Airline News
The B787, Air NZ and Jetstar
May 11th 2015
Last week brought more bad news for the B787, when the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an airworthiness directive (AD) ordering operators to periodically shut off power completely at least once every four months. Read More » This is in order to avoid the potential catastrophic loss of electrical power in flight after new Boeing tests found that the plane’s generator control units (GCUs) could go into failsafe mode simultaneously after 248 days of continuous power. The FAA said it considers the AD an “interim action,” adding, “The manufacturer is currently developing a GCU software upgrade that will address the unsafe condition … Once this software is developed, approved, and available, we might consider additional rulemaking.”
In Japan, local heavyweights All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Airlines (JAL) bank heavily on the Dreamliner. At press time, ANA had 34 B787s in service, with an additional 45 on order, while JAL currently operates 20 and has another 25 on order. Both carriers said they took note of the AD but weren’t affected as company operations and maintenance protocol dictate for the GCUs to be switched off whenever B787s are parked in between flights.
Another B787 operator, Air New Zealand (Air NZ), which celebrated its 75th anniversary last week, said it would incorporate the new directive into its maintenance plan. The Kiwi carrier is replacing its aging B767 fleet with the Dreamliner. It currently has three -9 variants in its fleet and nine more on order. At a recent industry event, Air NZ’s chief executive, Christopher Luxon, told This Week in Asia-Pacific Aviation that he was “very satisfied” with the plane’s performance. Auckland-based Air NZ is on a rapid expansion course, adding growth of around 14% this year on top of the 10% it added in 2014. As such, it last month announced the addition of Buenos Aires and Houston to its network, both from December.
Across the Tasman, low-cost carrier Jetstar Airways will add a nine-and-a-half-hour Gold Coast-Wuhan B787 service from September 29, partly funded by Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group. Jetstar Australia and New Zealand chief, David Hall, said the service had “the potential to generate A$53 million ($42 million) in visitor expenditure to the local economy, in turn supporting jobs and small business”.
