FAA faults Phl repair station

AP, Rainier Allan Ronda, Rudy Santos
Published June 23, 2011  The Philippine Star

WASHINGTON – A repair station in the Philippines that services planes for nearly 50 airlines around the world has shown a pattern of stubborn problems that safety experts say underscore concerns about the airline industry’s outsourcing of maintenance to facilities in developing countries.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspections of Lufthansa Technik Philippines in Manila said the facility had repeated difficulties in following US regulations on matters ranging from record keeping to calibrating tools used to make repairs.

The records, which cover inspections from 2008 through last month, also cite recurring problems with training workers to FAA standards and unfamiliarity by in-house inspectors at Lufthansa Technik, a subsidiary of Lufthansa Airlines, with US regulations.

Lufthansa Technik’s “quality assurance department demonstrated an inability to effectively audit the repair station for compliance with all aspects of (US regulations), specifically, appropriate facilities, tools/equipment, personnel and training requirements,” according to an inspection in May.

A 2009 inspection noted that two in-house inspectors were unfamiliar with FAA aircraft maintenance regulations. The inspectors had recently received four hours of training in the regulations, but weren’t tested for their knowledge afterward, it said.

The same inspection noted that “throughout the repair station numerous personnel are not aware of which airline they are providing maintenance for” and which country’s regulations applied.

The reports show problems scattered throughout the facility rather than in one department, which indicates the problems are systemic, said John Goglia, a former National Transportation Safety Board member and an expert on aircraft maintenance. The result, he said, is an erosion of the margin of safety.

“As they expand into Third World countries to take advantage of the labor rates and lower costs these problems keep coming back because you just don’t have the people infrastructure,” Goglia said. “How many trained people do you think there are in the Philippines, in Malaysia and in Indonesia? They are expanding a big operation with a relatively thin technical workforce.”

 

The Manila facility employs 2,800 aircraft mechanics and other employees. It’s certified by the FAA and aviation authorities from 20 nations to perform maintenance work ranging from routine repairs to major overhauls, according to Lufthansa Technik.

The company recently began construction of a new hangar so that Airbus A380s – the world’s largest airliner capable of seating up to 853 passengers – can be serviced at the facility.

The records were obtained from the FAA through a Freedom of Information Act request by a labor union, Unite Here, which represents employees of Lufthansa’s catering subsidiary in North America, SkyChef. The union and the airline are in contract negotiations.

“None of the mentioned FAA audit findings had significant impact on safety and reliability of aircraft and components,” Lufthansa Technik said in a statement.

“Each finding has been treated as an opportunity to enhance the existing system, as it is an industry standard to deal with findings from internal and external audits,” the statement said. “Corrective actions have always been implemented and accepted by the FAA.”

However, the report on last month’s inspection said numerous problems cited in an August 2010 inspection still had not been corrected. “An acceptable corrective plan has been submitted, but due to recent failures, an on-site follow-up inspection ... is required,” it said.

Bill Voss, president of the Flight Safety Foundation, an industry-supported group that promotes aviation safety worldwide, said the inspections indicate Lufthansa Technik Philippines has a problem with quality control, but he cautioned against making more general judgments about offshore aircraft repair stations.

“It’s a huge leap to suggest this is representative of all foreign repair stations,” Voss said. “I’m not sure offshore equals bad.”

The FAA said in a statement that it holds foreign repair facilities to the same standards as US facilities. Repair facilities that don’t meet those standards can lose their certification. The FAA has certified Lufthansa Technik Philippines for repairs since 2000.

The Transportation Department Office of Inspector General announced in December it has launched an investigation of the FAA’s oversight of maintenance performed for US passenger airlines by outside contractors, including oversight of overseas repair stations.

A 2008 report by the inspector general said nine big US airlines farm out aircraft maintenance at twice the rate of four years earlier and hire outside contractors for more than 70 percent of major work. While most of the outsourced work is still done in the US, often at nonunion repair shops, more than one-quarter of the repairs are done overseas, it said.

A bill backed by House Democrats that would have required the FAA to step up inspections of foreign repair stations from once a year to twice a year died last year. It was opposed by the European Union, which threatened to cut back on planes its airlines send to repair facilities in the US.

Lufthansa, one of the world’s largest airlines, owns 51 percent of Lufthansa Technik Philippines, while the Philippine MacroAsia Corp. owns 49 percent.

The only US carrier that sends planes to Lufthansa Technik Philippines for major maintenance work is Hawaiian Airlines, which flies to destinations in the Western United States, the Pacific and Asia.
 Lufthansa, Swiss Air, Qantas, LAN, Philippine Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Vietnam Airlines, Gulf Air, Kuwait Airways and Jet Airways are among some of the other airlines that use the facility for major work.

Meanwhile, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) director general Ramon Gutierrez said they would still look into FAA’s report even if Lufthansa Tecknik services mostly foreign airlines and is subject to inspection only by FAA or Europe’s DGAC (Générale de l’Aviation Civile).

Gutierrez said CAAP’s Aircraft Maintenance Organization inspection unit should also audit Lufthansa Technik.

Cessna AD "Will Affect 36,000 Airplanes"

By Glenn Pew, Contributing Editor, Video Editor
Published June 15, 2011  AvWeb.com

The FAA's final rule regarding Cessna seat rails applies to all serial numbers of Cessna aircraft ranging from Cessna 150A to T337H-SP models -- 36,000 aircraft, according to the FAA -- and is effective as of June 17, 2011. The Airworthiness Directive (AD) supersedes a prior one; it clarifies inspections that look for cracks in seat rails and details under what circumstances parts must be replaced. Action, unless already taken, is required within the next 100 hours time-in-service or within the next 12 calendar months. The FAA estimates that the inspections alone should cost each owner about $85 and combine to produce $3.06 million for the repair shop industry. Cost of replacement parts and work as needed could add another $395 to an individual owner's tab. Specifics follow.

The AD covers 150, 152, 170, 172, 175, 177, 180, 182, 185, 188, 190, 195, 206, 207, 210, T303, 336, and 337 series airplanes. It aims to prevent seats from slipping while the aircraft is in flight, potentially leaving a pilot out of reach of the controls, or leading to dangerous unwanted control inputs. The old AD requires repetitive inspections and replacement of parts under specific conditions. The new AD (PDF) retains all the requirements of the previous AD, but adds steps to the inspection procedure and improves associated graphics.

Helicopter with wings promises to change aviation world

By Jorn Madslien Business reporter, BBC News, Marignane, France
Published June 15, 2011
 

Click to play

Eurocopter's Jean-Michel Billig: 'It's a game changer in the way we use helicopters in our day-to-day life"

Surging in from the west through one of Provence's many beautiful valleys, a peculiar-looking aircraft is preceded by an unfamiliar sound.

The deep chugging rumbling of a conventional helicopter rotor is mixed with the loud whining noise of two wing-mounted forward-facing propellers, making it difficult to guess what is coming.

As the aircraft swoops over Montagne Sainte-Victoire, shaking the windows in holiday cottages and farm houses below, it becomes clear that this flying machine resembles nothing else in the skies.

Eurocopter's X3 rotorcraft - pronounced "X cubed" - is basically a chopper with wings, which will be seen for the first time by the public next week as part of the aerial displays at the Paris air show.

The prototype combines the versatility of a helicopter, by way of vertical take-off and landing, with the higher speed of a plane.

"It's exactly like a helicopter," says flight test engineer Dominique Fournier. "But as soon as you've taken off, it's exactly like a fixed-wing aircraft."

Game changers

Helicraft such as the X3 are set to revolutionise aviation, company executives say

The X3 is one of the fastest rotorcraft in the world, having achieved a cruising speed of 232 knots (430 km/h or 267 mph) during a test flight on 18 May.

Though not quite as fast as US rival Sikorsky's equally futuristic-looking but differently designed X2, which achieved a true air speed of 250 knots last September, the X3 has nevertheless made the prospect of ultra-fast helicopters going on sale within years much more likely.

Consequently, both helicopter companies describe their innovations as "potential game changers".

"The aerospace industry today has a new horizon," according to Sikorsky's president Jeffrey Pino.

Eurocopter's chief executive Lutz Bertling says "it will be a totally different way of flying".
Mission capability

"If you can do it with a balloon or a fixed wing or a bicycle, you don't buy an expensive helicopter”

Lutz Bertling Chief executive, Eurocopter

For the pilot and for passengers, the difference lies in the "very different sensation from flying this when compared with an ordinary helicopter", according to experimental test pilot Herve Jammayroc. "In the X3 we accelerate and decelerate horizontally."

And although the X3 is perhaps a more complex machine to build, "it is easier to fly than a conventional helicopter", Mr Jammayroc says.

For Eurocopter's customers, it is all about balancing costs with how quickly and how far the aircraft can travel.

Hence, although the X3 is at least 50% faster than conventional helicopters, "the key message is not speed", according to chief executive Mr Bertling.

"The key message is productivity," he says, insisting that the X3's greater size makes it a more versatile rotorcraft than Sikorsky's X2.

"We are not selling helicopters, we are selling mission capability," Mr Bertling says.

"If you can do it with a balloon or a fixed wing or a bicycle, you don't buy an expensive helicopter."
Productive aircraft

Experimental test pilot Herve Jammayroc says it is easy to fly the X3 

Eurocopter's aim is to deliver an aircraft that increases cruising speeds by 50%, while limiting any resulting increase in costs to 25%.

"The target is a productive aircraft," Mr Bertling says.

"So 210-220-230 knots for us is quite reasonable. And 270-280 knots may be conceivable, but fuel costs get too high."

With the X3, the required technology is pretty much there, according to Eurocopter's chief technology officer Jean-Michel Billig, who is in charge of research and development.

"Today, we believe it should cost in the region of 20% more than a similar size helicopter in terms of cost of ownership," he says.

Replacement programme

Fast helicraft such as the X3 are unlikely to replace conventional helicopters

The X3 forms part of a broader restructuring of Eurocopter, which includes plans to replace its entire current offering of six different helicopter models.

"We have a road map to renew our current product family over the next 10 years," says Mr Billig.

A helicopter programme costs about 1bn euros ($1.4bn; £876m) per year and typically lasts for about six years, so it is a costly exercise.

The company is also working on more fuel-efficient models, such as helicopters powered by diesel-electric hybrid engines, or unmanned or optionally manned helicopters, even full-sized ones that carry passengers.

Improving safety, both in terms of reliable systems and crew awareness, and to reduce operating and maintenance costs, are also central tasks.

Buoyant helicopter market

Profit margins are tight, both on the military and the civilian arena, chief executive Lutz Bertling says

Some replacement models might be similar to X3, says Mr Billig. "We are assessing the performance of X3 and we will apply it to helicopters where it makes sense," he says.

But his boss, Mr Bertling, adds there will still be a buoyant market for conventional helicopters. "For example, one of the great growth areas is servicing wind parks offshore, and here high speed doesn't make sense," he says.

Typically, the faster an aircraft moves horizontally, the less able it is at vertical take-offs and landings, so any aircraft that tries to be both helicopter and plane will be a compromise that is neither fish nor fowl in some situations.

Hence, rather than compete with fixed-wing planes or even with conventional helicopters, which will continue to serve growing markets in Asia, Latin America and the US, as well as here in Europe, the X3 and other helicraft of its ilk are carving out new niches in the aviation market.

Such aircraft could be used on new routes between city centres, such as between London and Brussels, or even within mega-cities, such as Mumbai, where vertical take-off and landing would save time by not having to travel to and from airports.

Other customers, such as the oil and gas industry, could speed up air shuttles to and from the rigs, thus enabling crews and experts to spend more time actually working.

Eurocopter is preparing to replace its entire helicopter model range

Such customers would be particularly sensitive to the cost of the helicraft, Mr Bertling observes.
Whereas for others, such as search-and-rescue or military customers, it is "less a question of money and more about mission success".

That does not make it a licence to print money, however.

"Operating with high margins in military areas - outside the US, I have to say - is not that easy in the current climate," Mr Bertling observes.

This year's Paris Air Show will take place at Le Bourget exhibition centre on the outskirts of Paris from 20 to 26 June 2011.

Asian budget carriers spread wings as demand surges

By Agence France-Presse

Published June 17, 2011 abs-cbn.com

SINGAPORE - Multi-billion dollar orders for more than 100 new planes this week underscored the difference between the thriving budget airline sector in Asia-Pacific and the gloom-hit global aviation industry.

India's GoAir and Cebu Pacific of the Philippines on Thursday said they had each signed deals with European planemaker Airbus that would see them massively boost their fleets.

"A low-cost carrier boom is undoubtedly taking place in Asia-Pacific," said Daniel Tsang, chief analyst of Hong Kong-based aviation consultancy Aspire Aviation.

"Low cost carriers could easily capture up to half of air travel within the next 20 years or so, which is, quite frankly, a conservative figure," said Tsang.

The International Air Transport Association, which represents 230 carriers that account for more than 90% of worldwide scheduled air traffic, but excludes many budget operations, has halved its 2011 profit forecast for the world airline industry to $4 billion.

The figure, which would represent a 78% fall on profits last year, reflects the challenges posed to the industry by the March tsunami in Japan, unrest in the Middle East and North Africa and high oil prices.

But Asia-Pacific budget carriers appear unfazed and have continued to ramp up their service.

GoAir said it had placed an order for 72 new A320 Airbus aircraft in a deal worth up to $7.2 billion at list prices, while Cebu Pacific announced it had ordered 37 new Airbus jets worth an estimated $3.8 billion.

Industry players expect Malaysia's AirAsia, which sparked the growth of budget travel in the region, to ink a new deal with Airbus for up to 200 aircraft at next week's Paris Air Show.

US plane maker Boeing on Thursday hiked its 20-year forecast for the size of the global commercial aircraft market by eight percent to 33,500 planes worth $4.0 trillion, with the Asia-Pacific region accounting for a third of sales.

AirAsia chief Tony Fernandes said in May that he may boost the firm's Airbus fleet five-fold to 500 as more people in the region demand cheaper flights.

"We have 600 million people just in ASEAN," he said, referring to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

India and China, which are already served by budget carriers from ASEAN cities, have a combined population of two-and-a-half billion.

Rapid economic growth in ASEAN, China and India, coupled with falling air fares means millions more can now fly rather than travel by land or sea compared to the pre-budget airline era.

"The exponential growth for low-cost carriers in Asia-Pacific is supported by emerging economies and their citizens' soaring income," Tsang said.

The European and US markets, by contrast, are facing "sluggish economic recoveries and cautious consumers," he added.

The boom in budget travel has prompted more established airlines to explore the no-frills market as well.
Singapore Airlines, a leader in premium travel, announced in May that it will launch within one year a no-frills brand that will fly on medium- to long-haul destinations -- an indication it could fly as far as Europe.

"Legacy carriers previously did not do a good job of developing and taking advantage of the rising demand for leisure and cheap travel as well as leveraging on the significant change that the Internet introduced to the consumer," said Singapore-based Standard & Poor's analyst Shukor Yusof.

AirAsia's long-haul arm, AirAsia X, already flies to 15 destinations including London, Taipei, Tehran, Paris, Seoul, Tokyo, Christchurch in New Zealand and several cities in Australia, China and India.

Brendan Sobie, Southeast Asia specialist at aviation intelligence firm Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, said established names like Singapore Airlines have realized they can no longer bank on their current clients for growth.

"As low-cost carriers continue to grow more rapidly than full service carriers, we expect low-cost carriers to continue growing their share of the market by roughly two percentage points per annum," he said.

It's not only the Asian middle class that benefits from the boom in low-cost carriers, which are able to slash fares by cutting out in-flight entertainment, using cheaper airports and charging for food and amenities.

Filipino domestic worker Nida Jumawan, 49, told AFP she had no wish to return to the old days when ferries were the only affordable means of transport between the Philippines' far-flung islands.

She said the plane fare from Manila to her hometown of Pagadian in the southern Philippines, could drop to as low as P800 ($18.35) compared with the ferry fee of about P3,000.

"Flying is much easier compared to ferries. It is terrifying at sea when you are caught up in a typhoon -- you can't sleep, you get dizzy and you throw up," Jumawan said.

Asia's Emerging Aerospace Parks

By Leithen Francis / Singapore
Published June 5, 2011 AVIATIONWEEK.COM

 SINGAPORE—Southeast Asian countries are developing aerospace parks to attract foreign investment, but poor planning means most lag behind market leader Singapore.

Thailand has enormous potential to be a center for maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) because Bangkok is an air transportation hub for Asia-Pacific and it has a secondary airport that would be an ideal base. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said in 2009 that Thailand would develop Don Mueang Airport into an MRO hub. The director general of Thailand’s civil aviation department, Wuthichai Singhamanee, was leading the initiative, but things have stalled since he retired last year. Sumpun Pongthai, the director of the flight standards bureau of the department of civil aviation, says national airports operator Airports of Thailand (AoT) leads the push; however, an AoT spokesman says Thailand’s ministry of transport is in charge. But government decision-making has taken a back seat as Thailand prepares for elections this year.

The uncertainty over policy is having an adverse impact on investment. France’s Vallierre Aviation wanted to start a MRO firm there to do narrowbody heavy checks, but Vallierre CEO Grégoire Lebigot says: “Our project in Don Mueang was postponed as the strategy of the airport authority was somewhat unclear.” EADS was looking to establish a landing gear overhaul center at Don Mueang, but this too appears to have come to nothing.

Brunei is more organized in its efforts. Sheikh Rashid Salam, the Brunei Economic Development Board’s (BEDB) head of local business development, says it is targeting MRO firms and training organizations. “We are talking to people about establishing a flight simulator center” and are trying to get a training organization for maintenance engineers.

He says Royal Brunei Airlines would be a good partner for overseas MRO firms because the carrier has EASA Part 145 certification and there is a 1,930-sq.-meter hangar available at Brunei International Airport. This empty hangar used to store the Sultan of Brunei’s Boeing 747.

“We’ve got a skilled workforce,” says Rashid, adding that local MRO workforce rates are $30-35 per hour. “You can bring foreign workers into the country, and there is no income tax, sales tax, capital gains tax, export or manufacturing tax.” The corporate tax rate is 22%, and companies that invest in Brunei can apply for an eight-year tax holiday, he says. “If they spend a certain amount, they get three more years of tax holiday.”

While the BEDB has a comprehensive package, one of the challenges it faces is that Brunei is small. The population is only around 400,000.

Indonesia, by comparison, is Southeast Asia’s largest airline market. It too wants an aerospace park, but questions persist over whether Indonesian regulators can work together to streamline the process. Richard Budihadianto, CEO of Indonesia's largest MRO firm, GMF AeroAsia, says Indonesia needs more MRO firms because the incumbents cannot absorb all the work. The majority of Indonesia’s heavy maintenance work goes overseas, mostly to Malaysia and Singapore. Budihadianto is trying to generate support for an aerospace park, but the government has yet to decide on a site or provide incentives.

Malaysia is more advanced in its efforts. It has established the Malaysian International Aerospace Park at Subang Airport, Kuala Lumpur’s old international airport. Subang Airport is home to Malaysia Airlines Engineering & Maintenance (MAS E&M) and Airod, a military MRO. GE Aviation has two Subang businesses: GE Engine Services and GE On-Wing Support.

The aerospace park’s highest-profile tenant is Spirit Aerosystems. During the 2009 opening ceremony of its manufacturing and design facility, Spirit CEO Jeff Turner remarked that “although Spirit is an aerospace company, it’s also a people company, and it is the people in Malaysia that convinced me that this is a great place for Spirit to grow globally.”

Malaysia has tried to ensure that it has a skilled and qualified workforce. MAS E&M has a training center at Subang. Other training organizations include Politeknik Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah, which has a diploma course in aircraft maintenance; and Kedah Industrial Skills and Management Development Centre, which has courses on aircraft composites manufacturing.

Malaysia has had some success, but no one appears able to beat Singapore. Singapore’s Economic Development Board (EDB) estimates the city-state accounts for 25% of Asia-Pacific’s commercial MRO work. The investments keep pouring in. Rolls-Royce says it is investing at least S$700 million ($560 million) in Singapore’s Seletar Aerospace Park to develop a wide-chord titanium fan-blade factory as well as an assembly and test facility for commercial aircraft engines. It announced that the plant will assemble Trent 1000s, used on Boeing 787s, and also be equipped to handle other types of Trent engines. The fan-blade factory building was completed in December, and the assembly plant building will be completed in May. Assembly of the first engine is due in mid-2012.

The plant will have the capacity to produce 250 engines per year, but it will take several years to ramp up to that rate, says Jonathan Asherson, Rolls-Royce regional director for Southeast Asia. He predicts some of Rolls-Royce’s suppliers will establish factories in Southeast Asia to manufacture parts that can then be sent to the Singapore assembly plant. “Logistics is a big factor in overall cost,” says Asherson. One of the advantages Singapore has is its world-class infrastructure, he says.

Rolls-Royce was confident about the decision to set up the Singapore site—its first outside the U.K.—because its other investments in the city-state have been successful, says Asherson. Singapore Aero Engine Services, a joint venture with SIA Engineering Co., supports Trent engines. “That positive experience de-risked our decision,” says Asherson, adding that it proved Singapore can provide skilled labor at the right price. SIA Engineering is training workers for the assembly plant, while Singapore’s Institute of Technical Education is training workers for the fan-blade factory.

Another favorable factor is Singapore’s monetary policy. It limits wild fluctuations in the value of its currency by pegging it to the U.S. dollar and a bundle of other currencies. Asherson says mitigating fluctuations in the U.S. dollar is important to exporters like Rolls-Royce.

Finally, government support is another important factor in Singapore's success, says Asherson. Authorities offer inducements such as tax incentives and training and innovation grants. The main player in this area is Singapore’s EDB. It is also the main party companies turn to when looking to invest, and its role is to take the lead and coordinate the other government ministries and agencies to ensure the investment and approval process is efficient.

Other Southeast Asia nations often fail to do this and end up bouncing potential investors from one ministry or government agency to the next. Asherson says the Singapore EDB is good at asking questions and finding out what is important to investors. “They really do try find out from us what we value” and, as a consequence, can demonstrate that they have “an understanding of our industry,” he says.

Lim Kok Kiang, the EDB director of transport engineering, says that about 75% of the plots at Seletar Aerospace Park’s phase one and phase two developments already are taken or reserved. But new plots will be available under phase three, which is scheduled to start in the second half of 2012. He says Singapore’s Jurong Town Corp. (JTC), which manages the park, is targeting smaller suppliers in the aerospace sector by building factories that will be available for lease. JTC is also building aircraft hangars that can be shared facilities, he adds.

“The key here is integration,” he says, adding that there is a competitive advantage in being in such as park. “These smaller businesses can reap the synergies of co-location” and over time give work to each other.
Singapore’s biggest advantage is the head-start it has on the other Southeast Asian nations. It already has a huge cluster of aircraft MRO and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) businesses. As a result, MRO firms elsewhere in Southeast Asia still may have to send some work to Singapore because that is where the OEMs are.

In the MRO industry, time is money. If an MRO firm has to send a component to Singapore, it may be more productive to do all the airframe or engine work in Singapore.

This is the challenge the other Southeast Asian nationals face in developing aerospace parks to woo MRO investment. In some respects, countries such as Indonesia and Thailand should have developed MRO hubs decades ago. Now they have to play catch up.

Part 121 Rules May Come to Part 135 Carriers

By Kerry Lynch
Published June 14, 2011  AVIATIONWEEK.COM

FAA, in the throes of finalizing new flight, rest and duty regulations for Part 121 carriers, is considering extending the rules to Part 135 operators, says FAA Flight Standards Director John Allen. Speaking during the National Air Transportation Association’s Air Charter Summit June 8 in Chantilly, Va., Allen did not provide a time line on a potential proposal for Part 135, and concedes the agency has its hands full with mandates from last summer’s Airline Safety and FAA Extension Act of 2010, which stemmed in part from the 2009 Colgan Air crash near Buffalo, N.Y. He added, however, that future rulemakings will include a flight-and-duty-time proposal for on-demand operators, and “what you see in 121 will translate to 135.”

The science of fatigue has emphasized human physiology, he says, adding, “Flight rest is a human issue, not just [based on] how you operate.” He thinks the Part 121 final rule, expected to be released in August, will have enough flexibility to work for Part 135.

John Duncan, manager of FAA’s Flight Standards Air Carrier Division, adds, “It’s coming for everybody.” He echoes sentiments that the “commonality is human physiology. It applies to everybody.”

National Air Transportation Association President James Coyne expressed concern about the costs and manpower requirements that would be necessary should on-demand operators be subject to regulations designed for scheduled operations. “Should we be worried by the economic impact of the proposal?” he asked Allen. Noting that FAA officials previously had pledged to treat 135 differently than 121 flight and duty time, Coyne adds that a straightforward application of the Part 121 rules to Part 135 “just seems unfair.”

Coyne notes that the government’s response to air traffic control fatigue issues is to hire more controllers. “If [FAA] treats the 135 world just like 121, can we send the bill to the government [to hire more pilots]?” he asked. Coyne urged FAA to consider the differences between the two types of operations when formulating the 135 flight-and-duty-time proposal.

Allen responded that any rule will have to “move through the regulatory juggernaut,” and that industry should stress the differences between the operations during the comment period that would come with the Part 135 flight-and-duty-time notice of proposed rulemaking. Comments hold FAA accountable, he says, adding, “We made significant adjustments” to the 121 rules as a result of the comments. “We learned a lot from the comments” and Part 135 will benefit from that.

Allen also notes that “real-world issues will be taken into consideration” in developing the flight-and-duty-time rules. When asked by an Air Charter Summit attendee to consider the recommendations of the Part 125/135 Aviation Rulemaking Committee when formulating the Part 135 flight-and-duty-time proposal, Allen responded that those recommendations would remain part of the conversation. “We know it’s a different community than 121,” he says. “We are aware of the great work the [ARC] did and will take that into account,” adds Duncan.

But Duncan also reiterates Allen’s sentiments about their full regulatory plate, and says of Part 135 flight and duty time, “It’s not going to happen soon because there are other priorities.”

Philippine budget carrier buys 37 new Airbus jets

By TERESA CEROJANO - 
Published June 16, 2011 Associated Press | AP

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Budget airline Cebu Air Inc. said Thursday it is buying 37 new Airbus planes for $3.8 billion in the largest single aircraft order ever made by a Philippine airline, allowing it to more than double its fleet by 2021 and expand its international routes.

Lance Gokongwei, president and chief executive of Cebu Pacific, the budget carrier's official name, said new the order includes 30 A321neo (new engine option) and seven A320s.
The airline currently operates a fleet of 25 Airbus and eight ATR 72-500 aircraft, the youngest fleet in the Philippines.

Cebu Pacific flew more passengers than the country's flag carrier Philippine Airlines and holds half of the domestic market. Gokongwei said he expects the airline to carry more than 12 million passengers this year.
The A320 airplanes will be delivered between 2015 and 2021, while the A321neo fleet will arrive from 2017 to 2021, Gokongwei added. The airline also has 10 additional options for the Airbus 321neos.

Previous orders for 18 A320 to be delivered through 2014 bring the total Airbus order to 55, the airline said.
Gokongwei said Cebu Pacific's order of the 220-seater A321neo, which Airbus will introduce in 2017, is the largest firm order for the new aircraft in the world.

"These 220-seater A321neo will be the real game changer for Cebu Pacific because the A321neo will have a much longer range," he added. "We will be able to serve cities in Australia, India and northern Japan, places the A320 cannot reach."

He said the new aircraft, which incorporates new engines and large wing-tip devices called sharklets, will reduce fuel burn by 15 percent and cut unit cost per seat. The A321neo is the largest model in Airbus' recently launched A320neo series. They are wider and longer compared to the original A320 family of aircrafts.

The carrier held a successful initial public offering on the Philippine stock market last year, which was the biggest ever for a low cost carrier after raising at least $539 million. It raised hopes of spurring growth in the country's tourism and aviation industries, which still lag behind its Southeast Asian neighbors.

The airline currently flies to 33 domestic destinations and 16 cities in Southeast Asia, China, Japan and South Korea and is the third largest low-cost carrier in Asia.

It made headlines last year with a YouTube video of flight attendants dancing to music by Lady Gaga to keep passengers from snoozing through an in-flight safety demonstration.
 ___

Online:
http://www.cebupacificair.com/