AirBus A220 News

[Guest]

Quote

Airbus begins building new A220 assembly facilities in Mirabel

 

‎Today, ‎December ‎4, ‎2018, ‏‎2 hours ago | Peter Muir

News provided by flightglobal.com

04 DECEMBER, 2018 | SOURCE: FLIGHT DASHBOARD | BY: JON HEMMERDINGER | BOSTON

Airbus confirms it has kicked off construction of two new buildings in Mirabel that will enable the company to boost production of A220s.

The move precedes the Airbus’s plan to open an A220 assembly site in the USA, and comes as it begins fulfilling major orders from several large North American airlines.

“To support our ramp up, we need extra space in Mirabel, so we’ve started construction work for two new dome structures which will be ready around spring 2019,” Airbus tells FlightGlobal.

The domes will “create additional capacity for the final assembly process”, says Airbus.

The company declines to provide additional details about new construction at Mirabel, which aviation blog FliegerFaust.com reported in recent days.

Airbus, and Bombardier before it, have sought to boost production of the aircraft previously known as the CSeries, which is assembled in the same Mirabel complex in which Bombardier assembles CRJ regional jets.

Prior to Airbus’ acquisition of the A220 in July, Bombardier executives talked of hiking production to between 90 and 120 aircraft annually by 2020.

But, actual production rates increased at a glacial pace in recent years.

Bombardier delivered just 17 of the aircraft in 2017. So far this year, Bombardier and Airbus have handed over just 25 A220s, according to Flight Fleets Analyzer.

In addition to the new facility planned in Mirabel, production should benefit from Airbus’ plans to open an A220 assembly site in Mobile, Alabama, where the European airframer also assembles A320-family aircraft.

Airbus expects to break ground on the A220 Mobile site in early 2019, it confirms.

The moves come as Airbus prepares to begin handing over A220s to major customers Air Canada and JetBlue Airways, following the first delivery to Delta Air Lines in October.

Atlanta-based Delta has orders for 75 of the aircraft, and had initially expected to receive them all by the end of 2020.

Air Canada has orders for 45 A220s, with deliveries pegged for between 2019 and 2022, and JetBlue has orders for 60 A220-300s, with deliveries to begin in 2020.

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airBaltic receives 14 Airbus A220-300 aircraft and successfully achieves fleet expansion goal

 

‎Today, ‎December ‎4, ‎2018, ‏‎2 hours ago | Peter Muir

News provided by Baltic News Network BNN

December 3, 2018

Latvian airline airBaltic on December 1, 2018 in Riga welcomed the last Airbus A220-300 jet for the year, registered as YL-CSM. Currently airBaltic has a total of 14 Airbus A220-300 aircraft on its fleet.

Thus far, airBaltic has carried over 1 850 000 passengers on the Airbus A220-300 aircraft with every third airBaltic passenger flying on the aircraft. Airbus A220-300’s have completed more than 17 684 flights and flown over 47 475 block hours. By the end of the 2019 airBaltic plans to have 22 Airbus A220-300 aircraft on its fleet.

Since the launch operations on December 14, 2016, airBaltic Airbus A220-300’s have been in more than 35 countries and landed in over 70 airports. Most often airBaltic flies Airbus A220-300’s to Moscow, Amsterdam, Paris, London and Barcelona.

The Airbus A220-300 offers an excellent flying experience with such benefits for passengers as wider seats, larger windows, more hand luggage space in the cabin, improved lavatories and much more. The new aircraft is also considerably quieter – with a four times smaller noise footprint. Moreover, at the moment it is the greenest commercial aircraft in the world, as it is the first aircraft to have a transparent declaration of the life-cycle environmental impact, helping to reduce CO2 and NOX emissions by 20% and 50% respectively.

This summer airBaltic has also launched an improved cabin with new, comfortable seats on its latest three Airbus A220-300 aircraft. Passengers now benefit from such additional improvements as more legroom, new pockets behind the seats for magazines, as well as hangers next to the seat for jackets.

airBaltic serves over 70 destinations from Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius, offering the largest variety of destinations and convenient connections via Riga to its network spanning Europe, Scandinavia, the CIS and the Middle East. For summer 2019, airBaltic has introduced three new destinations from Tallinn to Malaga, Brussels and Copenhagen. In addition, next summer airBaltic will launch new direct routes from Riga to Stuttgart and Lviv.

 

[RWG33647]

When in 2019 will AC get it's first A220-300?

[YYZ]

from Q3 Management’s Discussion and Analysis 

"In June 2016, Air Canada and Bombardier Inc. (“Bombardier”) finalized a purchase agreement which includes a firm order for 45 Airbus A220-300 aircraft (formerly called Bombardier C-Series CS300 aircraft) and options for an additional 30 Airbus A220-300 aircraft. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in late 2019 and extend to 2022."

[moeman]

December's En Route magazine says Dec 2019.

[Guest]

A Korean Air Airbus A220-300 suffered a failure to its left Pratt & Whitney PW1500G engine on 27 December 2018.

In response to FlightGlobal's query, the carrier confirmed the incident, stating that the aircraft registered HL8314, was operating as flight KE753 on the Busan-Nagoya route with 64 passengers onboard.

On the day the incident happened, the aircraft departed Busan Gimhae International airport at 13.01 hours local time for Nagoya, where the engine failure was detected 25 minutes later. It subsequently made a return for Busan, and safely landed at Gimhae airport 59 minutes after departure.

 

While the airline was unable to comment on the damage suffered by the Pratt & Whitney PW1521G powerplant, a picture circulating on social media purportedly indicates severe damage to the blades of the low pressure turbine.

"The aircraft is currently under inspection at our hangar. Korean Air always puts safety as its first priority, and we are working closely with Airbus and Pratt & Whitney for comprehensive assessment," it adds.

Flight Fleets Analyzer shows that HL8314 (MSN 55035) is owned by an unspecified entity. It is managed and operated by Korean Air since delivery was made in August 2018.

[conehead]

Pics?

[GDR]

By Tim Hepher

PARIS, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Airbus narrowed a sales gap against U.S. rival Boeing by finalising orders for 120 of the former Bombardier CSeries jet, but shares in Europe's top planemaker fell as doubts surfaced over a target for overall 2018 deliveries.

Airbus, which took over the loss-making CSeries last July and rebranded it the A220, said on Thursday it had finalised deals to sell 60 each of the jets to U.S.-based JetBlue and to Moxy, a U.S. start-up backed by JetBlue founder David Neeleman.

But shares in the European company fell as Airbus prepared a keenly awaited delivery tally for overall deliveries in 2018. In late trading they were down 3.6 percent.

Reuters earlier reported growing doubts over whether Airbus had achieved a 2018 target of 800 deliveries, or 782 without counting the Canadian A220 jets.

An industry source familiar with the matter said it was "more than likely" Airbus had missed the target by a handful of jets, marking the first time it has done so since it was reshaped through European mergers in 2000.

An Airbus spokesman declined to comment.

Deliveries are closely watched by investors since they mark the point at which most cash and operating profit are generated.

Planemakers worldwide have been struggling with supplier problems in the past 12 months and Airbus has faced some production snags and quality problems, though any shortfall in deliveries is not expected to have a significant profit impact.

Thursday's U.S. deals mark the first formal orders for the 110-130-seat A220 since Airbus took majority control of the Montreal-based programme with Bombardier and Quebec as partners.

That realignment sets the stage for a broader confrontation with Boeing, which last month closed a deal to take over 80 percent of the commercial unit of Bombardier’s competitor Embraer, subject to Brazilian government approval.

For 2018, most attention is on the core sales battle between the transatlantic plane giants, with Boeing so far in the lead.

Airbus ended November with 35 percent of net sales in the main jetliner market against its U.S. rival after 11 months overshadowed by management changes and delivery delays.

Since then it has picked up speed with formal deals for 220 aircraft, including a 100-plane order from Irish lessor Avolon, leaving it 90 short of Boeing's end-November total of 690 jets.

On a like-for-like basis, excluding the former CSeries model, Airbus has reached a total of 480 net sales for the year against Boeing's most recent tally of 690 for a market share of 41 percent, based on orders announced since November.

Airbus plans to give full-year figures on Jan. 11. Both companies often pull in last-minute deals to lift annual totals, with announcements delayed until early the following year. (Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Mark Potter)

[Kip Powick]

31 minutes ago, conehead said:

Pics?

[rudder]

All of these failures on the next generation of engines are going to make maintaining ETOPS certifications problematic. 

This spans several different airframes.

[DEFCON]

Is that a manufacturing design / materials related problem, or did the aircraft ingest something on takeoff?

 

[Tango Foxtrot]

Does the one they blew up on the ground count towards etops ?

[Maverick]

21 hours ago, Tango Foxtrot said:

Does the one they blew up on the ground count towards etops ?

I would doubt it, the aircraft was still in the certification phase of development.

[blues deville]

A very odd but similar pattern on each blade. Icing conditions?

 

[boestar]

that thing ate something.  That kind of damage to a blade is impact induced not material failure.

[Maverick]

3 hours ago, boestar said:

that thing ate something.  That kind of damage to a blade is impact induced not material failure.

I've seen similar damage and it was a first stage turbine blade failure that took out the next three stages. If there's damage in the compressor section then it's more likely it ingested something.

[J.O.]

6 hours ago, boestar said:

that thing ate something.  That kind of damage to a blade is impact induced not material failure.

Whatever it was, it wasn't tenderized properly.

[mrlupin]

23 hours ago, boestar said:

that thing ate something.  That kind of damage to a blade is impact induced not material failure.

That's the low pressure turbine. Impact damage from something "eaten" ie FOD wouldn't make it that far. Debris from outside would  usually gets stuck inside the engine just forward of the combustion chamber. It won't make it to the Turbine area.

It might be something internal aft of the compressor discharge air that let go, something like Nozzle Guide Vane failure, HPT failure or simply the LPT failing (although those are quite rare in my experience). I have seen the LPT double borescope plugs fail and take out the low pressure turbine but that's unusual.

 

 

[blues deville]

Interesting situation with all three major engine makers, RR, GE and now PW having serious issues with their lastest products. Has the envelope been pushed too far?

[anonymous]

Interesting fact

When internal parts (as opposed to external/foreign) cause the damage it's called "domestic object damage"..... BTW

[boestar]

10 hours ago, mrlupin said:

That's the low pressure turbine. Impact damage from something "eaten" ie FOD wouldn't make it that far. Debris from outside would  usually gets stuck inside the engine just forward of the combustion chamber. It won't make it to the Turbine area.

It might be something internal aft of the compressor discharge air that let go, something like Nozzle Guide Vane failure, HPT failure or simply the LPT failing (although those are quite rare in my experience). I have seen the LPT double borescope plugs fail and take out the low pressure turbine but that's unusual.

 

 

my bad.  I was thinking low pressure compressor (fan)  if that the LP turbine then yea something inside decided to leave.

 

[Guest]

Delta to take 50 A220-300s in upgauged order

• 09 January, 2019
• SOURCE: Flight Dashboard
• BY: Ghim-Lay Yeo
• Washington DC

Delta Air Lines has ordered 15 additional Airbus A220-300s and converted orders for 35 A220-100s to the larger variant -- deals that stand to bring Delta's A220 fleet to 90 aircraft.

The Atlanta-based carrier expects to take delivery of its first A220-300 in 2020. The aircraft will be configured with 130 seats, including first-class seats, economy seats and extra-legroom economy seats Delta calls "Comfort+".

"These additional A220 aircraft will continue to strategically enable Delta to refresh our fleet, drive further advances in the customer experience and serve as an excellent investment for our customers, employees and shareowners for Delta into the next decade," says Delta chief operating officer Gil West.

 

 

With the new orders and conversions, Delta holds orders for 40 A220-100s and 50 A220-300s. The airline has taken delivery of four A220-100s, Flight Fleets Analyzer shows. It plans to place the aircraft into revenue service later this month.

The carrier had said previously it was considering converting some of the A220-100 orders to the larger -300, with Delta chief executive Ed Bastian telling reporters in October 2018 that the airline was in constant discussions with Airbus about a potential conversion.

Delta expects to receive all 90 A220 aircraft by end-2023, it says. Its A220-300s will be assembled at a new facility in Mobile, Alabama. Construction of the plant will begin later this month.

The airline had first placed its 75-aircraft order of the A220 – then known as the Bombardier CSeries – in 2016.

[Guest]

Airbus begins hiring Mobile-based A220 production workers

• 09 January, 2019
• SOURCE: Flight Dashboard
• BY: Jon Hemmerdinger
• Boston

Airbus has started hiring factory workers at its planned Alabama A220 assembly site in advance of a goal to begin production there later this year.

In what Airbus calls a "first wave" of hiring, the company has started recruiting aircraft structure and installation mechanics, aircraft electricians and aircraft cabin furnishing installers, Airbus says.

Airbus seeks workers with at least two years of experience in aviation and aerospace production, though new workers will also receive several weeks of training, potentially including training at Airbus' primary A220 assembly site in Mirabel.

The call for candidates comes as Airbus prepares to break ground next week on construction of its planned Mobile A220 site. The site has been a key part of Airbus' plan since acquiring the A220 programme from Bombardier in mid-2018.

Initially, Airbus said the US assembly site would free it from the risk that the US government would slap the A220 – then called the CS100 – with hefty import duties.

US trade officials since threw out the potential duties, but Airbus still continued with its Mobile plans.

Airbus expects its Mobile site – located at Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley, adjacent to Downtown Mobile airport – will begin A220 production in the third quarter of 2019. Airbus also assembles A320-family aircraft in Mobile.

[dagger]

https://leehamnews.com/2019/01/14/a220-wins-180-etops/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

A220 wins 180 ETOPS

DOWNLOAD

Jan. 14, 2019, © Leeham News: Airbus announced today that its A220 received certification for 180- minute ETOPS from the Canadian, US and European regulatory authorities.

The announcement came at the first Airbus North American Tour, a three-day event that kicked off at the Montreal, Canada, Mirabel Airport facilities created by Bombardier.

Bombardier, of course, created the C Series, which is now the A220.

 

Operational capabilities

The ETOPs certification allows the A220 to fully take advantage of its range capabilities, which are more than 3,000nm or up to 7 ½ hours.

Five operators have received 57 CS100s/A220-100s, CS300s/A220-300s that have flown more than 120,000 flight hours, said Rob Dewar, Head of A220 Engineering & Customer Support. The aircraft have flown up to 18 hours per day and up to 13 legs a day.

Dewar said there are 170 routes to 130 destinations.

Lowering costs

Florent Massou, Head of the A220 program, said that the supply chain is part of the learning curve improvements, which will lower costs. Assembly line learning curve cost reductions already are being achieved as deliveries double.

But major cost reductions are still necessary, said Philippe Balducci, CEO of the A220 Partnership.

“We need to improve the quality of the suppliers to reduce costs” as well, he said.

“We need to bring the unit cost down,” he said. “This is quite a challenge, internally and with our suppliers. All this investment in this great aircraft is becoming credible in the market,” which he believes will aid in bringing suppliers into a cost reduction effort. “We are looking at double digit cost reduction.”

Balducchi said Airbus now “has a very good understanding of the costs,” but would not provide specifics.

Learning from Bombardier

Dewar said the A220 customer response center and health monitoring systems are more advanced than Airbus, which can be leveraged by the larger company.

There are also elements of Airbus that this former Bombardier operation can leverage from Airbus.

Market Share

Dewar said the market share split is 80% -300s and 20% for the -100s. The A220 currently has two-thirds of the market share in the 100-150 seat segment.

[dagger]

Airbus strongly suggests there will be larger versions of the A220 - like an A220-500 that will compete with the lower end of the A320 market. This was Boeing biggest concern with the CSeries. 

 

https://twitter.com/airchive/status/1085571094260707333

 

[Guest]

Canadian Aviation News

‎Today, ‎January ‎16, ‎2019, ‏‎29 minutes ago

 

Delta foresees delay to A220 service launch

 

‎Today, ‎January ‎16, ‎2019, ‏‎38 minutes ago | Peter Muir

News provided by flightglobal.com

15 January 2019 by Kristin Mahcher

Delta Air Lines expects it could be forced to delay the start date for its Airbus A220 operations due to ramifications of the US government shutdown, management told analysts and media on an earnings call on 15 January.

“With non-essential work at the FAA shut down, our Airbus A220 start date is likely to be pushed back due to delays in the certification process,” says Delta chief executive Ed Bastian. The carrier did not expect to cancel any routes or flights, he clarified later in the call.

The comments reiterate previous concerns about the shutdown impacting the timeline for launching the new aircraft type, which the carrier had been planning to put into revenue service from 31 January. It plans to use the aircraft mainly on routes originating from coastal cities, such as from New York LaGuardia to Boston and Dallas/Fort Worth.

In addition, Bastian notes that the shutdown is also affecting the airline’s ability to put seven other aircraft deliveries into service. There could be potential impact on other aircraft such as the Airbus A330-900neos, Delta’s chief operating officer Gil West noted later in the call.

“It gets back into certification issues, that we certify seats and crew rest and things of that nature, wi-fi systems—that with the government shutdown become problematic for us,” he says.

The carrier does not foresee an immediate impact, he adds, but notes this could change later depending on how long the shutdown lasts.

Delta is also expecting the shutdown to have other consequences.

“With respect to the government shutdown, we are seeing some pressure on our business,” Bastian says. “On the revenue front we’re experiencing about $25 million per month in lower government travel.” The airline does not expect the shutdown to have a meaningful impact on its quarterly or yearly unit cost guidance.

Several US government departments have been shut since 22 December, with lawmakers at an impasse on federal spending after failing to reach an agreement over funding a wall on the US-Mexico border. Hundreds of thousands of federal employees have been furloughed or are working without pay.

 

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