Korean Air has joined the “safety doesn’t have to be boring” movement while launching a slick new safety video it says is aimed at contributing to the global spread of K-pop.
The toe-tapping, youth-oriented safety announcement-cum-music video stars Super M , a “project group” comprised of already successful K-pop members.
The airline describes the video as “unconventional, innovative and entertaining” although it goes to great lengths to concede that several airlines have introduced “witty safety videos featuring national celebrities” and at least one case of a safety video in a music video form.
There have also been, it acknowledges, a few hobbits and elves along the way as well as a song-and-dance routine
But it is adamant this is the first safety/music video to feature influential K-pop artists.
“Korean Air’s unique safety video drew on the popularity of K-pop and Korean culture,’’ it says.
“Korean Air’s collaboration with SuperM is expected to create great synergy in expanding its global impact and network.
“With the launch of the new safety video, Korean Air plans to actively contribute to the spreading of K-pop and Korean pop culture around the world. “
The idea, according to the airline, is to deliver essential safety information by grabbing passengers’ attention.
It has even mixed five genres in the video — hip-hop, R&B, electronic, deep house and synth-pop — in an effort to broaden its appeal.
“Safety does not have to be serious or boring,” adds a mysterious Korean Air spokesperson who led the creation of the safety video.
“We hope to deliver clear safety messages to our passengers through the brand-new safety video.”
The safety video’s song, “Let’s go Everywhere”, will be released as a single and profits donated to the Global Poverty Project’s Global Citizen campaign.
Some three and a half years ago, United Airlines introduced Polaris, its new brand for its upgraded business class.
The boost was both in terms of hard product, being the launch customer for a highly customized version of Safran Seats’ Optima, and in terms of soft product, with new lounges, food and beverage concepts, partnerships with Saks Fifth Avenue, and so on.
The rollout of Polaris-the-seat, though, has been nothing short of glacial, and not the modern, global-warming, ice-caps-disappearing sort of glacial either.
“We’re adding at least one aircraft with United Polaris seating every 10 days from now through 2020,” has been United’s line, although it comes with an asterisk that this is “based on the average of both retrofits and new aircraft (777-300ER and 787-10)”.
Any Boeing 777-300ER or 787-10 will have the new seats for certain.
At the time of writing, it’s a 63-percent crapshoot with either the 777-200ER (of which there are 51) or the 767-300ER (of which United has 38).
The 787-8 has recently moved to the “in progress” column, with one of the 12 aircraft currently being converted, but that’s it.
Overall, of the aircraft that have been started, that’s a 62-percent chance of getting Polaris.
However, you also have to realize that United hasn’t even started on the 767-400ER or the 787-9s, of which fleet-tracking website airfleets.net says United has 16 and 25, respectively.
The airline promises to start its large 787-9 fleet “in late 2019”, of which there is of course not much left, while the 767-400ER (the extra-stretched version taken up only by US carriers) is due to start sometime “in 2020”.
What that means is that you currently still have only a 48-percent chance of being on a United Polaris-branded flight with the actual Polaris seat.
(If you’re waiting for the lounges, it’s pretty much the same situation: five of the nine are done — Los Angeles, Houston, Newark, San Francisco, and Chicago — while Washington DC is currently under construction, with London Heathrow, Hong Kong and Tokyo Narita listed as “in planning”.)
Slow rollouts are by no means a problem unique to United: indeed, they are a wider problem in an industry where passenger experience marketing promises are ever greater, and where the gap between promise and reality is increasingly noticeable.
To whit, United’s passenger experience in business class is not the proper Polaris all its marketing has promised since mid-2016.
It’s the same decade-old seat that Continental launched back in its BusinessFirst days, the Diamond seat from Collins Aerospace (which is so old that this is the third name its manufacturer has had, previously being Rockwell Collins and before that B/E Aerospace).
I call this #Fauxlaris, and it’s still a disappointment: not only are the seats themselves subpar, but the mountain of duvets-blankets-pillows-and-all have nowhere to be stowed.
This might be fine on an airline from a country where “hmm, better bring the kitchen sink” isn’t the default carryon baggage allowance assumption, but not in the US.
Diamond is fine for mid-haul these days but United uses it on some of its longest flights.-
The lesson for airlines is a stark one.
New seats are expensive, yes, and there are of course supply chain issues with their production.
Indeed, United had 777-300ERs sitting in Seattle waiting for Polaris seats to be delivered.
In the same way that an increasing number of airlines are seeking operational fleet redundancy by choosing multiple aircraft suppliers, choosing multiple seat manufacturers to produce hard product for those fleets, along the lines of what Etihad did with its Business Studio, may well make much sense for the future.
Qantas has moved to head off pilot concerns about Project Sunrise, arguing the ambitious project will see it recruit up to 400 new pilots and provide significant promotional opportunities to existing staff.
The airline wants to make a decision on the project by year’s end but pushback from some pilots have raised doubts about whether an agreement can be hammered out with the Australian and International Pilots Association in time as part of wider enterprise bargaining (EBA) negotiations.
There is also a schism among the pilots with some arguing the union made too many concessions when it negotiated the agreement to introduce the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.
There are also worries about how the airline will handle fatigue on the new ultra-long-haul flights connecting Australia’s East Coast to London and New York.
Qantas boss Alan Joyce has warned he may drop the Sunrise project if he cannot get what he argues are needed productivity improvements by year’s end.
This has led to complaints the negotiation timeframe is unrealistic.
Qantas notes it faces pressure from aircraft manufacturers holding slots and who have set up dedicated Sunrise teams “they will not sustain indefinitely”.
Joyce also told AirlineRatings recently that the Qantas Sunrise team needed to be freed up to look at domestic fleet renewal in 2020.
Despite the pilot reservations, the airline says it is confident there is enough time to negotiate a “heads of agreement” before the end of the year that would see a new EBA put to the vote in February 2020.
In an email circulated to pilots, chief Pilot Dick Tobiano again warns that Sunrise is not a foregone conclusion and “the flying needs to be commercially viable”.
Talks with AIPA are continuing, he says.
“Sunrise feels to me like an incredible opportunity to grow our international business, which will have flow-on benefits for domestic and the rest of the group,’’ he adds.
“Given the size of these opportunities, it’s important we work together and leave no stone unturned in coming up with an agreement that works for all.”
The aircraft competition for Sunrise has pitted Boeing’s 777X against the Airbus A350-1000.
Qantas is asking pilots to accept B787 pay and conditions for either Sunrise aircraft option but says this will be in addition to annual pay increases for all pilots under a yet-to-be agreed new long-haul enterprise agreement (EBA).
It also asks for productivity improvements it says will not impact take-home pay.
The table says pilot pay on the 787 in fiscal 2019, including allowances and super, averaged $A445,744 for line captains, $A302,282 for line first officers and $A153, 507 for second officers.
It says it is about 4 to 5 percent higher than the A330 and about 4 percent lower than the 747.
The productivity improvements include treating the A330/A350 or B787/B777 as single fleets at some bases to take advantage of multi-variant flying.
It also calls for caps on the yearly pay scales of new hire pilots while they’re second officers and pre-allocating training duties in consecutive days to facilitate evidence-based training.
It also wants to reduce how often pilots change aircraft type and have to be retrained.
“These particular improvements are not prescriptive – they are only suggestions,’’ it says.
“We remain open to considering alternatives and have been working with AIPA to that end.
“Any Sunrise package will only apply if Sunrise goes ahead.”
The messages points to advantages such as promotions and increased training stemming from the introduction of the B787, including 279 new pilots attributed to the jet’s arrival.
It estimates, for example, that the 787 was responsible for 145 of 275 promotions from first officer to captain.
On the fatigue issues, the airline has a long-stranding fatigue risk management system it uses to manage the issue that it is modifying to take into account the longer sectors.
“Qantas has invested heavily in processes and expertise to meaningfully address pilot fatigue, and CASA’s approval of the FRMS trial is recognition of this,’’ it says “The FRMS is highly reliant on fatigue data and pilot reporting, and continued engagement with our pilots on fatigue is fundamental to the success of Sunrise.
“Sunrise flying will build on our long history of operating sectors in line with ever-increasing aircraft capability.
“A thorough safety case based on individual city pairs is currently being developed and will require CASA approval prior to any changes being made to our FRMS rulesets.”
The e-mail also address pilot claims Sunrise is already dead and they are being set up as the cause, describing it as “very much alive”.
“Sunrise represents a strategically important opportunity to grow our international business and we are continuing to invest significant time and resources into the project, including in the form of the Sunrise research flights,’’ it says.
“The attention received by these flights clearly demonstrates that there is significant interest in these ultra-long-haul routes, and we want to make them a reality but only if the business case stacks up.”
Jetstar has opted for a 232-seat all-economy cabin for its new A321neo LR with slightly wider seats, inflight entertainment streaming, new mood lighting and overhead bins that are 40 percent bigger.
The airline will retain its 29-inch seat pitch but will offer in the new plane slightly wider Recaro seats — now at 18.2 inches compared to 17.8 to 17.9 inches on existing aircraft — with tapered armrests.
Jetstar’s ergonomic Recaro seats will be slightly wider. Photo: Jetstar.
Jetstar has 18 of the aircraft coming into the fleet from August 2020.
With an additional 1200kms of range, they will mostly be used on domestic operations but will be used to replace Boeing 787 Dreamliner capacity so the widebody aircraft can be deployed on markets such as Korea and Japan.
“There are lots of interesting opportunities here, particularly to Bali, and that will allow us to free up some of the 787 capacity currently deployed on that route, Jetstar chief executive Gareth Evans said.
“But also, for example, the aircraft is able to fly from places like Melbourne to Nadi (Fiji), opening up new destinations with a smaller gauge aircraft than a 787.”
Evans said the combination of the jet’s range and its ability to fly domestically and internationally while deploying on longer-range missions would be powerful for Jetstar.
The A321LR. Image: Jetstar
He said the low-cost carrier was exploring all network options and it would make a decision closer to the delivery of the aircraft.
The Jetstar boss also touted the aircraft as an improvement in comfort and a boost in efficiency that would help keep fares low.
The A321LR’s CFM LEAP engines offer a 15 percent improvement in fuel efficiency that will allow each aircraft to save almost 1.2 million kilograms of fuel annually. That’s equivalent to 4000 tonnes of carbon emissions or to removing 1500 cars from the road annually.
New weather radar will also enhance its ability to dodge storms, improving passenger comfort as well as fuel efficiency.
The 40 percent bigger overhead bins and the inflight entertainment option will both be welcome changes in the cabin and Evans noted the mood lighting was also an improvement.
Complementing the inflight entertainment streaming, which will include an app with new release movies and TV shows, will be flip down smartphone and tablet cradles as well as in-seat USB charging.
Photo: Jetstar
The inflight streaming would also be rolled out on the existing Airbus fleet, Evans said.
“Customers will be able to download the dedicated Jetstar entertainment app or just phones and access through their browser by connecting to the onboard network,’’ he said.
Evans said airline staff had been working since February 2018 to fine-tune the cabin.
He said the aircraft had been configured with the idea that the majority of the flying would be domestic and business class was never an option.
“We’ve been cognizant, though, of the fact they will be on longer sectors so we’ve tried to put some comforts on board — the entertainment, the chargers, the wider seats — so that we try to get the balance right,’’ he said.
Assembly of the first aircraft is expected to start in March 2020 with two aircraft arriving before Christmas and the remainder of the program by 2022.
Jetstar has the flexibility to hold on to its older jets or release them depending on the level of growth, Evans said.
The first and third A321LR deliveries will see older jets retired to go to freighter conversion for the Qantas domestic freight network.
“With the remainder, we’re going to wait closer to the time,’’ he said. “We can potentially convert those aircraft over to Network Aviation, which is going to be flying up to four A320s in Western Australia by that time, to grow that part of the group operation.
“And there’s huge growth actually going on there in WA.”
Other options included retaining aircraft to grow the Jetstar fleet or retiring them to sell them on the aftermarket.
Evans said this gave Jetstar great flexibility and he suspected over time the airline “will probably be doing a little bit of both, depending on what the demand environment is like”.
Qantas says it has grounded three aircraft with hairline cracks in the “pickle fork” structure after completing inspections of 33 of Boeing 737NG jets.
The precautionary checks of the structure that helps connect the wings to the fuselage were done as part of a global Airworthiness Directive (AD) by the US Federal Aviation Administration after similar cracks were found in jets in China.
The FAA said at the time the condition “could adversely affect the structural integrity of the airplane and result in loss of control of the airplane” and ordered jets with the cracks to be grounded until they could be fixed.
A report today by news agency AFP indicates about 50 jets have been grounded worldwide since the FAA issued the directive on October 2 with other affected carrier’s including Southwest Airlines and Brazil’s Gol.
The aircraft inspected by Qantas were due to be inspected within 1000 take-off and landing cycles but the Australian carrier proactively brought forward the inspections by up to seven months.
Rival Virgin Australia has also completed checks of its B737s affected by the AD.
The aircraft with cracks have been removed from service pending repairs and had all completed around 27,000 cycles.
Qantas said any aircraft with more than 22,600 cycles was inspected, in line with advice from regulators.
It added it would minimize any customer impact from having these aircraft temporarily out of service while it worked with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and Boeing to resolve the issue.
Describing the repair work as complex, it said it expected all three aircraft to return to service before the end of the year.
Qantas said it would continue to monitor aircraft that are in the scope of the AD. Inspections fall due every 3500 cycles.
“As people would expect with Qantas, we’ve gone above what was required to check our aircraft well ahead of schedule,” Qantas Domestic chief executive Andrew David said.
“We would never fly an aircraft that wasn’t safe. Even where these hairline cracks are present they’re not an immediate risk, which is clear from the fact the checks were not required for at least seven months.”
The discovery of the cracks prompted the Australian Licenced Engineers Association to call for the immediate grounding of all Qantas Boeing 737NGs until checks were completed and the aircraft were deemed safe.
But David branded the comments as irresponsible and said they completely misrepresented the facts.
“Those comments were especially disappointing given the fantastic job our engineers have done to inspect these aircraft well ahead of schedule, and the priority they give to safety every day of the week.”
A CASA spokesman told AirlineRatings on Wednesday that the authority was satisfied by the airlines’ response to FAA directive.
Boeing says the cracked frame of fail-safe strap must be removed and replaced.
The manufacturer said it was engaged with its 737NG customers globally on the inspections and was “actively working with customers that have airplanes in their fleets with inspection findings to develop a repair plan, and to provide parts and technical support as necessary”.
“Boeing regrets the impact this issue is having on our 737NG customers worldwide and we are working around the clock to provide the support needed to return all airplanes to service as soon as possible,” it said.
The problem does not affect the Boeing 737 MAX, which is grounded due to other issues.
The airline is working with the airport and autonomous vehicle specialist Aurrigo to test the autonomous vehicles in what is believed to be a world first.
Aurrigo has developed autonomous “pods” designed to transport people around areas such as large corporate campuses, hospitals, science parks and factories.
“Our driverless pods are now in operation all around the world and the work with IAG, BA and Heathrow Airport shows how similar technology can be used in a completely different industry to deliver a significant result,’’ Aurrigo chief executive David Keene said.
The vehicles, known as dollies, carry up to 40 bags in one journey and use the latest navigating technology to memorize the airfield and determine the shortest route to transport luggage.
Unlike current vehicles, the dollies depart for the aircraft as soon as each one is full, speeding up the aircraft loading process.
The airline says the vehicles also tie in with its environmental commitment to run an emissions-free airside operation.
“We are always looking at ways to improve efficiency and modernize our operation to ensure that we are delivering bags to and from our aircraft on time and without delay,” said British Airways’ airports director Raghbir Pattar.
A successful trial could see dollies running bags to and from aircraft by 2021.
British Airways already operates remote-controlled Mototok vehicles powered by renewable electricity at Heathrow to pushback all of its short-haul flights and is trialing the devices for long-haul flights.
The airline estimates the vehicles save 7,400 tonnes of C02 every year compared to traditional tugs.
It also operates environmentally-friendly electric taxis to transport premium transiting customers between their arriving and departing flights.
Vietjet has ordered 15 Airbus A321XLRs and will be among the first airlines to receive the long-range variant as it looks to grow its international network.
The firm order, announced during a visit by Vietjet officials to Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, includes conversion of five A320neo orders.
The manufacturer will also set up two A320 full-flight simulators in Ho Chi Minh City and provide a range of training services after the airline signed a new training agreement with Airbus Services.
The A321XLR is an evolution of A321LR that provides greater range and payload.
Airbus says the aircraft will deliver a range of up to 4,700nm with 30 percent lower fuel consumption per seat compared to older jets.
The addition of the jet will allow Vietjet to expand further its network and start narrow-body operations to destinations as far afield as Australia and Russia.
“Vietjet has always been a pioneer in operating new, modern, advanced and fuel-efficient aircraft,’’ Vietjet chief executive Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao said in the announcement.
“We are proud of operating one of the world’s youngest Airbus fleets with an average age of only 2.7 years and this has contributed greatly to Vietjet’s success over the past years.
“Following the signing of this contract, the new A321XLR will be the perfect upgrade to Vietjet’s fleet as we look to grow our international flight network.”
Airbus chief executive Guillaume Faury noted Vietjet was one of the fastest-growing carriers in the Asian region.
“This order is another strong endorsement of our decision to bring true long-range capability to the single-aisle market with the A321XLR, enabling airlines to extend their networks at the lowest possible cost,’’ he said.
Air passes are tipped to be one of the benefits of a move by Malaysia Airlines Berhad and Singapore Airlines to strengthen their partnership with a sweeping commercial agreement.
The deal is still subject to regulatory approvals from the relevant competition authorities but will allow the national carriers to share revenue on flights between Singapore and Malaysia, expand codeshare routes, and participate in joint marketing activities to develop tourism.
It involves SIA’s subsidiaries SilkAir and Scoot, as well as MAB offshoot Firefly, and comes after a memorandum of understanding signed in June 2019.
One initiative flagged by the airline groups is the potential development of air passes that would enable customers traveling to Malaysia through the Kuala Lumpur and Singapore hubs more choices to visit other parts of the country such as Kuantan, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu on a single ticket.
They envisage providing travelers a “seamless experience of convenience and flexibility while enjoying multi-stop itineraries”.
Assuming it gets approval, the deal will see flights between Singapore and Malaysia — where the airlines compete with low-cost giant AirAsia — operate under a joint business arrangement.
The companies say they intend to coordinate flight schedules to provide customers with more flight choices and frequencies for passenger convenience.
This includes plans to offer joint fare products, align corporate programs and explore tie-ups between their frequent-flyer programs.
The two airline groups will also expand their codeshare arrangements to include more destinations on each other’s networks.
The current agreement is relatively small and involves flights between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching and Penang.
The expansion would see SIA and SilkAir codeshare on MAB’s domestic flights to 15 destinations in Malaysia.
MAB will progressively codeshare on flights between Singapore and Malaysia, Europe, South Africa and other destinations once necessary approvals are granted.
The carrier groups say the expanded codeshare will be implemented in phases and represents a significant expansion.
Plans are also afoot for joint marketing activities to boost long-haul tourism to Malaysia and Singapore.
“This will be a win-win for both our airline groups, and provide new benefits for our customers. In particular, the expanded scope of our partnership has the potential to provide a significant boost to the tourism industries in both Malaysia and Singapore, as well as the wider Southeast Asia region,” said SIA chief executive Goh Choon Phong.
MAB CEO, Captain Izham Ismail said the move was in line with Malaysia Airlines’ long-term business plan goal “of engaging in deep partnerships to extend our reach and presence globally”.
“This partnership is more than a conventional partnership and we believe in the mutual benefits for both airline groups and countries,’’ he said.
The move comes as the Malaysian Government has been looking for a partner willing to take a strategic stake in financially embattled MAB.
The government, which says it expects to make a decision in early 2020, recently revealed that four bidders had shortlisted.
Among the names mentioned in the Malaysian media have been Japan Airlines and China Southern.
Qatar Airways, which has also been mentioned, has said it is not a contender.
Cracks have been found in a structural element known as a pickle fork on at least one Qantas Boeing 737NG that had performed less than 30,000 landing and take-off cycles.
Sources have said a crack has since been found in a second aircraft but this has not been confirmed by Qantas.
The US Federal Aviation Administration issued a directive on October 2 requiring immediate checks on planes with 30,000 cycles or more on October 2 and found about 5 percent of the older planes had the cracks in the structure that helps connect the wings to the fuselage.
Other affected carriers include Southwest Airlines and Brazil’s Gol.
The cracks were first discovered in B737-800 planes being converted to freighters in China and which had accumulated between 35,578 and 37, 329 flight cycles.
The FAA said at the time the condition “could adversely affect the structural integrity of the airplane and result in loss of control of the airplane” and ordered jets with the cracks to be grounded until they could be fixed.
The directive covered all versions of the 737NG with longer inspection periods for planes with fewer flight cycles.
There are also recurrent inspections at up to 3500 flight cycles.
The cracks surprised the industry because pickle forks are supposed to last 90,000 cycles without cracking, essentially the lifespan of an aircraft.
Boeing has introduced a program to address the issue and Qantas, which had been proactively checking its aircraft, said it had been liaising with the manufacturer and Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority.
A spokesman said aircraft with more than 22,600 cycles required inspection within the next 1000 cycles, which in Qantas’ case was about seven months of flying.
“None of Qantas’ 737s have reached the 30,000 cycle mark,’’ he said.
“However, we will have inspected 33 aircraft with more than 22,600 cycles by the end of this week rather than the seven months required.
“We have found one example of cracking in an aircraft with just under 27,000 cycles and this aircraft has been removed from service for repair.
“Qantas would never operate an aircraft unless it was completely safe to do so.
“Detailed analysis by Boeing shows that even where this crack is present, it does not immediately compromise the safety of the aircraft – as indicated by the timeframe given by regulators to perform the checks.”
Virgin Australia said it had 19 aircraft that met the inspection requirements.
“All have been inspected with no issues identified,” a spokeswoman said.
Despite calls by the engineering union at Qantas for the planes to be grounded while the checks were completed, a CASA spokesman said the authority was satisfied with the response by airlines to the FAA directive.
He said there was no evidence to ground the planes and the Qantas inspections were due to be completed by Friday morning.
It is not clear how long the affected planes will be grounded but Boeing says the cracked frame of fail-safe strap must be removed and replaced.
The manufacturer said it was engaged with its 737NG customers globally on the inspections and was “actively working with customers that have airplanes in their fleets with inspection findings to develop a repair plan, and to provide parts and technical support as necessary”.
“Boeing regrets the impact this issue is having on our 737NG customers worldwide and we are working around the clock to provide the support needed to return all airplanes to service as soon as possible,” it said.
The problem does not affect the Boeing 737 MAX, which is grounded due to other issues.
Qantas plans to start the process of renewing its domestic fleet in 2020 but has yet to decide whether it will run one or two competitions.
Chief executive Alan Joyce ran his eye over an airBaltic Airbus A220 during a flight over Sydney Tuesday as the plane visited Australia as part of a Pacific promotional tour.
The fuel-efficient 100- to 150-seat A220, formerly the Bombardier C Series, can fly on routes of up 3400 nautical miles (6300km) and offers fuel savings of at least 20 percent.
It comes in two versions — the A220-300 taking part in the Pacific tour and the smaller A220-100 — and gets its increased fuel efficiency from the use of advanced materials, improved aerodynamics and Pratt & Whitney PW1000G geared turbofan engines.
Air Vanuatu has recently signed up for four of the planes, which Airbus is pitching as suitable in Australia for lower density transcontinental routes, trans-Tasman operations and flights to the Pacific Islands.
Qantas has recently run its Project Sunrise competition for an ultra-long-haul aircraft and hopes to decide between Airbus’ A350-1000 and the Boeing 777X before the end of the year, subject to negotiations with its pilots’ union.
Once that is out of the way, Joyce said, it would look at the replacement of the Boeing 717, Fokker 100 and Boeing 737 jets used on its domestic routes and to transport workers in the resources industry.
One reason for that was that the Sunrise team would also be involved in assessing the domestic fleet replacements, he said.
The Qantas boss noted the airline had yet to make up its mind whether it would run a single competition involving Boeing and Airbus or break it up into two competitions with one for the 717s and F100s and the second for 737s.
Qantas boss Alan Joyce on the A220. Photo: Steve Creedy
Airbus took control of the C Series in 2018 and US rival Boeing is in the throes of taking over Brazilian regional jet maker Embraer, whose next-generation E-jets are the major competitor to the A220.
That Boeing-Embraer deal was expected to be completed at the end of 2019 but a review by the European Commission delayed it until at least early next year.
Joyce said it would be helpful if the Boeing-Embraer issue was sorted because it would give Qantas a one-stop-shop for the entire domestic fleet replacement at each manufacturer.
Making the situation even more interesting, he noted, was Boeing’s plans for the New Midsize Airplane (NMA), already dubbed the 797, and when the US manufacturer will commit the to the project.
Qantas is looking at the 797 as a potential 737 replacement and possibly taking on the role of some Airbus A330s.
“So it’s a big decision, quite a complicated decision and there are a lot of moving parts in it,’’ Joyce said.
Asked whether he was confident, Boeing would proceed with the 797, he conceded he was not expecting a decision soon but was hopeful it would be made in time for the domestic fleet renewal.
“We, like a lot of airlines, are saying you’d be crazy not to do it, Boeing,’’ he said.
“We think it’s a fantastic aircraft on paper that looks good for what we want. And I think they’re hearing that quite a bit.
“But they have to get over the issues with the MAX, they have to get 777 certified, so they have a few issues they have to get over. “
Qantas is looking at the new aircraft arriving sometime in the mid-to-late 2020s.
Joyce pointed to aircraft availability and the fact the 737s were still performing “really well” as reasons for the timing.
“I mean we’ve gone through 12 years without an engine change typically on the 737s,’’ he said. “They’re very reliable, they have a high dispatch reliability on them.
“The 717s have been reliable as well and F100s are very low utilization so there’s no rush, we have a bit of time.”
Qantas has copped some criticism about the age of its fleet recently and Joyce said the airline usually took aircraft to the end of their life at 25 years but did not typically go past that.
With the 717s hitting the 20-year mark, he said they could “probably go a little longer but not much.”
“We’re not seeing them going into their 30 years of operation,’’ he said. “And the F100s are a bit different because of their low utilization. So they can go a little bit longer, but again there’s a limit to that.”
So what did the Qantas boss think about the A220?
He was impressed by the new aircraft and its spacious cabin, noting the bigger overhead bin space, the lower cabin noise and even the generously-sized toilet.
“To me, it looks like a very good aircraft,’’ he told reporters on the flight, “I think the passengers would love it.”
What Airbus had to get right, he said, was the price.
He noted the price of the aircraft had been high when it was the C Series, adding “for us to buy it, it has to be a lot cheaper than the prices we’ve been seeing out there.”
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