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Aviation History
1995
1995 - 3046.PDF
HEADLINES Valujet order will send MD-95 on its mn MD-95 launched with ValuJet RAMON LOPEZ/WASHINGTON DC GUY NORRIS/LOS ANGELES MCDONNELL DOUGLAS (MDC) has launched its MD-95 on the back of a single 50- aircraft order from fast-growing low-cost operator Valujet Airlines. The value of die order from the successful low-fare US carrier based in Atlanta, Georgia, exceeds $1 billion, and Valujet holds options for a further 50 of the MD- 95-30s which will carry' 129 people in a single-class configuration. Valujet, wrhich now operates about 40 older DC-9-30 twinjets, is also die launch customer for the BMW Rolls-Royce BR715 turbo- fan engine, a growth version of the BR710 used on the Gulfstream GV and Bombardier's Global Express. The 94kN (21,0001b) European engine will now be offered exclu sively on the MD-95, BMW R-R having beaten off a challenge from Pratt & Whitney, offering its mid- thrust family of engines. The P&W engine proposal is still in its infancy and, although P&W's bid was cheaper, Valujet was not pre pared to take the risk involved in a completely undeveloped power- plant. BR715 certification is sched uled for September 1998. It was a see-saw battle for the short- to-medium range 100-seater which ultimately won out over the Airbus A319, the Boeing 737-600 and Fokker 100. At one stage, Airbus was in sole negotiation with Valujet, but the bidding was re opened when the European con sortium failed to commit itself to guarantees on the break-even load factor on the A319. "After an analysis which consid ered many factors, the MD-95 was deemed the right aircraft for Valujet. No one single factor elimi nated Boeing or Airbus," says Lewis Jordan, Valujet's president. The fact that Valujet is getting the 50 twinjets discounted to about $20 million each is believed to have been a persuasive factor. Harry Stonecipher, MDC's president and chief executive, says that launching a new aircraft pro gramme with only 50 firm orders is a small risk to pay. "It will take a while longer," he says. Valujet will not receive its first MD-95 before June 1999. In the interim, it is acquiring eight addi tional used twinjets — five DC-9s and three 167-seat MD-80s — and it is searching the world for more used MDC aircraft. The. requirement for additional aircraft is becoming urgent as the carrier reported impressive perfor mance gains in its third quarter results. Operating revenues grew to $1.09 billion, compared with $400 million in 1994. Operating income advanced to S36 million, against $10 million. While analysts have been doubt ing Valujet's ability to continue delivering performance gains, the carrier reported load factors up from 52.9% to 73.2% and operat ing margins at 33.6%, compared with27.2%inl994. • MDC will hire more staff MCDONNELL Douglas (MDC) is immediately "ramping up its resources" as a result of the Valujet order and will add up to 450 design and development staff by mid-1996, says MD-95 deputy programme manager, Jerry Callaghan. A further 1,500 assembly line jobs will also be created, starting in 1996 to support the start of assembly in May 1997. The first airframe will be com pleted before January 1998, when the first shipset of BR715 turbo- fans is due in Long Beach. First flight is scheduled for the second quarter of 1998, with planned simultaneous US Federal Aviation Administration and European Joint Aviation Auth orities certification a year later. The first MD-95 will be deliv ered in the second half of 1999, with production rising from 12 a year to 18. This would rise to 24 a year if the airline exercised some of its options in the first few years of production. MDC is now preparing to cut the fuselage of the static proto type at Long Beach (a former Eastern DC-9-30), to insert a 1.5m plug forward of die wing to stretch it into a representative MD-95. The extra length adds two seat rows (compared with the DC-9-30) and helps balance the heavier tail-mounted engines. Release of drawings has passed the 70% mark and "... we will now speed up that activity", says Callaghan, who adds that 90% release should be achieved by mid-1996. "It's a steep gradient to climb," he says. Many of die orig inal 1960s vintage blueprints are being used for the MD-95 struc ture although entirely new areas such as the engine pylon and empennage interface will be digi tally modelled and designed using a diree-dimensional system. Windtunnel tests for the take off, cruise and landing configura tions are also largely complete and, "..all basic parameters are validated". • Exim Bank 'will finance ll-96s' THE US EXPORT-Import (Exim) Bank was expected to announce on 20 October that it is prepared to help finance the pur chase of Westernised Ilyushin Il-96s by Aeroflot-Russian Inter national Airlines (ARIA). Russian economics minister Yevgeniy Yasin says that Exim sup port for the Si billion purchase of 20 Il-96M/Ts "...is practically pre determined". The first production aircraft, an I1-96T freighter, is due to be flown in December. ARL\ is seeking a loan to cover the US content in the I1-96M/T, which includes Pratt & Whitney PW2337 engines and Rockwell- Collins avionics. ARIA has agreed to form an off shore trust company to control the assets. This will allow Exim to repossess the aircraft if the airline defaults on payments. Boeing and McDonnell Doug las, which opposed the deal, will be compensated by the extension of a waiver of Russian tariffs on the import of aircraft (nominally 50%) to seven years, from the pre viously agreed three years. 3 Walter hit by Fould's death CZECH ENGINE manufac turer Walter faces an uncer tain future following the death of Emilian Fould, the entreprenuer who took control of the company in March, but had still not paid for the acquisition. Fould was found shot dead in Prague on 3 October, although news of the violent death was not announced for a week. In vestigators appear to be treating the death as murder. Fould's death came as he was still attempting to find funds to finance die 66% stake in Walter which he acquired from the com pany's state owners in March. Although he had agreed a pur chase price of CKr500 million ($15 million), only around CKr25 million materialised. Fould had promised to pay the remainder by the end of October. J FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 25 - 31 October 1995 5
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