Week in brief 02 September 2010

A Boeing announcement last Friday to the effect that the manufacturer now expects delivery of the first B787 in the middle of the first quarter 2011 came as no surprise whatsoever, with many observers having already published expectations along precisely those lines. But Boeing says that t revision "follows an assessment of the availability of an engine needed for the final phases of flight test this fall". The company says it is working closely with Rolls-Royce to expedite engine availability, flight testing across the test fleet continues as planned. Boeing said last month that the cumulative impact of a series of issues, including supplier workmanship issues related to the horizontal stabilizer and instrumentation delays, could push first delivery of the 787 a few weeks into 2011. The delay in engine availability has extended that estimate to mid-first quarter 2011.

The manoeuvring continues apace in the battle between Virgin Blue and Qantas for market share in a new era, with Jetstar announcing this week that it was adding another 820,000 seats on services out of Melbourne and Sydney each year. That's an extra 45 weekly services out of the two capitals to ports such as Adelaide, Brisbane, Newcastle and Townsville. That follows a momentous week for VB last week, which included the announcement of a strategic alliance with Etihad which will effectively establish a global network for the local carrier. We can be sure there's plenty more to come.

Preliminary figures for the month of July released by the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines provide further evidence of the strength of the recovery in both passenger and freight markets, with volumes surpassing pre-recession levels. Asia Pacific-based airlines carried a record 17.2 million international passengers in July, 20.4 per cent up from the same month last year, boosted by particularly strong demand on busy regional routes. Overall international passenger traffic carried by Asia Pacific airlines, measured in RPK terms, grew by 13.6 per cent, surpassing highs achieved prior to the downturn. Coupled with a relatively modest 6.2 per cent expansion in available seat capacity, the average passenger load factor increased by 5.4 percentage points to reach 82.7. International air cargo demand measured in FTKs grew by 27.7 per cent compared to the same month last year, underpinned by strong trade flows. Even with a 20.3 per cent increase in freight capacity, the average international cargo load factor climbed by 4.2 percentage points to 71.6.

According to a report from Singapore, Tiger Airways CEO Tony Davis and two of the airline's major shareholders, Indigo Singapore Partners and Ryanasia, have sold part of the stake in the airline at something of a discount. Apparently, the three sold 65.7 million shares at S$1.90 to what was described as "a broad base of institutional investors" via a placement. Read into that what you will...

Qantas is now offering courier and baggage delivery services to Qantas and third party customers under the new brand name Qantas Courier. Executive Manager Qantas Freight, Mr Stephen Cleary, said Qantas Courier had been established to reposition the Australian and New Zealand operations following the sale of Qantas’ investment in DPEX Worldwide. Qantas will remain the biggest customer of the business, and cost savings are expected through aggregation of the Group’s logistics and supply chain requirements.

The FAA has proposed a US$24.2 million penalty against American Airlines for failing to correctly follow an Airworthiness Directive involving the maintenance of its MD-80 aircraft. This civil penalty is the largest ever proposed by the FAA. “We put rules and regulations in place to keep the flying public safe,” said US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “We expect operators to perform inspections and conduct regular and required maintenance in order to prevent safety issues. There can be no compromises when it comes to safety.” The FAA alleges American did not follow steps outlined in a 2006 Airworthiness Directive requiring operators to inspect wire bundles located in the wheel wells of MD-80 aircraft. The Airworthiness Directive required a one-time general visual inspection by March 5, 2008, for chafing or signs of arcing of the wire bundle for the auxiliary hydraulic pump. It also required operators to perform corrective actions in accordance with the instructions of the applicable manufacturer’s Service Bulletin.

Travel Daily reports that China's Henan Airlines may be forced to change its name because a crash last week is impacting on the reputation of its namesake Henan Province. Formerly known as Kunpeng Airlines (and no relation to the larger Hainan Airlines based in Haikou) the carrier was relaunched as Henan Airlines when it moved its headquarters to Zhengzhou, capital of Henan Province, in Sep 09. However after last week’s E190 crash, which killed 42 people, Henan authorities say they have revoked permission to use the provincial name for the airline because the crash has “cast an extremely adverse impact” on the province.

If you've got some idle cash, there's a gentleman in Perth who is looking for investors to support some radical technology, including "a gravity neutral, vertical take off and landing aircraft that flies by rotating through the atmosphere on it's (sic) axis". But there are alternatives if that doesn't excite you enough, including "tri-generation electro-turbine solar thermal power units" and "a compact door to door commuter type aircraft that can be garaged as would be a car". If you would like further details we can put you in touch. 

And finally, we can't let the week go by without sharing the following email from CASA:

From: CASA mailing lists [mailto:noreply@casa.grapevine.com.au]

Sent: Friday, 27 August 2010 2:46 PM

To: Office Admin

Subject: Urgent Airworthiness Directive (correction)

The previous email contained a typographical error, please accept our apologies for any incontinence.

One really has to wonder what the first typo was... 

And we checked with CASA - it's genuine.