December 1st 2024

Print Friendly

OCTOBER

Not for the first time, production delays and engine availability were in the news in October. Read More »

Firstly, British Airways (BA) reversed its decision to start nonstop London-Heathrow-Kuala Lumpur less than a month before the service was to commence. Rolls-Royce delays in delivering Trent 1000 engines to BA to power the 787-9s scheduled to operate the route were blamed for the cancellation of the route.

Secondly, Malaysia Airlines said this month it was deeply disappointed “with findings identified by Airbus during the flight line stage” that had pushed back the first delivery of its A330-900 by two months.

Thirdly, IndiGo attributed its net loss in the July-September quarter to rising costs and the grounding of some aircraft. It said aircraft groundings reached a peak of mid-seventies in the three months. Thankfully, the figure is moving downwards.

International Air Transport Association director-general, Willie Walsh, said this month he expected supply chain issues in aviation to persist for the next five years and to delay the full recovery from the pandemic.

Tata Sons reached another key milestone in its efforts to consolidate the number of airline brands in its portfolio when Air India Express and AIX Connect (formerly AirAsia India) completed amalgamation in the month. The new entity is Air India Express carrying the ailrine code of IX.

There was consolidation in the Philippines, when Cebu Pacific agreed to terms with Ayala Land Capital Corp to acquire turboprop carrier, AirSWIFT, for 1.75 billion peso (US$30 million) via a share purchase agreement.

The strike by members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, representing more than 30,000 Boeing workers, continued throughout October leaving the company with no alternative but to push back first delivery of the 777-9X to 2026, the 777-8X freighter to 2028 and to end production of the 767 freighter in December next year.

As Boeing went to the market and raised billions of dollars in fresh capital to bolster its balance sheet and absorb the financial impact of the IAM’s work stoppage, it announced it would cut the OEM’s workforce by 10% or 17,000 jobs in coming weeks.

Emirates Airline president, Sir Tim Clark, told media he was skeptical Boeing was capable of meeting its new delivery target for the 777-9X.

Virgin Australia reported a second consecutive year of after-tax profit in the 12 months to June 30. The privately-held airline did not disclose the dollar figure of its net profit result, only providing figures for revenue and underlying earnings before interest and tax.

It was supposed to be the end of an era for Qantas Group’s 717s this month when the last of the type, registration VH-YQS, was withdrawn from flying after operating the QF1511 from Sydney to Canberra. However, a shortage of aircraft at the airline meant the aircraft has been returned to service.