16 Jul 2018

USA Aviation Industry Newsletter 16 July

Air Lease Founder Mulls A220 Deal as Airbus Brings ‘Credibility’ According to Bloomberg Steven Udvar-Hazy Air Lease Corp’s founder and chairman, is studying his first potential orders of the Airbus A220 now that controls they single-aisle aircraft. Airbus’s sales and engineering expertise brings greater potential to the aircraft, Udvar-Hazy said. More sales for the A220 would have a “detrimental effect’’ on Airbus’s own A319 narrow-body plane, Udvar-Hazy said. The impact will be worse for the A319 if oil prices continue to rise he stated. Boeing, DHL Express Announce Purchase of 14 Boeing 777 Freighters Boeing and DHL announced 16 July that the carrier has placed an order and commitment for 14 Boeing 777 Freighters, and purchase rights for 7 additional freighters. The $4.7 billion order agreement, at current list prices, was unveiled at the opening of the 2018 Farnborough International Airshow. A portion of the order was previously unidentified on Boeing's Orders & Deliveries website. When the full order is finalized, it will also appear on the website. "We are delighted to announce the acquisition of 14 new 777 Freighters as we renew part of our long-haul fleet with this best-in-class fuel efficient freighter type that will make a significant step towards DHL's zero emissions target by 2050," said Charlie Dobbie, Executive President of Global Network Operations & Aviation. GE9X continues march toward certification GE Aviation has successfully completed one-third of the 25 major test campaigns required for certification of the GE9X, and is on track to certify the engine next year. GE9X, the largest commercial engine in aviation history, will power Boeing's new 777X aircraft. The completed tests include crosswind operability, high-pressure turbine stress, icing, emissions, water ingestion and the first phase of flight testing on GE's flying testbed. A total of eight engines are involved in the certification program. JetBlue Selects Pratt & Whitney GTF Engines to Power 60 Airbus A220-300 Aircraft Pratt & Whitney, congratulated JetBlue Airways on its selection of 60 firm Airbus A220-300 aircraft, which are powered exclusively by Pratt & Whitney Geared Turbofan™ (GTF) engines. This announcement follows previous firm orders from JetBlue for GTF engines to power 85 Airbus A320neo family aircraft. To date, the GTF-powered A220-300 fleet has flown more than 150,000 engine flight hours with three operators, traveling to 145 destinations. The GTF engines for the A220 aircraft continue to meet performance benefits including up to 20% lower fuel consumption, 50% reduction in NOx emissions to the regulatory standard, and 75% reduction in noise footprint. LCI To Lease Boeing 747-400F To Atlas Air Lease Corporation International announced 13 July that it has entered into an agreement to place a Boeing 747-400F on a long-term lease with Atlas Air Inc. Mesa Air Group files for US$150 million IPO Mesa Air Group filed for an initial public offering on July 13, 2018, seeking to raise US$150 million. The company plans to be listed under the proposed "MESA" symbol. The underwriters of the IPO are Raymond James, BofA Merrill Lynch, Cowen, Stifel, and Imperial Capital. Mesa also acquired nine CRJ900 aircraft for $76.5 million on June 28, 2018 and financed the purchase through a combination of new borrowings and a refinancing of existing debt on six CRJ-900 aircraft. All nine aircraft were previously part of our operating fleet and leased from GE Capital Aviation Services LLC under the GECAS Lease Facility Spirit AeroSystems and Norsk Titanium Announce Start of Production Qualification for Commercial Aircraft Parts Spirit AeroSystems and Norsk Titanium US Inc. (NTi), have reached an agreement to initiate qualification of Spirit's first additive-manufactured, titanium, structural component for the Boeing 787. This qualification will validate NTi's production and industrialization processes, integrate Spirit's workscope of machining final parts from additively manufactured near-net shapes and verify material and final part conformity to requirements. 2018 CFM orders surpass 1,370 engines through June 2018 orders for CFM International’s two product lines have remained strong through June, with the company booking orders for a total of 1,371 engines, including 65 CFM56 engines (military and spares) and 1,306 LEAP engines (including commitments and spares). The LEAP engine continues to be the powerplant of choice for new single-aisle aircraft, garnering more than 15,450 total engine orders and commitments (excluding options) at a value of more than $220 billion U.S. at list price since 2011. Total CFM production rates remain at historic highs, with the company on track to deliver more than 2,100 CFM56 and LEAP engines in this year. July 2018 marks the transition point where CFM will be building more LEAP engines than CFM56 engines. Acumen Aviation © 16 July All Rights Reserved.