Jun 30 2012

ARJ21 begins water ingestion tests

Comac ARJ21 Water Test courtesy of ComacWater ingestion and flooded runway tests have begun for the Comac ARJ21 regional jet program. On June 28th, 2012, high speed taxi tests were conducted at Xi’an Yanliang airport with representatives of CAAC and the FAA in attendance. The tests initially began on June 22 with taxi, landing and take off tests on one of the airport’s runways which was flooded for them.

The program began in depth flight tests in February 2012 and the program plans to fly 1,500 hours of testing in total. The program announced that it has completed airspeed calibration, natural icing, engine nacelle anti-icing, and crosswind validation tests so far. After the water tests, the program will move onto a series of  stall flight tests. Ongoing delays in the certification program have meant that delivery of the first aircraft to launch customer Chengdu Airlines has been delayed from the original delivery date of the end of 2011.

Jun 30 2012

Delta’s plan for regional jet fleet changes approved

Delta Connection LogoDelta Air Lines and its regional jet pilot union announced that a vote had approved a new contact on June 30th, 2012 which will mean changes to the airline’s regional jet fleet going into the future.

The contract will allow Delta to add more, larger, regional jets and remove smaller 50-seat regional jets which are flown by smaller airlines under the Delta Connection banner and colour scheme. The changes in the regional jet fleet are expected to occur over the next several years as leases on aircraft expire or aircraft approach major checks. In the latter case, removing these aircraft from the fleet would also provide a maintenance savings to Delta as well.

In short, the agreed to contact provides that:

  • Number of 50-seat regional jets is capped at 125, reduced from a current fleet of 343.
  • Add 70 more regional jets to the aircraft fleet with 70 or 76 seats.
  • Delta will lease 88 former AirTran Boeing 717s from Southwest Airlines, to begin entering the fleet in 2013.

These changes will mean that Canadair Regional Jet 100s and 440s will be withdrawn from the fleet beginning a process by which, eventually, there is likely to be no 50-seat regional jet aircraft operated by Delta Connection. A small number of ERJs are also operated under the Delta Connection banner and are expected to be removed entirely from the fleet within a short period of time.

The airline pilot’s union estimated that the number of seats flown by regional carriers for Delta will drop 15.6 percent over the lifetime of the contract as flying shifts from the regional carriers to Delta mainline service. The union also indicated that the contract was approved by 62 percent of those who voted.

Jun 29 2012

Dniproavia takes delivery of first two Embraer 190s

Dniproavia LlogoEmbraer delivered the first two Embraer 190 aircraft to the Ukrainian Aviation Group Alliance today. The two aircraft will be operated by Dniproavia, on behalf of AeroSvit. The airline plans to obtain a further three Embraer 190s, which are scheduled for delivery by the end of 2012.

The Embraer 190s are configured in a two-class seating layout. The aircraft type was chosen as part of the collective airline’s fleet replacement plans. Dniproavia also operates twenty ERJ-145 aircraft, but intends to remove the type from its fleet as it rebuilds and realigns it’s fleet. Windrose Aviation, also based in the Ukraine, also operates one Embraer 195, which is wet-leased to other Ukrainian Aviation Group member carriers as needed. After completion of this order, there will be more than 25 Embraer commercial aircraft registered in that country.

Embraer has delivered nearly 850 E-Jets to more than 60 airlines from 42 countries around the world. Currently Embraer has 1063 firm orders for the E-Jet program of all types as of March 31, 2012.

Jun 28 2012

WestJet places conditional order for DHC-8Q-400s

Westjet LogoAt an announcement in Calgary today, WestJet Airlines has signed a conditional order for 20 DHC-8Q-400 NextGen turboprop aircraft following a letter of intent WestJet announced on May 1, 2012 with Bombardier. The agreement also has options on an additional 25 DHC-8Q-Q400 NextGen aircraft.

If all options are taken, the total value of this order to Bombardier could exceed 1.5 billion US dollars.

WestJet currently plans to begin regional turboprop service in the second half of 2013. The airline is Canada’s second largest carrier and operates both scheduled and chartered flights throughout North America and the Caribbean.

Bombardier holds firm orders for 428 DHC-8Q-400 and DHC-8Q-400 NextGen aircraft which are built at the company’s plant in Downsview, Ontario. DHC-8Q-400 aircraft are in service with approximately 40 operators in 30 countries, on six continents. In total, the fleet has carried more than 177 million passengers and have logged more than 3.2 million flight hours and over 3.5 million take-offs and landings.