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Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 0984.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT RELIABILITY MAX KINGSLEY-JONES / TOULOUSE Airbus focuses on A380 support Manufacturer to roll out programme in bid to make ultra-large airliner's entry into service as smooth as possible Airbus has devised a sophisticated support mechanism for the A380's entry into service, to ensure that the new giant's introduction is a smooth as possible for the launch customers. Dubbed "enhanced support", the programme will become the manufacturer's stan dard package for all new aircraft models entering service. "The A380's size and its type of operation - long haul - means that a very good despatch reliability per formance must be achieved at entry into service, so we will put in place the means for the airlines and Airbus to better anticipate, and react faster to, problems," says Gerard Misrai, Airbus customer ser vices division deputy vice-president engineering and technical support. He says that new on-board diag nostics systems, better lines of communication between the "dif ferent players", as well as new ground services, will enable the plan to be implemented. "The four main players - the airline's main base; its outstations; the Airbus support division and the suppliers' support operations - will share the aircraft data in real time and use innovative tools to process the information," says Misrai. Singapore Airlines will be the first airline to put the A380 into revenue service, with operations due to begin at its Changi hub early in the second quarter of 2006. Other early A380 operators include Emirates and Qantas. Misrai says that the sheer size of the A3 80 - early operators are expected to configure the aircraft with over 500 seats - means that any reliability issues will create major disruptions. "Such a large number of passengers means there is very limited possibility to use substitution aircraft," he says. The new support service will be offered to each airline for its first six to eight months of operation, as part of the introductory package. Misrai says Airbus has already had to decline the request of one airline to provide the service on a paid-for basis for the life of the A380, but in tends this to be the standard for future new aircraft introductions. Complex plan to minimise reliability disruptions The support programme devised for the Airbus A380 will have suppliers "put into the loop" with the Airbus "AOG [aircraft on ground] centre" that processes fault data, says Airbus customer services division deputy vice-president engineering and technical support Gerard Misrai. "A virtual warehouse will have real-time knowledge of the spares situation at any station." The system will integrate the Airbus maintenance soft ware tool Airman - which will be able to interrogate the aircraft's minimum equipment list (MEL). Therefore if a fault occurs en route, the system will specify if the failure is a go or no-go item for the return flight, and the link to the virtual warehouse will enable it to identify if a replacement component is available at the destination airport. Airbus plans to set up a team of staff at its support headquarters to give it technical, operational and material expertise. The team will be linked to each airline's central maintenance control and operations control centres, in real time, with the ability to hold video conferences. "We will all be able to discuss what to do about a fault, before the aircraft has landed," says Misrai. It is also planned to co-locate Airbus and supplier specialists at each A380 operator's main base, and its main outstations, to minimise AOG disruptions. "Airbus will make extensive use of portals to exchange engineering data from the suppliers and the operators. We will also co-locate engineers from the air line, the suppliers and the Airbus design office at our support centre to enable quick fixes to be defined for in- service issues," says Misrai. SIMULATION CAE sets up UK training centre following EasyJet A319 deal CAE is to provide Airbus A319 training for European low-fare car rier EasyJet under a seven-year agreement expected to be worth around C$40-60 million ($29-44 million). The deal includes the establishment of CAE's first com mercial aviation training centre in the UK. The Canadian company will pro duce two A320-family full-flight simulators and two maintenance/ flight training devices for installa tion in its Burgess Hill plant in the UK. Mainly working on marine and military training programmes, the existing facility has room for four simulator bays, says CAE. The first simulator will be ready for training in October, with the second to be in service by the end of the year. Airbus and CAE will deliver the training under their existing co-operation agreement. EasyJet will take delivery of three- to-four A319s a month over the next three years, and has to train 200 crews a year from 2005 to 2007, says Airbus. CAE has previously supplied a Boeing 737-800 simulator to rival European low-cost carrier Ryanair. The simulator, installed in Ryanair's own training centre at the UK's Nottingham East Midlands airport, received Level D approval in March. • In response to CAE's partnership with Airbus, Boeing subsidiary Alteon Training has teamed with United Airlines to offer Airbus training for third-party customers at the US carrier's Denver, Colorado simulator centre. FLEET RENEWAL Egypt Air poised for A330-200 EgyptAir is about to begin replacing its seven Airbus A300-600Rs with the first of seven new A330-200s. The Rolls-Royce Trent 700-powered twinjets, which were ordered last year as part of a swap deal that saw the airline cancel its order for two A340-600s, will replace the carrier's entire A300 fleet by August 2005. The acquisition comes as EgyptAir undertakes a major fleet simplification programme that is expected to see the disposal of its remaining Boeing widebodies - two 747-300S and five 777-200ERS. www.fliahtinternational.com
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