04 Jun 2019

North America Newsletter 4 June

Air New Zealand Selects GEnx Engines for its New Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners Air New Zealand selected the GEnx-1B engine to power its eight Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner aircraft with option up to 20 aircraft. The airline announced the order yesterday at a ceremony in Auckland, New Zealand. The firm engine order is valued at more than $480 million at list prices. Aircraft delivery will begin in 2022. American Airlines and Qantas Welcome U.S. Department of Transportation’s Tentative Approval of Joint Business American Airlines and Qantas welcome the U.S. Department of Transportation’s tentative approval of the carriers’ joint business to better serve customers flying between the United States and Australia and New Zealand. Final approval of the joint business will allow for commercial integration between the carriers, delivering new routes and significant customer benefits not possible through any other form of cooperation. American and Qantas will review the Order, with a final decision from the DOT expected in the next few weeks. ATSG’s Bank Credit Facility Expands to Support Fleet Growth Air Transport Services Group announced 28 May that it has obtained lender commitments for a one-year extension through May 2024 of its secured credit facility, and an expansion of the facility’s revolver portion. Quint Turner, Chief Financial Officer of ATSG said “This additional revolver capacity, along with the growing cash flows generated by ATSG’s businesses, will support our program to meet the strong domestic and international demand for our aircraft. In particular, we will invest the majority of our $475 million capital expenditure budget in 2019 to acquire thirteen Boeing 767-300s. We expect to convert and add nine 767s to our freighter leasing portfolio during the year, with a tenth aircraft remaining in passenger configuration and operated by our airline subsidiary Omni Air International, acquired in November 2018. Cargo Aircraft Management, our aircraft leasing subsidiary, continues to benefit from strong demand from customers who desire the efficiency of the Boeing 767 in their cargo air network operations, where expanding shipment volumes have been driven by the secular shift to e-commerce." Bombardier Concludes Sale of the Q Series Aircraft Program to Longview Bombardier announced 3 June the closing of the previously announced sale of the Q Series aircraft program assets to De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited (formerly Longview Aircraft Company of Canada Limited), an affiliate of Longview Aviation Capital Corp., for gross proceeds of approximately $300 million. Longview will carry on the production of Q400 aircraft at the Downsview Facility in Toronto, and will continue performing aftermarket services for Q Series aircraft. CTS Engines Promotes Vesa Paukkeri to Chief Executive Officer CTS Engines LLC announced 3 June that it had promoted Vesa Paukkeri to Chief Executive Officer, completing its planned leadership transition. Mr. Paukkeri has served as President and Chief  Operating Officer of the Company since his joining in 2012, prior to which he had spent 10 years at Finnair. He held several executive positions at Finnair including Chief Operating Officer of Finnair Engine Services and VP-Component Services and VP-Sales & Marketing at Finnair Technical Services. GDC Technics Delivers Two Of The World’S Most Sophisticated B787’S To Head Of State Customer GDC Technics announced 20 May the completion and delivery of two VVIP B787’s to a confidential head of state customer. Both of these aircraft were completed with the most sophisticated VVIP head-of-state cabins that integrate cutting edge technologies along with state of the art materials and engineering solutions, which created maximum luxury only found in a VVIP aircraft. Rapidly Growing, CAVU Aerospace Announces FAA 145 Approval for Repair Facility in Roswell, New Mexico CAVU Aerospace announced 3 June that their repair facility, CAVU Aerospace Maintenance, received 145 repair station approval from the Federal Aviation Administration. Under the certificate, the company is fully authorized to perform aircraft storage, aircraft line maintenance and engines preservation, borescopes, MPA runs and repairs within specifications. Universal Asset Management Acquires Airbus 340-500 Universal Asset Management, Inc. (UAM) announced 29 May that it has acquired an Airbus A340-500 MSN (457) formerly operated by Emirates. Acumen Aviation © 4 June 2019 All Rights Reserved.