Tag: Max (Page 6 of 17)

Boeing Announces Leadership Changes

December 23, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

David L. Calhoun Named President and CEO
Lawrence W. Kellner to Become Chairman of the Board
New Leadership to Bring Renewed Commitment to Transparency and Better Communication With Regulators and Customers in Safely Returning the 737 MAX to Service

Boeing [NYSE: BA] announced today that its Board of Directors has named current Chairman, David L. Calhoun, as Chief Executive Officer and President, effective January 13, 2020. Mr. Calhoun will remain a member of the Board. In addition, Board member Lawrence W. Kellner will become non-executive Chairman of the Board effective immediately.

The Company also announced that Dennis A. Muilenburg has resigned from his positions as Chief Executive Officer and Board director effective immediately. Boeing Chief Financial Officer Greg Smith will serve as interim CEO during the brief transition period, while Mr. Calhoun exits his non-Boeing commitments.

The Board of Directors decided that a change in leadership was necessary to restore confidence in the Company moving forward as it works to repair relationships with regulators, customers, and all other stakeholders.

Under the Company’s new leadership, Boeing will operate with a renewed commitment to full transparency, including effective and proactive communication with the FAA, other global regulators and its customers.

“On behalf of the entire Board of Directors, I am pleased that Dave has agreed to lead Boeing at this critical juncture,” Mr. Kellner said. He added, “Dave has deep industry experience and a proven track record of strong leadership, and he recognizes the challenges we must confront. The Board and I look forward to working with him and the rest of the Boeing team to ensure that today marks a new way forward for our company.”

Mr. Calhoun said, “I strongly believe in the future of Boeing and the 737 MAX. I am honored to lead this great company and the 150,000 dedicated employees who are working hard to create the future of aviation.”

Norwegian Air Hoping for Boeing 737 MAX Compensation This Year

December 19, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

OSLO (Reuters) – Norwegian Air <NWARF> hopes to agree compensation from Boeing <BA> by year-end over the grounding of the 737 MAX, the airline’s acting CEO said, as it counts the costs of having 18 of the aircraft grounded since March.

“The dialogue (with Boeing) has been ongoing since summer and we hope to come to an understanding before the end of the year,” acting Chief Executive Geir Karlsen said in a podcast made on Dec. 11 and released by brokerage DNB Markets on Dec. 18.

Norwegian has 92 737 MAX aircraft on order.

“It’s about compensation and also about a new schedule of plane deliveries, as Boeing obviously can’t deliver in line with the contract … it’s a huge challenge for Boeing, and at the same time we also want the best possible outcome for ourselves,” Karlsen said.

(Reporting by Terje Solsvik, editing by Gwladys Fouche and Jason Neely)

Trump Called Boeing CEO to Inquire About 737 MAX Production Halt

December 19, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump called Boeing <BA> Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg this week to ask about the status of 737 MAX production, two people briefed on the matter confirmed.

The call on Sunday was brief and Muilenburg assured Trump that the planned production halt was temporary and that the company would not be laying off any workers. The production halt, set to begin in January, was announced by Boeing Monday after a board meeting.

Boeing and the White House declined to comment on the call, reported earlier by the New York Times.

Separately, S&P Global Ratings on Thursday downgraded Boeing’s credit rating to “A-” from “A” and lowered the short-term rating to “A-2” from “A-1.”

The change “reflects the uncertainty over when the 737 MAX will return to service, the risk to the supply chain from the planned production halt, and possible long-term impact to Boeing’s competitive position.”

U.S. officials have repeatedly said they are waiting for additional answers from Boeing and have at time faulted the quality of submissions from the planemaker since the plane was grounded in March after two fatal crashes killed 346 people.

“We’ve had conversations about the importance of making sure that we are looking at complete documentation and not piecemeal documentation,” FAA Administrator Steve Dickson told Reuters in September. “It’s really better to be very methodical and very detailed rather than try to rush a partially completed product and then say, ‘We’ll get back to you with the rest of it.’”

Boeing has repeatedly said it is working with regulators to safely return the plane to service and acknowledged last week it would not occur until 2020.

Dickson said last week there are nearly a dozen milestones that must be completed before the MAX returns to service. Approval is not likely until at least February and could be delayed until March, U.S. officials told Reuters last week.

American Airlines Group Inc <AAL> and Southwest Airlines Co <LUV> have canceled flights into April because of the grounding.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

Boeing Statement Regarding 737 MAX Production

December 16, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

Boeing suspends 737 MAX production starting in January due to certification in 2020
Reduced production output enables prioritization of stored aircraft delivery
No layoffs or furlough expected at this time

Safely returning the 737 MAX to service is our top priority. We know that the process of approving the 737 MAX’s return to service, and of determining appropriate training requirements, must be extraordinarily thorough and robust, to ensure that our regulators, customers, and the flying public have confidence in the 737 MAX updates. As we have previously said, the FAA and global regulatory authorities determine the timeline for certification and return to service. We remain fully committed to supporting this process. It is our duty to ensure that every requirement is fulfilled, and every question from our regulators answered.

Throughout the grounding of the 737 MAX, Boeing has continued to build new airplanes and there are now approximately 400 airplanes in storage. We have previously stated that we would continually evaluate our production plans should the MAX grounding continue longer than we expected. As a result of this ongoing evaluation, we have decided to prioritize the delivery of stored aircraft and temporarily suspend production on the 737 program beginning next month.

We believe this decision is least disruptive to maintaining long-term production system and supply chain health. This decision is driven by a number of factors, including the extension of certification into 2020, the uncertainty about the timing and conditions of return to service and global training approvals, and the importance of ensuring that we can prioritize the delivery of stored aircraft. We will continue to assess our progress towards return to service milestones and make determinations about resuming production and deliveries accordingly.

During this time, it is our plan that affected employees will continue 737-related work, or be temporarily assigned to other teams in Puget Sound. As we have throughout the 737 MAX grounding, we will keep our customers, employees, and supply chain top of mind as we continue to assess appropriate actions. This will include efforts to sustain the gains in production system and supply chain quality and health made over the last many months.

We will provide financial information regarding the production suspension in connection with our 4Q19 earnings release in late January.

Airbus to Become Preferred Supplier for Qantas Sydney to London flights

December 12, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

FILE PHOTO: A passenger stands in front of a window where Qantas planes are parked at Melbourne Airport, Australia

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Qantas Airways Ltd <QABSY> said on Friday it has chosen Airbus SE <EADSY> as preferred supplier for jets capable of the world’s longest commercial flights from Sydney to London, beating rival Boeing Co <BA> after a hard-fought contest.

The choice of up to 12 A350-1000 planes fitted with an extra fuel tank for flights of up to 21 hours cements Airbus as the leader in ultra-long haul flying globally at a time when Boeing is battling delays on its rival 777X programme and a broader corporate crisis following two deadly 737 MAX crashes.

The Qantas flights would begin in the first half of 2023, but remain subject to reaching a pay deal with pilots, who would need to extend their duty times to around 23 hours to account for potential delays and switch between flying the A350 and the airline’s current A330 fleet. A final decision on an order is expected in March, the airline said.

Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce said the airline “had a lot of confidence” in the market for non-stop services from Sydney to London and to New York based on two years of flying non-stop from Perth to London, where it has achieved a 30% fare premium over one-stop rivals in premium classes.

“The A350 is a fantastic aircraft and the deal on the table with Airbus gives us the best possible combination of commercial terms, fuel efficiency, operating cost and customer experience,” he said.

Singapore Airlines Ltd <SINGY> operates the world’s current longest flight, nearly 19 hours from Singapore to New York, using an ultra-long range version of the smaller A350-900.

Airbus Chief Commercial Officer Christian Scherer thanked Qantas for its selection in a statement, while a Boeing spokesman said it was disappointed with the decision but looked forward to continuing its longstanding partnership with the airline.

Rico Merkert, a transport professor at the University of Sydney Business School, said the A350-1000 fit the Qantas brief well and was the safer choice, given Boeing has recently reported problems such as the grounding of the 737 MAX, structural cracks in 737 NGs and a fuselage split in a stress test of its 777-9.

“The A350 just seems to be a much safer bet,” he said. “And safety is at the core of everything that Qantas does including its brand.”

Airbus no longer provides list prices for aircraft, but based on its 2018 price list, the Qantas order could be worth up to $4.4 billion before heavy discounts that are standard for airline customers.

Citi on Friday estimated the planes would cost A$3 billion (1.6 billion pounds) to $3.5 billion, with the investment likely to be phased over three years.

The selection of the A350-1000 will add to growing doubts over Boeing’s plans to produce the 777-8 that it had proposed to Qantas for the mission.

Boeing had already said the entry into service for the plane, a smaller, longer-range version of the 777-9, would be delayed beyond 2022 but has declined to give a new date, saying it would be based on customer demand.

Customers Emirates and Qatar Airways have indicated they could switch orders for the 777-8 to the 777-9.

The 777-9 is due to enter service in 2021, following delays associated with its GE <GE.N> engines.

The Boeing spokesman said on Friday the manufacturer was focused on the development of the 777-9 and after that it would complete development of the 777-8, with the first delivery scheduled a few years after that.

(Reporting by Jamie Freed; Editing by Sam Holmes and Stephen Coates)

An Airbus A350-1000 performs at the 53rd International Paris Air Show at Le Bourget Airport near Paris

Former Boeing Employee Who Warned of 737 Problems to Testify

December 9, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

WASHINGTON, Dec 9 (Reuters) – A former Boeing Co employee who warned of problems with 737 production will testify on Wednesday at a U.S. House hearing on the Federal Aviation Administration review of the grounded 737 MAX.

The aircraft has been grounded since March after two fatal crashes in five months killed 346 people. Federal officials say the FAA is not expected to authorize the plane to fly until January at the earliest.

Former Boeing employee Edward Pierson, who had worked as a senior operations manager in the flight test and evaluation unit, will testify before the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the panel said in a notice.

Pierson’s concerns were referenced at an Oct. 30 hearing — though he had not been named previously.

“All my internal warning bells are going off and for the first time in my life, I’m sorry to say that I’m hesitant about putting my family on a Boeing airplane,” Pierson wrote to Boeing management in mid-2018 before the first crash, according to an email obtained by the committee. He warned “the alternative of rushing to build is far riskier.”

Boeing spokesman Gordon Johndroe said Monday that “although Mr. Pierson did not provide specific information or detail about any particular defect or quality issue, Boeing took his concerns about 737 production disruption seriously.” He added that after Pierson retired and raised the issue again as recently as this year “those concerns received renewed scrutiny at the highest levels of the company.”

Johndroe added “the suggestion by Mr. Pierson of a link between his concerns and the recent MAX accidents is completely unfounded.”

Pierson could not immediately be reached on Monday.

Representative Albio Sires, a Democrat, on Oct. 30, questioned Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg about concerns raised by a Boeing employee about Boeing’s 737 production and his recommendation that production be halted. Sires said the employee wrote directly to Muilenburg in December 2018 after he had retired.

Johndroe confirmed Monday Pierson was the employee referenced by Sires.

“He raised some good concerns. We went back and took a look at his concerns and in some cases we identified areas where we thought his issues had already been addressed,” Muilenburg said at the hearing. Boeing did not slow production after Pierson’s concerns.

FAA Administrator Steve Dickson, FAA Aircraft Certification Service Executive Director Earl Lawrence and a member of the FAA’s Technical Advisory Board, Matt Kiefer, as well as former FAA employee G. Michael Collins will also testify.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Dan Grebler and Lisa Shumaker)

Airbus Faces Delivery Challenge, Poised to Win Jet Order Race

December 5, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

PARIS, Dec 5 (Reuters) – Airbus must hand a record number of aircraft to customers in December to meet delivery goals, company data showed on Thursday, and is all but certain of winning an annual order race against Boeing.

The European planemaker has been facing production snags in its best-selling A321neo jet, due in part to the introduction of a complex new flexible cabin, but has said it is confident of meeting a goal of 860 jets in 2019, revised down from 880-890.

To reach that target it must deliver 135 jets in December, beating a previous record of 127 December deliveries by 6%.

Airbus delivered 77 aircraft in November to reach 725 for the year so far, according to Thursday’s progress report.

Airbus has a track record of achieving a late surge in deliveries, though it is also working to spread deliveries more evenly over the year in future to smooth earnings and avoid quality problems that can creep in when it is working flat out.

Whether or not it meets targets, Airbus is set to regain the crown as the world’s largest commercial plane producer this year as U.S. rival Boeing approaches nine months without deliveries of its 737 MAX, grounded after two crashes.

Boeing is expected to jump back into the lead next year as projected deliveries include 737 MAX jets parked during the grounding, while remaining ahead on larger jets, but the timing of the 737 MAX return to service depends on global regulators.

Airbus is also on course to win an annual order contest between the plane giants after booking orders for 222 aircraft in November, driven mainly by last month’s Dubai Airshow.

Emirates ordered 50 A350-900 jets at the show as part of a fleet shake-up that also saw the world’s largest wide-body operator cut a remaining order for A380s and reduce its requirement for Boeing 777X jets, while adding the Boeing 787.

Airbus sold a total of 940 jets in January-November, or 718 after cancellations, leaving it well ahead of Boeing, whose year has been derailed by the grounding of the 737 MAX. In the latest period for which data is available, Boeing sold 180 jets in the first nine months or 45 after cancellations.

The latest figures were released days after Airbus won a sale of 50 A321XLR jets to United Airlines, narrowing the potential market for a mid-market plane that Boeing has been studying, while slowing those discussions during the MAX crisis.

United also delayed delivery of 45 A350s by several years to 2027 and beyond. UK analysts Agency Partners said on Thursday that this could put pressure on A350 output in coming years.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Giles Elgood and Andrew Heavens)

United Orders 50 New Airbus Long-Range Jets to Replace Boeing 757’s

December 3, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

CHICAGO, Dec 3 (Reuters) – United Airlines Holdings Inc announced on Tuesday an order for 50 Airbus SE A321XLR jets to fly between the U.S East Coast and Europe, becoming the latest U.S. airline to ink a deal for the European planemaker’s new passenger jet.

The long-range A321XLR jets will replace United’s 53 Boeing 757-200 planes beginning in 2024, the Chicago-based planemaker said, flying to cities like Porto, Portugal and other potential new destinations.

United’s 757 planes will reach the end of their lifespan in about a decade and Boeing Co is not building any more of the large single-aisle model.

Instead, the U.S. planemaker has been considering a new twin-aisle plane, provisionally known as the NMA, but has delayed a launch decision until 2020 while it manages the ongoing global grounding of its 737 MAX jets following two fatal crashes.

United’s chief operating officer Andrew Nocella told reporters the airline has worked closely with Boeing on the potential new aircraft and is still open to orders if the planemaker decides to move forward with developing the NMA.

Meanwhile, U.S carriers including American Airlines Group Inc, JetBlue Airways Corp and Spirit Airlines Inc have agreed orders for Airbus A320neo-family jets.

Among the benefits of the A321XLR is a 30% lower fuel burn per seat compared to previous generation aircraft, United said.

United has also ordered the larger A350 widebody jets but said it is deferring delivery of those jets until they are needed in 2027.

Its A321XLR order is the second for a U.S. carrier following tariffs that the United States is imposing on European-made aircraft.

(Reporting by Tracy Rucinski Editing by Chris Reese and Michael Perry)

Ryanair Tries to Delay Operations Chief’s Flight to easyJet

December 2, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

FILE PHOTO: Chief Operating Officer Bellew of Ryanair attends a news conference in Frankfurt

DUBLIN (Reuters) – Ryanair <RYAAY> heads to court on Tuesday to try to prevent operations chief Peter Bellew from joining arch-rival easyJet <ESYJY> until 2021.

Europe’s biggest budget airline said in July that the former Malaysia Airlines boss would step down at the end of the year.

But after easyJet announced Bellew’s appointment as its new chief operations officer a week later, Ryanair launched legal proceedings in Ireland’s High Court.

Ryanair argues that all its senior executives commit to non-compete clauses barring them from joining a competitor for 12 months after leaving the Irish airline.

Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary told reporters in September that the only issue was whether Bellew, who is currently working out his notice, can join easyJet on Jan. 1, 2020, or Jan. 1, 2021, a full 18 months after easyJet announced his appointment.

An easyJet spokeswoman declined to comment on the case. Bellew has not commented on the case since Ryanair initiated proceedings.

O’Leary has said the timing of Bellew’s switch is sensitive because of the problems Ryanair is currently having with Boeing’s <BA> grounded 737 MAX jet, which have slowed down its growth plans.

Ryanair is one of Boeing’s biggest customers for the MAX 737, with 210 on order, and the airline said last month it expected a further delay to deliveries that could leave it without the new jets next summer.

Bellew left his role as CEO of Malaysia Airlines two years ago to return to Ryanair where he was director of flight operations before leaving for Kuala Lumpur in 2014.

Tasked with tackling a pilot revolt that resulted in Ryanair’s first ever strikes, Bellew has helped patch up relations with staff and agree deals on pay and conditions with trade unions that have quelled the unrest.

An Irish national, Bellew described his return to Ryanair in 2017 as “a form of national service” to help what he described as Ireland’s greatest company. Some observers had seen Bellew as a possible future Ryanair chief executive.

(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Mark Potter)

Boeing 737 MAX 10 Makes its Debut

November 23, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

RENTON, Wash., Nov. 22, 2019 – Boeing [BA] marked a key milestone as thousands of employees gathered for the debut of the first 737 MAX 10 at the company’s Renton, Washington factory. During a ceremony, Boeing leaders highlighted the team’s accomplishments and recognized their efforts in completing production of the newest member of the 737 MAX family.

“Today is not just about a new airplane. It’s about the people who design, build and support it,” said Mark Jenks, vice president and general manager of the 737 program. “This team’s relentless focus on safety and quality shows the commitment we have to our airline customers and every person who flies on a Boeing airplane.”

The 737 MAX 10, the largest variant of the MAX family, can seat up to 230 passengers and offers the lowest seat-mile cost of any single-aisle airplane ever produced. The airplane will now undergo system checks and engine runs prior to first flight next year.

“I’m honored to take this airplane on its first flight and show the world what you’ve put your heart and soul into,” 737 Chief Pilot Jennifer Henderson told the employee crowd.

The 737 MAX 10 currently has more than 550 orders and commitments from more than 20 customers around the globe.

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