the APA reveals that management's scope proposal "seeks to remove every limitation on domestic and international codesharing as well as permitting unfettered operation of commuter air carriers flying ERJ-170s in two-class configuration - without any AA pilot job guarantees".

Needless to say, the APA will have none of it. But the revelation is pretty interesting. Wholly-owned subsidiary American Eagle is allowed to fly a limited number of 70-seat jets - 50 in total. The airline currently flies 25 Bombardier CRJ700s. And we've known for some time that options on a further 25 CRJ700s have never been firmed up (must to management's chagrin).

Under management's proposal, American "could theoretically operate without one pilot on the pilot seniority list, and management has admitted as much at the table", says the APA.

"We can have the best contract in the industry, but it wouldn't be worth the paper it's written on without APA pilots in the cockpits."

Bluebox Avionics joint MD Rick Stuart doesn't mince words.

Asked by yours truly why wireless IFE systems proposed by Panasonic and Thales were never deployed on the Boeing 787, Stuart said: "Perhaps they [Panasonic and Thales] weren't up to the challenge."

Well, well. I think the gauntlet has been officially thrown. Note to Panasonic and Thales - let's talk!

But back to Bluebox. Fighting worlds aside, the company deserves a round of applause for getting a serious foot in the door with today's announcement that Airbus has commissioned Bluebox to provide its wireless IFE system for inclusion in the A380 demo mock-up in Hamburg.

Read all about it by clicking this not-quite-dark-enough blue link. Are my eyes just bad? Should I start bolding these things?

As noted in my article, even though the system is being installed on the A380 mock-up, Stuart says Bluebox may have a greater opportunity to test-flight it on a new commercial aircraft.

This, of course, begs the question of whether the A350 is the ultimate aim. Stuart declines to comment.

What he does say, however, and what isn't mentioned in my piece is this:

"Traditional systems are server based, which are fraught with many problems. They [IFE system makers] have tried to make them more reliable [but the systems] are still a nightmare as any airline would testify."

To remedy this, he says, Bluebox "took a blank piece of paper and worked backwards from an airline perspective". The resulting technology turned out to be "remarkably easy".

Bluebox in March will showcase its product range at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg. That will be exactly four years after Airbus revealed its first production-standard A380 mock-up at the same show.   

This week, when Embraer revealed that negotiations are underway concerning the pace at which Hainan Airlines' regional subsidiary Grand China Express will take Embraer ERJ-145 regional jets, I asked the following obvious question: "What does this mean for the airframer's Chinese JV Harbin Embraer, which produces the E-145?"

Mauro Kern, Embraer executive VP - airline market, who is about to board a flight, has just exclusively revealed that production at the facilities in Harbin "has not ceased at all".

"Grand China Express requested to slow down deliveries, in order to reduce the growth rate of the ERJ-145 fleet. The JV is in the process of negotiating a new delivery schedule with Grand China Express, which has not yet come to a final decision," says Kern.

He adds: "The ERJ-145 firm orders (covering 50 aircraft) is expected to remain unchanged, with a possible extension of the delivery stream beyond 2010 (current plan)."

Ten ERJ-145s of the original 50-strong order have already been delivered with 40 remaining.

Kern reiterates that there is no change to the Embraer 190 delivery schedule for Grand China.

(Photo at right - delivery to Grand China of Embraer's 1,000th ERJ-145)

Bombardier executives are headed to Hyderabad Airport for the inaugural India Aviation 2008 exhibition, which gets kicked off on 15 October.

The event, organized by India's Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry, is being billed as "the first international exhibition of its kind in India on civil aviation sector".

But that's not stopping Bombardier from flogging its business jet portfolio. While the airframer is bringing a CRJ900 NextGen commercial jet for static display, it will also showcase its Learjet 60 XR, Challenger 605 and Global Express XRS business jets.

What about the CSeries cabin mockup? Will it be on display? I know I was quizzical in June when Bombardier opted not to showcase the CSeries mockup at Turkey's AIREX. At that time, a Bombardier spokesman told me it was "too heavy and expensive" to lug to AIREX.

The CSeries mockup is not mentioned in Bombardier's press release about the show, although Bombardier Commercial Aircraft VP sales for the Asia-Pacific market Trung Ngo suggests the 110/130-seater is ideally suited for longer routes in the Indian market.

It seems to me that India would be a good place to bring the mock-up, no? As the SBAC points out, in a statement to promote the event, the Indian civil aviation market has been experiencing a boon. "Until recently only two private airlines - Jet Airways and Air Sahara offered competition to national carriers, but in the last few years, a large number of private airlines such as Air Deccan, SpiceJet, Kingfisher Airlines, Go Air, Paramount, Indigo etc. have entered the domestic market," notes the SBAC.

"With air travel becoming a popular and cheaper option, the civil aviation sector is experiencing fast growth.  During 2006-07, total passenger traffic grew at 27.2% while the cargo traffic grew by 11.2%. The aircraft movement increased by 27.5% during the year.  The domestic air traffic is expected to grow up to 180 million and international traffic to 50 million passengers by 2020."

No doubt Bombardier will have some cabin pics to show attendees, perhaps from its newly-released CSeries promotional DVD (which I picked up at the Boyd conference). See some of the best snaps below.

Labouring for breath in Aspen made me realize a few things - A) It was a good idea to quit smoking (okay, I sneak the very odd one); B) I am incredibly out of shape (though grateful for my dad's metabolism) and C) I should have booked the Boyd conference earlier and snagged a room on premises at the St Regis (although the Hotel Jerome was lovely).

But while oxygen was in short supply, the same cannot be said about news from the conference. That flowed like the Colorado River, my friend. In short, the Boyd summit was a bloody treasure trove of information.

One of the chattier executives was Northwest Airlines VP international marketing and sales Fred Deschamps, who insisted - just before Boeing's Monday afternoon presentation - that the airframer needs to deliver the 787 within spec, noting that All Nippon Airways has more leeway in taking initial 787 deliveries outside of spec (read all about it, and Boeing's response, here).

Deschamps also revealed details about the post-merger plans of a combined Northwest/Delta, saying that some Northwest aircraft could move to Atlanta; that Northwest's 757s are staying put in Tokyo; and that the two carriers are looking at west coast hub opportunities but might have to make the best of Salt Lake City in the near-term.

Additionally, the Northwest/KLM relationship could be rejigged post-merger (either side could renegotiate the terms) and it is possible that there is "at least short-term pressure" to modify the alliance. The carrier also has its eyes focused on new Middle East and South American opportunities.

Frontier Airlines CEO Sean Menke also made some revelations, saying that the Denver-based carrier is interested in acquiring more Bombardier Q400 turboprops (yep, options are being firmed); a full-fledged codeshare with AirTran Airways is being pursued; and - okay not a huge shocker - he is not the biggest fan of regional jets (that would help explain why the Airbus A320 family and Bombardier Q400 operator removed Republic's E-Jets from its operation....that and the fact that the low-cost carrier found the per block hour cost a bit much).

The airframers were also forthcoming. Airbus director market forecasting Simon Pickup assured that final definition freeze of the A350 would occur at the end of this year. And Boeing director business strategy - marketing Richard Wynne told conference attendees that the maritime Poseidon (which is based on the 737NG) has just started to go down the production line. But Wynne's worthy contribution to the conference might best be summed up in quotes.

Here are some of his finest:

"We have every intention of surviving and not just surviving [but] thriving at Boeing."

"Did you hear that we're having a strike at Boeing? ...Clearly there is a communication issue between ourselves and the union."

"It [a successor to the 737] will be in the latter part of the next decade, not the middle."

Air Transport Association president and CEO James May, meanwhile, insisted that cabotage rights "will not change" now or in the foreseeable future. "There will be no laws on cabotage in the next or any ensuing Congresses," he predicted. Such rights, among the issues being discussed during second-stage European Union-USA open skies negotiations, would enable foreign carriers to operate domestic connections in the USA.

Perhaps the best moment of the conference, however, came when Marian Boyd - wife to Mike - managed to trump her always-quote-alicous husband when she interrupted him while he was speaking on stage. "Excuse me. I have some announcements to make," she said from the floor, adding to thunderous laughter: "He just thinks he runs the company."

(Pic above right from Bombardier's new CSeries promotional video...more on that later) 

I'm packing my bag and heading to Aspen in the wee hours of the morning to cover the ever-quotable Michael Boyd's annual aviation summit. With the memory of a certain United Airlines flight to LAX still fresh in my mind, I've opted to fly Southwest Airlines from BWI to Denver and make the scenic drive to Aspen.

I'll have plenty to ponder during my four-hour car journey, such as how Sarah Palin unfortunately was not referring to tight abdominal muscles when she made her "Joe Six-Pack" comment during last night's debate. You know - the important stuff.

Mostly, however, I'll be thinking about the dire regional jet forecast that will be presented at the conference. While Boyd hasn't divulged all the details, his latest "Hot Flash" alert is enough to make Bombardier and Embraer reach for the menopause meds (or a beer, for that matter).

"Just a couple years ago, fuel was less than 15% of the total RJ operations. North of $3.50 - where it's been from time to time, fuel can approach 50% of costs," warns Boyd. Here is his composite of CRJ and ERJ 50-seater costs based on a 500-mile stage length.

Lest you think things are all doom and gloom, there is some good news in store for Bombardier and Embraer. Over 35% of global airline demand in the next ten years will be in the 75-125 seat airliner categories. I'm glad to hear it, not least of all because it valiates a little regional aircraft feature I wrote in April.

"That means very strong demand for Embraer E-Jets. It also means that there is an opening for other entrants into these categories," says Boyd.

Now how about that CSeries order, hmmm?

Here at Runway Girl, we like to break the odd bit of news too (not just stoke the hell fires of controversy).

To that end, we (the multiple personalities of yours truly) can report that leasing firm Aviation Capital Group (ACG) has for the first time acquired new Airbus A330s.

According to a source, Colombia's Avianca brokered a sale/leaseback deal with ACG covering the first two of 10 A330-200s slated for delivery to the carrier.

These are six-year leases with renewal rights, says the source.

Aircraft number one - N948AC - has already been delivered, as reported today by Flight.

The widebody is equipped with Panasonic eX2 in-flight entertainment systems, with iPod connectivity, as the others will be too.

The second A330 covered in the sale/leaseback will be delivered in November.

Avianca continues to hold orders for eight more A330s with the airframer. The carrier already leases a 767-200ER from ACG.

Now then, does anyone have some salve? It gets kind of hot in here.

(Photograph taken by Matthew Bowden - www.sxc.hu/profile/thesaint)