Tag: plane (Page 6 of 8)

Bombardier Sells Five Learjet 75’s to Undisclosed Customer

May 8, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

May 7, 2019 – Montréal Bombardier Inc., Business Aircraft, Press Release

Value of Learjet 75 transaction an estimated US$69 million based on 2019 list prices
Learjet 75 aircraft features the quietest and most private cabin in its class, an eight-seat double club configuration, a smooth ride and the only flat floor in the light jet category
Bombardier’s Learjet fleet recently celebrated 25 million flight hours

Bombardier today announced that an undisclosed customer has purchased five industry-defining Learjet 75 aircraft. The transaction is valued at approximately US$69 million dollars based on 2019 list prices.

Today’s announcement follows the landmark achievement Bombardier’s fleet of trailblazing Learjet aircraft set earlier in 2019, when the fleet surpassed the 25 million flight-hour mark, adding yet another accomplishment to an impressive string of Learjet milestones and firsts. The first Learjet business aircraft entered service in 1964, creating the experience and defining the industry of private flight.

“The ultimate business tool, Learjet 75 aircraft feature industry-leading performance and help drive direct bottom line results,” Peter Likoray, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales and Marketing, Bombardier Business Aircraft. “Reliability and longevity are just two of the reasons customers among Fortune 500 companies continue to choose Learjet aircraft for productivity gains. With its bevy of recent enhancements, the Learjet 75 aircraft is a superior business jet offering in terms of size, performance and reliability, all at highly competitive operating cost.”

Bombardier continues to invest in this industry-leading light business jet, with its recently-released comprehensive Garmin G5000 avionics upgrade, which will allow customers to optimize their routes and paves the way for future technological enhancements. The upgrade will be offered as forward and retrofit for in-service Learjet aircraft. Bombardier also recently announced that Learjet 75 aircraft operators now benefit from lengthened intervals between recurring major powerplant inspections, which have been extended from 3,000 to 3,500 engine hours.

Renowned worldwide for its sleek ramp appeal and favoured by pilots for its impressive handling characteristics and high-performance, the Learjet 75 is the only business jet in its class to feature an eight-seat double-club configuration, a flat floor throughout the cabin and a pocket door for reduced noise levels.

Since acquiring the Learjet Corporation in 1990, Bombardier has introduced an impressive eight new models, including the best-selling Learjet 75 aircraft, which entered service in 2013.

About Bombardier

With over 68,000 employees across four business segments, Bombardier is a global leader in the transportation industry, creating innovative and game-changing planes and trains. Our products and services provide world-class transportation experiences that set new standards in passenger comfort, energy efficiency, reliability and safety.

Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, Bombardier has production and engineering sites in 28 countries across the segments of Transportation, Business Aircraft, Commercial Aircraft and Aerostructures and Engineering Services. Bombardier shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (BBD). In the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, Bombardier posted revenues of $16.2 billion US. The company is recognized on the 2019 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World Index. News and information are available at bombardier.com or follow us on Twitter @Bombardier.

No Survivors Found in Mexico Crash of Jet Carrying 13 People

May 7, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – All 13 people aboard were killed when a private jet crashed between the U.S. city of Las Vegas and Monterrey in northern Mexico, authorities said on Monday.

The wreckage of the plane was found via aerial surveillance in a remote mountainous zone in the northern municipality of Ocampo, the government of Coahuila state said in a statement.

A photograph published on local television network Milenio showed what it said were the burnt remnants of the plane, broken into pieces, spread over charred earth.

The Coahuila government said the flight plan listed 13 people on board. It said no survivors were found.

Mexican media reported that the passengers had been to a boxing match between Mexican boxer Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and U.S. fighter Daniel Jacobs in Las Vegas on Saturday.

The nationalities of the victims were not immediately clear. The surnames of the three crew and 10 passengers published by the Coahuila government were all Hispanic.

The victims were aged between 57 and 19, according to a version of the passenger list published in Mexican media.

Newspaper Diario de Yucatan said on its website that among the victims were 55-year-old businessman Luis Octavio Reyes Dominguez, his wife, and their three children.

In a statement, Canada’s Bombardier Inc identified the jet as a Challenger 601 and said the plane had gone missing about 150 nautical miles from the northern Mexican city of Monclova.

Expressing its condolences to the victims, the company said it had been in touch with Canada’s transportation safety board and would work with the investigating authorities.

Mexican broadcaster Televisa reported the twin-engine jet lost contact on Sunday with air traffic controllers sometime after 5:20 p.m. local time (2220 GMT) as the pilot descended to avoid a storm.

Francisco Martinez, an emergency services official in Coahuila, told Milenio recent adverse weather conditions would form part of the investigation into the crash. However, he stopped short of saying weather had caused it.

(Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon, Noe Torres, Ana Isabel Martinez, David Alire Garcia and Allison Lampert; Editing by David Gregorio and Tom Brown)

Bombardier To Create Single Aviation Division

May 2, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

MONTREAL (Reuters) – Canada’s Bombardier Inc said on Thursday it would unite its corporate and regional jet-making units into a single aviation division, as it continues focusing on its strongest businesses while shedding aerostructure facilities in Belfast and Morocco.

The announcement comes ahead of an annual general meeting later in the day, where the plane and train maker is expected to face questions from investors on whether its turnaround plan is still on track as its transportation unit grapples with delayed rail contracts.

Investors were rattled last week when Bombardier cut its first-quarter and full-year revenue targets for the transportation division, its largest unit, raising concerns over whether it will still meet its 2020 targets of boosting margins and generating $20 billion (£15 billion) in revenue.

Bombardier on Thursday posted first-quarter revenue and profit, in line with revised expectations issued a week ago, when it sharply cut estimates for full-year profit and revenue.

It had slashed its full-year transportation revenue forecast by almost 8 percent to about $8.75 billion.

The company said in a statement it was making progress toward completing five long-term rail projects that have been marred in some cases by delivery delays and production problems, but these would take a few more quarters for completion.

Bombardier’s planned sale of its Belfast wing and structure-making operation, the largest high-tech manufacturer in Northern Ireland which employs 3,600, stunned workers who called on the British government to retain jobs.

A separate facility which produces aeronautical-equipment in Morocco will also be sold.

Under Chief Executive Alain Bellemare, Bombardier has been selling off businesses, including the money-losing Q400 turboprop program, to focus on more profitable units like rail and corporate jets.

The rail division, which is expected to generate $10 billion next year, is crucial to Bombardier’s five-year turnaround plan, after heavy investment in aircraft production drove it to the brink of bankruptcy in 2015.

Besides creating a single aviation division headed by business aircraft president, David Coleal, the company said it will consolidate its five aerostructures businesses to focus on facilities in Montreal, Mexico and its newly acquired Global 7500 business jet wing operations in Texas.

Bombardier’s commercial aircraft president Fred Cromer will continue to lead efforts as the company weighs the future of its money-losing regional jet program.

Some investors have questioned Bombardier’s credibility in revising its financial guidance after a recent debt raise.

“The concern, particularly after the March debt raise, is whether management remains committed to its longer term 2020 guidance,” said Toronto-based AltaCorp analyst Capital Chris Murray by email.

“We expect that during that process, the company had reiterated prior 2019 guidance, which it changed last week, adding to concern on the part of bondholders.”

A Bombardier spokesman declined to comment and said management would address questions at the meeting.

Bombardier said it continues to expect full-year free cash flow to be breakeven, plus or minus $250 million, as Global 7500 aircraft and key transportation project deliveries are expected to accelerate in the second half of the year.

Adjusted core earnings rose by $1 million to $266 million in the three months to March 31, while revenue fell 13 percent to $3.52 billion.

(Reporting By Allison Lampert in Montreal. Additional reporting by Arathy Nair in Bengaluru and Fergal Smith in Toronto; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Bernadette Baum)

FILE PHOTO: Logo of Bombardier is seen at an office building in Zurich, Switzerland February 28, 2019. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann

FAA Mandates Changes to Boeing 787 Dreamliner

May 1, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

SEATTLE (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday said it was mandating new flight control software and parts to Boeing Co’s 787 Dreamliner to address what it called an unsafe operating condition of certain products on the plane.

The FAA’s airworthiness directive to plane operators makes compulsory changes Boeing outlined in service bulletins in 2017 and early 2018 for certain areas in 787’s tire and wheel “threat zones” that may be susceptible to damage, the company said.

Boeing, which works closely with the FAA to monitor its fleet for potential safety issues, said: “This issue has been long since resolved with system improvements that have been incorporated into production for all 787 models.”

The FAA said damage to the 787’s tire and wheel “threat zones” could result in the loss of braking and steering power on the ground at certain speeds.

The FAA said it requires installing hydraulic tubing, a pressure-operated check valve and new flight control software.

(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; editing by James Dalgleish and Cynthia Osterman)

Virgin Atlantic Posts Annual Loss for Second Year Running

April 10, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

(Reuters) – Virgin Atlantic on Wednesday reported an annual pretax loss for the second consecutive year, hit by a shaky economy, the higher costs of fuel generated by a weaker British pound and problems with Rolls Royce’s Trent engines.

The airline, the 1980s brainchild of British billionaire Richard Branson, fell back into the red in 2017 after three years of profits, as competition intensified and the weakening of the pound added to already rising fuel costs.

Best known in Europe for the trans-Atlantic planes it flies with Air France-KLM and Delta, Virgin said its loss before tax and exceptional items was 26.1 million pounds ($34.12 million) for the year ended Dec. 31, compared to a loss of 49 million pounds in 2017.

Total revenue rose 5.8 percent to 2.78 billion pounds, as passenger numbers grew just under 5 percent to 5.4 million and revenue per customer rose 1.7 percent.

The company said performance had suffered from economic uncertainty and the weaker pound – which increases costs because fuel is priced in dollars – as well as the well-documented problems of the Trent 1000 engines used on its Boeing 787 jets.

“While a loss is disappointing, our performance has improved in 2018 despite challenging economic conditions and put us on a trajectory for growth and return to profitability,” Chief Executive Officer Shai Weiss said in a statement.

Rolls-Royce on Wednesday agreed to an early inspection of some Trent 1000 TEN engines by regulatory authorities, a week after Singapore Airlines grounded two Boeing 787-10 jets fitted with the units.

British Airways owner IAG in February chose Boeing 777-9s, rather than a competing package from Airbus in part powered by Rolls, underlining the risks to airlines from the engine issues.

Since then the industry has been thrown into chaos by the grounding of Boeing’s new 737 MAX planes after a second fatal crash within six months.

The pound fell 5.6 percent against the U.S. dollar, in 2018 as Britain contended with the political and economic uncertainty generated by its negotiations on leaving the European Union.

Finance chief Tom Mackay said that while economic factors would continue to challenge the carrier in the year ahead, Virgin Atlantic was in a strong cash position.

The results are the company’s first since its acquisition of troubled regional airline Flybe for $2.8 million earlier this year, in a joint bid with Stobart Group and Cyrus Capital.

($1 = 0.7649 pounds)

(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain and Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)

Brazil’s Gol Will Not Cancel Boeing 737 MAX Order

April 2, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

FILE PHOTO: An aircraft of Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA departs from Congonhas airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil September 11, 2017. REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker

SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazil’s largest airline, Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes, will not cancel its orders of Boeing Co’s 737 MAX plane, the model which was involved in two fatal crashes, newspaper Valor Economico reported Gol’s chief executive as saying on Tuesday.

“We will not cancel our orders,” CEO Paulo Kakinoff said. “The 737 MAX is probably the best airplane ever made.”

Gol is going through a significant fleet transformation and has bet heavily on the Boeing 737 MAX, with over 100 planes scheduled to be delivered in the next few years.

The airline has so far received seven aircraft, which it grounded after an Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed in March, the second accident involving that plane model in a span of five months.

Kakinoff added that he thinks it is possible that the 737 MAX planes will fly again by July. That decision is in the hands of regulators around the world.

Gol has flown Boeing planes exclusively since its founding and is the U.S. planemaker’s largest client in Latin America.

(Reporting by Marcelo Rochabrun; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Susan Thomas)

Bombardier Delivers Global 7500 to Racing Legend Niki Lauda

April 1, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

Bombardier announced today that it delivered its first European-based Global 7500 aircraft to long-time Bombardier customer, Niki Lauda, as production and completions of the award-winning business jet continue to ramp up as planned. Bombardier is on track to deliver between 15 and 20 Global 7500 aircraft in 2019.

Long-time Bombardier customer and F1 World Champion takes delivery of the first European-based Global 7500 aircraft
Production and completions ramp up for Global 7500 jets proceeding as planned
The Global 7500 aircraft recently completed the world’s longest-range business jet flight in history and broke the city pair speed record between LA and NYC*
Winner of the 2019 Aviation Week Grand Laureate Award, the Global 7500 aircraft offers Bombardier’s signature smooth ride and a spaciousness that is unique among business jets

“We are thrilled to deliver our flagship Global 7500 business jet to Niki Lauda, our esteemed customer for many years,” said David Coleal, President, Bombardier Business Aircraft. “The Global 7500 aircraft is simply the best business jet on the market. It sets the standard by which all other aircraft in private aviation will be measured, demonstrated by the prestigious design and aviation awards it has garnered. The Global 7500 aircraft is the crown jewel of the industry.”

“I have enjoyed watching the evolution and growth of the Global Aircraft program. I have always been impressed with the expertise, craftsmanship and innovation that go into building every Global business jet,” said Niki Lauda. “The Global 7500 aircraft is the culmination of all the knowledge Bombardier teams have gained over the years and I look forward to experiencing the range, speed and comfort this jet has to offer.”

The Global 7500 jet is the latest in a series of Bombardier business aircraft that Mr. Lauda has owned and piloted during his career as an aviator. Previously, he operated a Global 6000, Global 5000 and Challenger 300 jet as his private aircraft.

Since its entry-into-service, the Global 7500 aircraft has unequivocally proven itself to be the highest-performing aircraft in the industry. The Global 7500 business jet has a top speed of Mach 0.925 and recently flew from Singapore to Tucson, completing a record-setting 8,152 nautical mile flight—the longest-range flight in business aviation history. In addition, it also recently broke the city pair speed record between Los Angeles and New York. The Global 7500 aircraft continues to assert its position as the leader in the business jet market.

The Global 7500 aircraft offers Bombardier’s signature smooth ride and a spaciousness that is unique among business jets. With its award-winning bespoke interior featuring a full-size kitchen and four true living spaces, the Global 7500 jet offers the ultimate in-flight experience. Setting the benchmark for the most exceptional cabin interior, the Global 7500 aircraft offers the most innovative features: Bombardier’s patented Nuage seat, meticulously designed for maximum comfort and the revolutionary nice Touch cabin management system (CMS), a new way to connect with the Global 7500 aircraft cabin through the Bombardier Touch dial, featuring business aviation’s first application of an OLED display.

About Bombardier

Headquartered in Montréal, Canada, Bombardier has production and engineering sites in 28 countries across the segments of Transportation, Business Aircraft, Commercial Aircraft and Aerostructures and Engineering Services. Bombardier shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (BBD). In the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, Bombardier posted revenues of $16.2 billion. News and information are available at bombardier.com or follow us on Twitter @Bombardier.

Five Decades Ago, Boeing’s 727 Jet Also Had A Terrible Start

March 25, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

OTTAWA (Reuters) – As Boeing Co and global airlines work to restore public confidence in the 737 MAX after two deadly crashes, they will have a play book they can use.

This is not the first time that Boeing has faced a crisis after launching a new plane with innovative technology. In 1965, three Boeing 727-100 passenger jets crashed in less than three months in the United States while coming into land, killing a total of 131 people.

Like the 737 MAX, the three-engined 727 was billed as one of the most advanced aircraft of its time. Boeing introduced the 727 in 1964 and portrayed it as a more efficient alternative to the standard four-engine jets of the day, with new features designed to make the 727 easier to operate from short airfields.

The 727’s wing flap system, which provides extra lift at low speeds, was unusually large and sophisticated, which allowed the plane to descend more quickly than other rivals and avoid buildings and other obstacles close to runways.

Investigators looking into the crashes discovered that some pilots did not fully understand the flap system and were therefore allowing the planes to descend at too great a speed.

“There was nothing wrong with the airplane… (but) if you didn’t really pay a lot of attention to it you could build up an immense sink rate,” said Bill Waldock, a professor of safety science at the U.S-based Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He uses the 727 accidents as part of a case study.

Aviation authorities ordered more training for pilots but allowed the planes to keep flying despite calls from some politicians to ground them.

Boeing made some modifications to the flight manual and to the procedures for flying the airplane on final approach.

In the case of the 737 MAX 8, Boeing is working on software and training updates. [L3N21C0FP]

Alan Hoffman, a U.S. aviation historian and retired transportation lawyer who has researched the 727 accidents, said given the publicity over the recent crashes, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration would only allow the 737 MAX 8 planes to fly again if the regulator is convinced the fixes worked.

“The airplane will go back into service and unless something else crops up there will be no further problems and a year from now this will all be a dim distant memory,” he predicted by phone from St Louis, Missouri.

Boeing was not immediately available for comment.

In contrast to the swift grounding of the 737 MAX 8 after the recent second accident, just two days after the third fatal 727 crash, in November 1965, the Civil Aeronautics Board said there was no reason to ground the plane.

“It passed very rigid certification tests … before it was put into service and nothing has turned up in our investigation to cause us to doubt its stability,” the board said.

Those words did not immediately reassure many travellers. Indeed, passengers had started to boycott the airliner after the crashes began.

“For a period of six months or so a lot of 727s were flying with half full cabins,” Waldock said by phone from Prescott, Arizona. Still, the 727 crisis passed.

The plane eventually became one of Boeing’s best sellers and was in widespread use for another 30 years. By 2003, virtually all had been retired as airlines moved away from the 727’s loud and thirsty engines.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; editing by Joe White and Cynthia Osterman)

President Trump Issues Order Ground Boeing 737 MAX Aircraft

March 13, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States on Wednesday grounded Boeing Co’s 737 MAX jets, citing new satellite data and evidence from the scene of Sunday’s crash of an Ethiopian Airlines plane that killed 157 people, the second disaster involving the 737 in less than five months.

It was the second time the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has halted flights of a Boeing plane in six years. It had grounded the 787 Dreamliner in 2013 because of problems with smoking batteries.

Shares of the world’s biggest plane maker, which were up earlier in the session, fell 2 percent to $370.48. The shares have fallen about 13 percent since Sunday’s crash, losing about $32 billion of market value.

Shares of Southwest Airlines Co, which has the largest fleet of 737 MAX aircraft, fell 0.4 percent.

“The agency made this decision as a result of the data gathering process and new evidence collected at the site and analyzed today,” the FAA said in a statement, shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump announced the planes would be grounded.

“This evidence, together with newly refined satellite data available to FAA this morning, led to this decision.”

The grounding will remain in effect as the FAA investigates.

Boeing, which maintained that its planes were safe to fly, said it supported the move to temporarily ground 737 MAX flights.

The United States joins Europe, China and other countries in grounding Boeing’s newest plane since the Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed soon after taking off from Addis Ababa.

The still-unexplained crash followed another involving a Boeing 737 MAX in Indonesia five months ago that killed 189 people. Although there is no proof of any link, the twin disasters have spooked passengers.

The grounding was welcomed by air workers in the United States.

“He (Trump) did the right thing by grounding this fleet, both for air travelers and aviation workers,” John Samuelsen, international president of the Transport Workers Union of America, which represent aviation workers and flight attendants, told Reuters shortly after the announcement.

“Our members are excited, and are no longer concerned about stepping into a workplace which could lead to the end of their lives, potentially.”

NEW SATELLITE DATA

Canada also grounded 737 MAX jets on Wednesday, saying satellite data suggested similarities to the previous crash involving the same plane model in October.

U.S.-based aircraft-tracking firm Aireon provided the satellite data to the FAA, Transport Canada and several other authorities, company spokeswoman Jessie Hillenbrand said.

Aireon’s space-based system can monitor data from aircraft equipped with Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) transponders. The data is considered less detailed than that in black boxes, which look at systems running inside the plane.

Earlier on Wednesday, Germany’s federal agency responsible for investigating air accidents said it would not analyze the black box from the Ethiopian Airlines plane, casting uncertainty over the process of finding out what may have caused the disaster. The U.S. FAA said the black boxes were headed to France later on Wednesday.

Ethiopian Airlines spokesman Asrat Begashaw said it was still unclear what happened on Sunday, but its pilot had reported control issues as opposed to external factors such as birds.

“The pilot reported flight control problems and requested to turn back. In fact he was allowed to turn back,” he said.

(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington, Kumerra Gemechu in Gora-Bokka, Ethiopia, David Ljunggren in Ottawa; Additional reporting by Duncan Miriri and Aaron Maasho in Addis Ababa; Doina Chiacu in Washington, Omar Mohammed and Maggie Fick in Nairobi; Tim Hepher in Paris; Jamie Freed in Singapore; Terje Solsvik in Oslo; Aditi Shah in Mumbai; Sanjana Shivdas in Bengaluru; Aleksandar Vasovic in Belgrade; Julie Gordon in Ottawa; Angela Moon in New York; Writing by Andrew Cawthorne, Frances Kerry and Bill; Rigby; Editing by Gareth Jones, Nick Zieminski and Grant McCool)

Boeing Postpones 777X Event After Ethiopian Airlines Crash

March 11, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

(Reuters) – Boeing Co said late Sunday it will postpone the planned ceremonial debut of its 777X widebody aircraft after Sunday’s crash of an Ethiopian Airlines plane that left 157 dead.

A Boeing spokesman said there was no delay to the 777X program.

Boeing said that after the crash of the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 it is focused on “supporting” the airline and would not proceed with Wednesday’s planned debut of the 777X in Seattle.

“We will look for an opportunity to mark the new plane with the world in the near future,” the company said.

(Reporting by David Shepardson and Tim Hepher; Editing by Marguerita Choy & Kim Coghill)

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