Company Watch - Boeing.

For more company news, data and analysis, please go to: http://www.airguideonline.com/professional.htm Jun 26, 2006

Boeing is coming under growing pressure to boost capacity on the 747-8 Intercontinental by two seat rows as airlines start to look at it as a possible alternative to the A380 rather than a model positioned between the 365-seat 777-300ER and 555-seat A380. Increasing the length of the dash 8 to that of the 747-8F adds 20 seats. Moving galley carts into the overhead space would add another 30, lifting seating capacity to 500 in the standard Boeing configuration compared to 416 for the 747-400 using the same rules. Currently the passenger variant has a 3.6-m. stretch while the freighter is stretched by 5.6 m. Boeing also is well underway with trade studies that may see the Intercontinental with the same wing as the freighter, lifting the resale value for freighter conversion. Currently it is conducting low-speed aerodynamic tests at Qinetiq's wind tunnel at Farnborough. In May, Boeing revealed to this website that results of high-speed wind tunnel tests enabled it to raise the Intercontinental's range from 8,000 nm. to 8,300 nm. Jun 23, 2006

Boeing is considering selling or shutting down its Connexion by Boeing onboard Internet venture because the unit shows no sign of becoming profitable six years after launch, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the situation. A Boeing spokesperson declined to comment on the article but said, "We are evaluating the long-term business model for Connexion, trying to assess what's best for customers. It is a good product. We are trying to determine how good a business it is." A number of carriers have outfitted their aircraft with the Connexion systems or are in the process of doing so, but the market to date has been limited to widebody aircraft operating on long-haul routes. Customers include ANA, Asiana Airlines, Korean Air, Lufthansa--which launched the program--SAS and Singapore Airlines. According to the WSJ, Boeing has approached satellite communications providers including SES Global SA, Inmarsat and Loral Space & Communications about purchasing the unit or becoming a partner. It has invested about $1 billion in Connexion, the paper said. Jun 23, 2006

Boeing says 787 delivery schedule unchanged. Boeing said on Tuesday that the delivery schedule for its new 787 Dreamliner remained unchanged. Jun 20, 2006

AAR's Landing Gear Services operating unit successfully completed its first overhaul of a 717 landing gear shipset on behalf of Hawaiian Airlines. Jun 23, 2006

ANA last week took delivery of a 777-300ER, a 777-200ER and a 737-700 at a ceremony in Everett. Jun 19, 2006

Messier Services will perform 747-400 landing gear exchange and overhaul on behalf of Asiana Airlines. Agreement covers five shipsets. Jun 20, 2006

Cathay Pacific orders six 747-400ERFs. With its share/management restructure with Dragonair bedded down, Cathay Pacific Airways moved quickly to expand its freighter fleet with an order for six 747-400ERFs that takes up all the remaining slots for the standard 747.The PW4062A-powered aircraft are scheduled to arrive between May 2008 and April 2009. They will be deployed on routes to North America. The airline operates 14 747 freighters comprising one dash 400BCF, six dash 400Fs and seven dash 200Fs. It has an outstanding order for five dash 400BCFs and options on another six. Dragonair's freighter fleet consists of four 747-200s/300s, one wet-leased A300B4 and one wet-leased 747-400F. Cathay has been considered a significant driver of the 747-8 program but has yet to commit. However, recent studies done by Boeing to stretch the 747-8 Intercontinental to hold up to 500 passengers are thought to be aimed at CX (see story below). Jun 23, 2006

Maxjet has confirmed the delivery of its third aircraft allowing increased frequencies on existing routes as well as development of new services. Maxjet says that a fourth 102-seat Boeing 767 aircraft will be delivered later this year. In May, the airline carried approximately 3,950 passengers between Stansted and New York with an average load factor of 72%. The CAA statistics showed 5,500 for the rotation leaving 1,550 with Eos, not a true competitor but in truth after much the same market. The London to Washington DC route, which began on April 5, has also been successful. In May Maxjet carried approximately 1,600 passengers between Stansted and Washington. With an increasing demand, on June 29, Maxjet will add a fifth weekly flight on a Thursday to the US capital. Eos says that to date June is running at 70% with a second JFK service due to come on line in September once again with a 48-seat Boeing 757, but at a much higher yield. http://www.maxjet.com http://www.eosairlines.com Jun 24, 2006

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries last week unveiled for the first time to media their high-tech fabrication and assembly plants for the 787. MHI is responsible for the wing box while KHI is building the forward fuselage (section 43), fixed trailing edge and components of the wheel well. MHI Director-Program Manager-787 Program Office Takashi Fujimoto showed off the world's largest autoclave, measuring 40 m. by 7 m. in diameter. MHI also displayed the 40-ton mandrel that holds the 787's lower-right skin panel. Fujimoto told media that the 21 tests to be done on the 787 wing are well underway and will be completed by year end. Akira Taniguchi, 787 deputy program manager-manufacturing, said all facets of KHI's 787 production program are on schedule, with the fabrication and final assembly facilities due to start full-scale production on July 10. Jun 19, 2006

The Boeing 777-200LR still is on high priority lists at Qantas and Singapore Airlines, according to internal sources at both carriers. Qantas is impressed with the 747-8, but under its rules the aircraft may not be able to perform the Dallas-Sydney mission in all seasons. Boeing has been working with Qantas since mid-2005 to refine the 777-200LR to perform a variety of missions including London-Sydney nonstop and Sydney-Dallas. Singapore Airlines has been looking to the type to replace its five A340-500s, with reports suggesting that its nonstops to New York and Los Angeles are not profitable. Boeing has been looking at a lighter-weight interior borrowed from the 787 to make the business case more compelling, and some progress has been made. Both airlines are expected to announce decisions soon, although they "are not imminent." Jun 22, 2006

National Transportation Safety Board hearing issue was Midway's lack of an RSA, which at standard length should be 1,000 ft. But David Bennett, director of FAA's Office of Airport Safety and Standards, told NTSB that RSAs are not required. "We consider [an RSA to be] a very important and valuable enhancement for safety but there is no operational requirement," he said. FAA's rule regarding RSAs states that airports should install them "to the extent practicable," which means they "may be technically possible but not feasible or reasonable for some reason," Bennett explained. Chicago officials have determined that there is no practical way to build standard RSAs at Midway, he said. Jun 22, 2006

National Transportation Safety Board hearings into the Southwest Airlines 737-700 that overran a runway at Chicago Midway last December concluded yesterday with attention focused on the pilots' calculation of stopping distance before landing and their decision to land in deteriorating winter conditions rather than divert to another airport, an option they discussed during flight. "There are certainly a lot of variables," Capt. Denny Mosseller, Southwest's senior director-pilot training and standards, testified regarding the decision to land. The aircraft ended up on a street corner beyond the airport perimeter where it hit two cars, killing a six-year-old child. The aircraft did not have enough room to stop on a runway on which conditions were deemed "fair-to-poor" and which lacks a standard safety area to act as buffer. The pilots did not deploy thrust reversers until 18 sec. after the aircraft touched down. Mosseller said Southwest pilots are given guidance that includes using "maximum thrust reversers and maximum manual breaking" in conditions where stopping margins decrease due to poor weather. Jun 22, 2006

Southwest Airlines 737 scheduled to land at Chicago Midway 9 min. prior to the 737-700 that overran the runway last December diverted after its crew determined that the wintry conditions were too unsafe for landing, the National Transportation Safety Board revealed yesterday. The NTSB started a two-day hearing on the Dec. 8 accident in which the Southwest aircraft overran a slushy runway, burst through a blast fence and continued through a perimeter fence and onto a roadway where it struck two cars, killing a six-year-old passenger. The Southwest Airlines hearing focused on why the pilots of the aircraft decided to land even though part of the runway was in "poor" condition, why they were not informed that another Southwest plane had diverted less than 10 min. earlier, and the tight conditions at Midway, where no standard runway safety area--a 1,000-ft. buffer at the end of the runway--exists. A transcript of the cockpit voice recorder also was released. It included the first officer, in assessing the tough landing conditions, saying he had "picked the wrong day to stop sniffing glue," a reference to the 1980 comedy movie Airplane that may prove embarrassing given the fatal incident that followed. Jun 21, 2006

TAM and Boeing Sign Agreement That Will Allow for Expansion of the Technological Center's Qualification - PR Newswire. TAM S.A. , Brazil's largest airline company, has signed an agreement with Boeing, which will allow the Company to have access to all sets of documents, standards and technical handbooks on the U.S. manufacturer's maintenance of components and aircraft. Jun 22, 2006

Boeing's aircraft orders website showed that orders for three 787s were dropped last week. Flight International's website reported the three belonged to Xiamen Airlines, which swapped them for six 737-800s. Jun 19, 2006