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Aviation History
2003
2003 - 1740.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT EXPANSION DAVID FIELD / WASHINGTON DC & GUY NORRIS / LOS ANGELES AirTran joins airliner buying spree Carrier's $4 billion deal for up to 110 Boeing aircraft confirms US low-fares sector's confidence in future growth AirTran Airways' massive order last week for up to 110 Boeing 737s and 717s again demonstrates the ascen dancy of the US low-fares sector. The $4 billion deal includes 50 firm orders for the 737-700, plus 50 options, as well as 10 firm orders for Boeing 717-200S. AirTran's order follows JetBlue's recent $9.8 billion buying spree with Airbus and Embraer, as the low-cost carriers become almost the sole source of US growth for the air- framers, just as the sector is the sole source of profitability for the US industry. Within the low-fares Singapore Technologies Aerospace (ST Aero) expects to begin Boeing 747-400 Special Freighter (SF) con versions by 2006 despite Boeing selecting rival Taikoo (Xiamen) Aircraft Engineering (TAECO) as the initial conversion centre. ST Aero president Tay Kok Khiang expects Boeing to eventually partner several conversion providers, with more than one in Asia. Boeing needs a large stable of conversion centres, given the varying require ments of potential 747-400SF cus tomers and the fact there is not enough hangar space at any one centre to meet demand, says Tay. Boeing, which is poised to announce a 747-400SF launch cus tomer, has already selected TAECO to convert the prototype and two other aircraft. "That's only for the STC [supplemental type certificate] arena, only Southwest, the longest- running moneymaker, is the excep tion, having limited its capacity growth. With annual growth running at about 25%, AirTran chief executive Joe Leonard has told analysts that the airline is "the most confident we've ever been - and there's not much our competitors can do about it as long as we keep our cost struc ture the way it is". Lehman Brothers analyst Gary Chase says he is confident AirTran will handle the integration of new types to its fleet and if it does, it will be poised "for ultimate attainment of category-killer status" among low-fare carriers. AirTran will take 28 Boeing 737s directly from the manufacturer and a further 22 through operating leases - probably all from GE Capital Aviation Services. Deliveries will start in June. The 737's extra range and capacity, compared with that of its 717/McDonnell Douglas DC-9 fleet, will be used to extend AirTran's network from its Atlanta hub to western US cities such as Denver, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. AirTran recently launched routes to the western USA using A320s wet- leased from Ryan International Airlines. The 717 deal includes the conver sion of six options into firm orders for delivery from early next year, plus four more options. It is also believed to include the lease of four more secondhand 717s from Boeing Capital. The airline will have 73 717s in service by the end of 2003. The decision to opt for the 737 and the 717-200 model is likely to spell the end for studies into a longer-range 717 variant, for which AirTran was the major promoter. DELIVERY EVA Air receives first of 10 A330-200s to replace 767s EVA Air has taken delivery of its first Airbus aircraft - one of 10 General Electric CF6-80E1 A3-powered A330-200s it is acquiring through leases and direct purchases. The first aircraft is one of eight the Taiwanese airline is leasing from GE Capital Aviation Services. The twinjet will be joined by two ordered directly from Airbus. The 252-seaters (24 busi ness/228 economy) will replace eight Boeing 767s on regional and medium-to- long-haul routes. CARGO BRENDAN SOBIE / SINGAPORE ST Aero prepares for 747-400SF conversions twinjet ;APOR spare application," says Tay. "After that, I think it's a function of who the buy ers want the product to be con verted by." ST Aero is one of three conver sion centres in Boeing's 757-200SF programme. The company also has active McDonnell Douglas DC-10 MODIFICATIONS and Boeing MD-11 passenger-to- freighter conversion lines. Tay says demand for DC-10 con versions is falling, but interest from ST Aero customers FedEx Express and UPS is enough to keep the MD-11 line going for five to 10 years. Boeing and ST Aero also seek new 757-200SF customers beyond launch customer DHL. "There are plenty of customers - the question is timing," he says. Tay says ST Aero is in "prelimi nary" talks about other new cargo conversion products, including the proposed Boeing MD-80SF. JAL's 747 flightdeck upgrade gets certification Boeing Commercial Airplane Services has completed US Federal Aviation Administration certification of a flightdeck modernisation programme for Japan Airlines' (JAL) Boeing 747 Classic fleets. The first equipped aircraft, a JAL-owned 747-300 used for the flight-test programme, will be delivered this month, says Boeing. It will supply modification kits to JAL for retrofit of the remaining 33 aircraft. The core of the upgrade is a CMC Electronics CMA-900 flight management system (FMS) which provides compli ance with future required navigation performance statutes and the introduction of FANS-1 equivalent datalink func tions. The upgrade also includes CMC's CMA-2102 high-gain satellite communications antenna already sup plied to JAL's 767 and 777 fleets. JAL originally placed firm orders for 18 upgrades and 16 options, but appears to be going ahead to modernise all 34 aircraft, making it the largest single 747 Classic upgrade programme. The JAL configuration is a multi-sensor sys tem based on a fully integrated triple CMA-900 global positioning system/FMS, plus triple inertial reference sys tems and new distance-measuring equipment. 14 8-14 JULY 2003 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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