Aircraft News - North America

AirGuide Business, June 23, 2008

Jun 23, 2008

Airlines say taxes aimed at curbing emissions penalize carriers and do not help the environment. Carriers say the higher cost of fuel is a significant incentive to reduce carbon emissions. Air Transport Association Vice President Nancy Young said carriers have taken steps to cut emissions without government prompting. "If you push people away from aviation, you push people to cars, which has an emissions problem itself," she said. Jun 20, 2008

Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative Executive Director Richard Altman said yesterday that the coalition is on target to achieve US FAA and American Society for Testing and Materials approval for 50% Syngas blends, including biomass, by year end. By 2010, he said, it will achieve approval for 100%. Major considerations in the approval process include specific gravity, flash and freeze points, hydrogen content and heat of combustion. Substantial gains have been made to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and improve local air quality. Swell, lubricity, conductivity and atomization will be critical to ensuring fuel approvals, and lower sulfur fuels and coal-to-liquid fuels could improve air quality. Jun 20, 2008

Led by California Attorney General Jerry Brown, a number of states and environmental groups last year petitioned EPA to issue a determination that CO2 emissions produced by aircraft endanger the public and set regulations to limit those emissions. "The heart of the petition is really around asking the agency to propose standards on [aircraft] engine emissions," National Resources Defense Council Senior Attorney Liz Barratt-Brown said yesterday. Simon acknowledged that EPA has "not acted" on the petition, but said the advance NPRM document to be issued imminently will "lump together [the effort to regulate aircraft emissions] with a broader effort" to regulate CO2 emissions. He added that it will take time, likely extending past the January 2009 change in US administrations, before CO2 emissions regulations are enacted. Jun 20, 2008

The FAA is collaborating with technology companies and the University of Illinois to test technology capable of detecting runway debris. "This is going to make the airports more safe, and it will save the operating costs," said Monique DeSpain, vice president of Stratech Systems Inc., the maker of the high-tech camera system used at Chicago's O'Hare. Jun 20, 2008

Fossil fuels could go the way of the dinosaur as airlines scramble to fly on everything from coconut oil to algae. But that kind of evolution won't happen overnight, according to one analyst. "We're at least five years away from alt-fuels being anything but a publicity stunt," says John Scholle, an economist with Global Insight. And while a more modern ATC system is also years away, airlines continue to improve their track record of increased fuel efficiency and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. "Airlines are already motivated to reduce fuel burn and the resulting greenhouse gases as much as possible," says Nancy Young, ATA vice president of environmental affairs. Jun 19, 2008

Engineers at Boston University are developing a new technology that may allow jetliners made of composites to fix holes and cracks automatically. Scientists note that the healing ability of animals and plants inspired the new technology, which has a two-part epoxy system. Jun 17, 2008

Boeing

Boeing said on Friday it completed the process of switching power on to its first 787 Dreamliner, more than a year after the key event was originally planned. The lightweight, carbon-composite plane has been delayed by repeated production setbacks, putting it at least 15 months behind schedule. Putting power on to the plane successfully is the first public milestone the company has achieved on the program. The process known in the aerospace industry as "power on" is a series of tasks and tests that brings electrical power to the plane and starts the electrical systems working. It is a crucial moment in the development of the plane as it gives Boeing an idea of how the plane's systems work together and what problems might need to be addressed. Jun 20, 2008

Boeing

Boeing said the first test flight its 787 Dreamliner jetliner was still scheduled for the fourth quarter. The plane maker has put back the first test flight target date several times. It was originally planned for last summer. First deliveries of the 787 are scheduled for the third quarter of next year. The original target date for first delivery was May this year. Jun 20, 2008

Boeing

Boeing is recovering from production problems that forced it to postpone deliveries of its 787 jetliner. The company has made improvements at plants in Charleston, S.C. and this week completed an agreement to purchase 50% of a joint venture that operates one of the plants. Jun 17, 2008

Boeing, Northrop Grumman

If Boeing loses its protest of the Air Force's decision to award a tanker contract to Northrop Grumman, it may end plans to sell its version of the tanker internationally, according to media reports. The DOD contract would have required enough volume to create a viable international business. The Government Accountability office is expected to make a decision on the tanker dispute this week. Jun 18, 2008