Event Alert! Sept. 18, 2012: Leading the Second Century of Flight – An Address by Jim Albaugh, Exec. VP of Boeing @ Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington, DC

September 15, 2012 at 9:45 am

A DIRECTOR’S FORUM

with

Jim Albaugh
Executive Vice President, The Boeing Company

With an introduction by

The Honorable Jane Harman
Wilson Center Director, President and CEO

Since the Wright brothers’ first flight, America’s leadership in aerospace has helped build our economy and ensured our security. Today our leadership is threatened by budget constraints at home and heavy investment by other nations abroad. In this National Aerospace Week address, Jim Albaugh will highlight what’s at stake and what steps the U.S. must take to lead the second century of flight.

Jim Albaugh is an executive vice president of The Boeing Company. A 37-year Boeing veteran, Albaugh has led the company’s commercial, defense, space and security businesses.

DATE & LOCATION:

Tuesday, September 18, 2012
10:00 to 11:00 a.m.
6th Floor, Joseph H. and Claire Flom Auditorium
Woodrow Wilson Center
DIRECTIONS TO THE WILSON CENTER
REGISTRATION:

To RSVP acceptance or to receive further information, send an email to
RSVP@wilsoncenter.org. Please provide your name and professional affiliation.

Please allow time on arrival at the building for routine security procedures. A photo ID is required.

Note: Individuals attending Woodrow Wilson Center events may be audiotaped, videotaped, or
photographed during the course of a meeting, and by attending grant permission for
their likenesses and the content of their comments, if any, to be broadcast, webcast,
published, or otherwise reported or recorded.

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Popular Mechanics explains WTF went wrong with the Qantas Airbus A380 Rolls Royce Engine

December 6, 2010 at 7:39 pm

(Source: Popular Mechanics)

Image Courtesy: Popular Mechanics

Image Courtesy: Popular Mechanics

As well as being the largest jet in commercial service, the Airbus A380 represents a bid by Europe’s EADS to take from America’s Boeing the title of world’s most advanced commercial aircraft manufacturer. Critical to that endeavor is the aircraft’s ability to not crash, come apart in midair, or generally imperil the lives of the public. Unhappily for Airbus, Qantas A380 was taking off from Singapore on November 4, 2010, when its number two engine exploded with a loud bang. Flying shrapnel punched a hole in the wing and injured two people on the ground, but the plane was able to land safely. Was the engine’s failure a one-in-a-million coincidence, or a result of a fundamental engineering flaw? The fate of billions of dollars worth of aircraft orders may ride on the answer.

Popular Mechanics looked into the investigation preliminary report into the accident and offers an easy to understand explanations in plain English for us not-so informed average citizens. In short, the report notes that the accident happened due to a fatigued metal element inside the engine, which resulted in oil seepage there by leading to a fire and eventually exploding the internal parts of the engine.  Great explanations along with the reference to the preliminary report makes for an interesting read (at least that’s what my techy brain says). Click here to read the full analysis.

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Vertical & Cheap – European carrier Ryanair planning for 5GBP (~$8) Standing Only seats on its fleet

July 7, 2010 at 5:53 pm
Irish carrier Ryan Air is already well known for its aggressive low fares and its brow raising  strategies.  Now they are at it again.  But this time with an announcement that says it’s working on a “standing-room-only” vertical seating section in the tail end of its 250 planes, which seats would cost as little as £5 — or roughly 8USD.

According to an article on Daily Telegraph , the quirky CEO – Michael O’Leary was quoted saying that charging customers £1 to make use of facilities on board the planes would encourage travelers on one hour flights to use lavatories at the airport instead of on the aircraft.

The Irishman said he intended to introduce coin-operated loos and added: “The other change we’ve been looking at is taking out the last 10 rows of seats so we will have 15 rows of seats and the equivalent of 10 rows of standing area.”

A Ryanair spokesman said that Boeing had been consulted over refitting the fleet with “vertical seats” which would allow passengers to be strapped in while standing up, which would cost between £4 and £8 per person.

USA Today points to Megan Lane of the BBC, who describes Ryanair’s O’Leary as being “fond of speculating publicly about outlandish money-saving schemes.” And she’s quick to point out this is “not the first time the airline has floated the standing seats idea, or indeed come up with headline grabbing schemes which fail to materialise.” She cites Ryanair’s proposed “fat tax” for obese passengers and the carrier’s still-to-materialize pay-toilet plan as examples.

The USA Today article also got this – A spokesman with the Cologne-based European Aviation Safety Agency tells the London Daily Mailthat “what they [Ryanair] are proposing would be unprecedented and highly unlikely to be certified in the near future. Stand-up seating would require changes to European rules for the certification of aircraft.

Transportgooru Musings: As you can see below, this announcement has generated quite bit of a publicity buzz around the world and worked like a charm for O’Leary, as always! But please – do not charge for toilets.  It is one last thing we flyers don’t need to worry about paying for when planning our trip budgets. How would I be even include this as part of my expense report when I return from a Business trip to UK?

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Soaring High! Boeing sets new test flight date for delayed 787; Maiden test flight by year’s end and first delivery in the 4Q of 2010

August 27, 2009 at 12:15 pm

(Sources contributing to this hybrid report: Washington Post; Business Week; Bloomberg)

Boeing Co. said Thursday its long-delayed 787 jetliner will be ready for its maiden test flight by year’s end and its first delivery in the fourth quarter next year.

The initial flight of the next-generation plane, built for fuel efficiency with lightweight carbon composite parts, was originally slated for the fall of 2007. But production problems delayed the passenger jet five times and first deliveries are more than two years behind their original schedule.

After so many false starts, airline customers have grown irritated and analysts skeptical of the company’s timetables for the 787. Billions of dollars in penalties and expenses are expected from the delays, and they’ve hurt the Chicago company’s credibility.

Boeing postponed the new composite-plastic plane for the fifth time June 23, saying no new schedule could be given until it decided how to reinforce sections where the wings join the body after tests revealed unexpected stresses. Boeing has lost about half its market value since the 787’s first delay in October 2007, hurt by parts shortages, defects, redesigns and incomplete work from vendors. Chief Executive Officer Jim McNerney has said the company let down customers on its most successful sales campaign ever.

With the 787, Boeing has taken a new approach to building airplanes, relying on overseas suppliers to build huge sections of the plane that are later assembled at the company’s commercial aircraft plant near Seattle.

But ill-fitting parts and other problems have hampered production. The latest delay came in June, when the company said it needed to reinforce areas close to where the wings and fuselage join.

There are 850 of the jets on order even after airlines canceled 73 this year. Boeing is using lightweight composites, instead of aluminum, and more electrical power to increase fuel efficiency on the Dreamliner. The planes have an average price of $178 million.

Boeing also pushed back its production plans today, saying it will ramp up to building 10 Dreamliners a month in late 2013 rather than 2012. The 787-9 version will be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2013, executives said on the call. Chief Financial Officer James Bell said in July he was reviewing whether the setbacks had pushed costs above expected revenue in a certain block of sales, which would produce a reach-forward loss.

Engineers are completing the design for the reinforcements of sections along the top of the wing and will begin installing the parts within the next few weeks, Boeing said.

The company and some analysts say the 787 will eventually will prove a financial and technological success.   But Wall Street remains skeptical. The company’s stock price jumped the most since December in New York trading after saying it still expects the 787 Dreamliner program to be profitable following a $2.5 billion third-quarter charge for the delayed plane.  Boeing rose $3.30, or 6.9 percent, to $51.12 at 10:18 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares earlier climbed 9.3 percent, the biggest intraday jump since Dec. 8.

The 787 is Boeing’s first all-new jetliner since the 777, which airlines began flying in 1995.

Commuter Hell: Business travelers hate small commuter planes

February 25, 2009 at 12:42 pm

(Source:  CondeNast Portfolio.com)

Turbo-prop planes and regional jets are a crucial part of the airlines’ route strategies and are often the only way a business traveler can easily get to a destination, but road warriors hate flying them.

Within minutes of Continental Connection Flight 3407’s fatal crash on the night of February 12, frequent fliers were emailing each other, cursing commuter airlines, and vowing never to board smaller commercial aircraft again.

“I HATE THOSE TINY OLD RJS,” one otherwise rational business traveler I know shouted in his email. “NOBODY SHOULD FLY THEM. THEY’RE NOT SAFE.”

No matter that the aircraft involved in Flight 3407’s fiery end six miles from Buffalo Niagara International Airport was not an “RJ,” industry shorthand for regional jet. (It was a Q400, a twin-engine turboprop plane manufactured by Bombardier of Canada.) No matter that the 74-seat Q400 isn’t particularly tiny. (At 107 feet long with a 93-foot wingspan, it is about the size of several early versions of Boeing’s workhorse B737 jet and 20 feet longer than Bombardier’s 50-seat regional jet.) And no matter that the Q400 isn’t old. (The Q400 series didn’t enter service until 2000 and the plane that crashed in Buffalo was less than a year old.)

Safe? That is most definitely in the eye of the beholder—and most business travelers eye commuter airlines with extreme trepidation. They don’t like flying them. They don’t like that the commuter lines wrap themselves in the colors and livery of the major airlines. And they are convinced, rightly or wrongly, that commuter carriers simply aren’t as safe as the major airlines they mimic.

Clich here to read the entire article.

Boeing delivers first 777 freighter

February 20, 2009 at 12:28 am

Source: Seattle Times

Boeing delivered the first freighter version of its 777 jet Thursday to Air France Cargo, and the airline said it is deferring deliveries of two of the five such freighters it has on order as it copes with the global economic downturn.

Air France Cargo picked up the keys Thursday for the first of a new breed of big, modern twin-engine cargo jets: the 777 freighter.

As French airline officials, Boeing executives and guests sipped Champagne and milled around the airplane at Paine Field, the second 777 freighter in the same colors took off on a test flight. It will be delivered next week.

But the celebratory air in Everett was marred by the widening global economic downturn. In an interview, Pierre Vellay, Air France executive vice president for fleet development, said the air-transport business is “in very bad shape.”

To read the entire article, click here.