Happy FIDAE Latin American spending under spotlight while industry’s main players target Santiago 10 Blue skies One hundred years since its formation, how Royal Air Force chief perceives next century 20 10-16 April 2018 Ready to fly? Why quality is key for carriers: don’t miss our Training and Development Guide 27 flightglobal.com DELIVERY Launching the E2 generation Embraer celebrates in style as best-ever E-Jet heads for on-schedule service entry ISSN 0 0 1 5 - 3 7 1 0 £3.80 1 5 9 770015 371303 NOMINATIONS ARE NOW OPEN Does your airline demonstrate excellence in strategic thinking and leadership? Be recognised. Award categories include Executive Leadership, Sector Leadership, Low-cost Leadership, Finance, Marketing, and Network Strategy. Submit a free nomination now at strategyawards.com Sunday 15 July 2018 In Association With | Entry deadline: Friday 13 April 2018 #FABStrats Prince Consort Rooms, HAC Sponsored by | www.strategyawards.com CONTENTS Volume 193 Number 5631 10-16 APRIL 2018 NEWS Latin American spending under spotlight while industry’s main players target Santiago 10 Blue skies One hundred years since its formation, how Royal Air Force chief perceives next century 20 10-16 April 2018 Ready to fly? Why quality is key for carriers: don’t miss our Training and Development Guide 27 8 flightglobal.com 9 FIDAE SHOW REPORT 10 Embraer sends reminder to Santiago 11 Saab displays strong support for Gripen E cockpit updates DELIVERY Launching the E2 generation 1 5 770015 371303 05/04/2018 10:16 COVER IMAGE Embraer supplied this shot of its first customer E190-E2 taking off from São José dos Campos. The regional twinjet will enter revenue service in Norway on 24 April P6 AIR TRANSPORT 12 SIA’s 787-10 brings capacity for change 13 MH17 missile could have evaded radar. EASA bids to reinforce flight recorder resilience 15 737 backlog rises with Jet follow-on. ARJ21 crosswind testing a breeze Flightblogger NEWS FOCUS 16 More than simply a Boeing support act 20 Centenary milestone propels evolution of Royal Air Force BEHIND THE HEADLINES Dominic Perry (pictured) got up close to the first Embraer E190-E2, as it was delivered from Brazil to launch user Widerøe in Norway (P7). In Santiago, Stephen Trimble attended the FIDAE show (P10) DEFENCE 18 Netherlands reveals plan for long-term increase in defence spending. Team Tempest eyes UCAS demonstrator contract. New divisions at Boeing as Caret pursues change 19 Kuwait advances Super Hornet order BUSINESS AVIATION 22 Business need attracts ANA to sector. Embraer delivers Phenom 300E 23 Rising profits will drive fleet growth, FAA says. Second PC-24 arrives as first example gets down to work DATA VIEW 24 Demand springs back for carriers Chile contemplates acquiring C-27J Spartans P10 6 COVER STORY A better E-Jet Embraer throws a party to kick-start the E2 generation FEATURES 27 TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT Digital flyers With demand for pilots at an all-time high, airlines are facing two huge challenges – attracting enough candidates, and adapting training to the computer age 28 Don’t read the manual Advances in airliners’ digital flightdeck technology has outpaced evolution of pilot training, leaving the industry scrambling for new ways to ensure aviators stay in control 32 Skills generation For all its appeal, the aerospace industry struggles to recruit talented young people, so various UK institutions are working together to build a modern, accessible training system 5 38 39 41 43 47 REGULARS Comment Straight & Level Letters Classified Jobs Working Week Sikorsky Pilatus Aircraft, Aviation Images/REX/Shutterstock ISSN 0 0 1 5 - 3 7 1 0 £3.80 9 Embraer Embraer celebrates in style as best-ever E-Jet heads for on-schedule service entry FIN_100418_301.indd 1 THIS WEEK Boeing seeks peace as trade war looms. GKN repeats warning after shareholders back bid KC-46A tankers prove boom capacity during crucial tests AirTeamImages Happy FIDAE NEXT WEEK US ARMY We look at the rotorcraft renewal options for the US Army – including Sikorsky’s innovative S-97 Raider Pilatus Aircraft delivers second PC-24 P23. Training programmes for tomorrow’s digital flyers P27 Download the 2017 Commercial Engines Report now with updated enhanced data and in-depth market analysis flightglobal.com/commengines CFM 2017 strip ad.indd 1 flightglobal.com 15/06/2017 08:52 10-16 April 2018 | Flight International | 3 19/07/2012 17:51 CONTENTS Image of the week AirTeamImages posted this striking shot of an American Airlines 767-300ER on final approach to Amsterdam on 31 March. Flight Fleets Analyzer shows that the twinjet – N396AN – was first flown in 1999, and is one of 22 examples of the Boeing type currently in service with the US carrier AirTeamImages View more great aviation shots online and in our weekly tablet edition: flightglobal.com/ flight-international The week in numbers 35% Question of the week Last week, we asked: Ultra-long-haul flights? You said: Flight Dashboard Total votes: On average, men earn 35% more than women at British Airways, although the median earnings gap is smaller, at 10% $313m 17h-plus of misery 915 votes 38% 32% Boeing Five-year, follow-on performance-based logistics contract for Boeing, to support Canada’s fleet of CH-147F Chinooks 7.4 2,438 Flight Dashboard Average age, in years, of lessor-owned fleets fell from 9.9 in 2013; the overall commercial fleet age averages 11-12 years 30% Great for passengers 789 votes Limited appeal 734 votes This week, we ask: Embraer’s E2 prospects? ❑ Sales to soar ❑ Moderate success ❑ Depends on Boeing Vote at flightglobal.com FlightGlobal’s premium news and data service delivers breaking air transport stories with profiles, schedules, and fleet, financial and traffic information flightglobal.com/dashboard Download the Military Simulator Census online now. CAE – Your worldwide training partner of choice 4 | Flight International | 10-16 April 2018 www.flightglobal.com/milisim flightglobal.com COMMENT Fly with us: please Demand for pilots and other skilled aviation professionals has never been greater, but the industry struggles to attract young people to careers that captivated previous generations s our special Training and Development Guide observes, the aviation enthusiasts who tend to run the sector may struggle to understand that, nowadays, hordes of talented young people are not beating down the doors to land jobs in their industry. Recruitment is a challenge, even for exotic, glamorous and desirable jobs such as pilot, engineer or air traffic controller. And the trends are not good. First, entertain the notion – however much a sacrilege – that aviation is no longer so glamorous. People today travel a lot, but unless they fly business- or firstclass, few will relish the prospect of time spent in airports or crowded metal tubes. Even the tiny cockpit must look like an unattractive working environment. Think Richard Burton, Blake’s Tours and Night of the Iguana – not Frank Sinatra and Come Fly With Me. We must entertain the notion, however much a sacrilege, that aviation is no longer so glamorous As these jobs become more like video games and less like, well, flying, the competition from alternative career options looks increasingly attractive. Tom Cruise and Top Gun was a long time ago; who would join the military today to sit in a bunker monitoring a drone? Today, air forces no longer pump out enough pilots. This is a bigger training and recruitment problem than the industry may recognise. The tail end of the cadre who retired from Cold War duty to join commercial airlines is at or near retirement age. Their numbers are dwindling, their excellent airmanship experience being lost. Young recruits are, less and less, being mentored by such classically trained flyers, who may well Moviestore Collection/REX/Shutterstock A Better by air? have provided their inspiration to enter the cockpit. On top of all that, industry demand is soaring as airlines and airports expand to handle ever more flights. In short, aircraft have changed, the industry has changed and the world has changed. Senior people in aviation are still of an age to remember the glamorous glory days. The young people they need to recruit, though, are a different breed, steeped in an era that teaches them to be wary and cynical. Work hard – and pay big money – to train for a job that demands very specific skills? That sounds not so much like a career that ends with a generous pension, as a recipe for being left with nowhere to go when the next technology revolution – or the whim of a cost-cutting boss on a huge salary and hefty bonus – leaves you unemployed. Aviation still offers exciting and glamorous work, and some recruitment initiatives are showing results. But it is no good pretending that the industry faces anything short of a crisis. ■ See Feature P27 Perfect harmony? E Stay up to date with the latest news and analysis from the commercial aviation sector: flightglobal.com/dashboard flightglobal.com mbraer has, believe it or not, its own anthem. The lyrics talk about how Brazil’s aerospace industry is a vital part of defending the homeland: its blue sky, the emerald green forests and the Amazon river. What is absent, however, is any mention of a joint venture with a counterpart from North America that promises to entirely reshape the company. Maybe he is adopting his poker face, but it is hard to discern enormous enthusiasm for the discussions from Embraer’s chief executive Paulo Cesar de Souza e Silva. Although he notes the benefits for both parties, there is a feeling that Embraer is exploring the possibility of an alliance more because it has to, than because it wants to. There will be benefits, of course: Boeing’s marketing muscle and huge purchasing power would ensure supercharged growth. On the other side, the Seattle-based airframer will be able to take advantage of Embraer’s deep pool of engineering talent. Souza e Silva believes the company will be able to stand on its own if the Boeing talks are not consummated. Maybe, but facing a revitalised competitor in Bombardier with the heft of Airbus behind it would be significantly easier with a substantial ally. Others in Embraer’s leadership team seem keener on a new relationship with its friends in the north. Perhaps Souza e Silva, as a proud Brazilian, feels that the anthem’s ideals are being diminished, however slightly. ■ See This Week P6 10-16 April 2018 | Flight International | 5 THIS WEEK BRIEFING CFM POWERS UP LION AIR LEAP CONTRACT ENGINES Indonesian low-cost carrier Lion Air has finalised a bumper $5.5 billion order for 380 CFM International Leap-1A engines to power its Airbus A320neo and A321neo aircraft. The deal, which finalises an agreement announced at the Singapore air show in February 2016, adds to the 544 Leap-1B engines purchased by Lion Air to power its Boeing 737 Max fleet. CFM says the new transaction takes the combined value of orders to $13.4 billion at list prices. BLUE ANGELS TO REPLACE ‘FAT ALBERT’ PURCHASE The US Navy plans to acquire an ex-UK Royal Air Force Lockheed Martin C-130J to “avoid a gap in logistical support of the Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron”. A C-130T nicknamed “Fat Albert” currently supports the team and conducts its own demonstration, typically involving a highperformance take-off and short-field landing. A fatal KC-130T crash last year prompted the US Marine Corps to ground all its remaining examples of the type. A321LR STRETCHES LEGS FROM SEYCHELLES TESTING Airbus’s A321LR test aircraft arrived in Toulouse on 30 March after conducting the longest-distance flight so far in its certification campaign, from the Seychelles. The twinjet landed after an almost 11h flight from the island of Mahe in the Indian Ocean territory. The company’s flight-test engineers have calculated that when factors including headwinds on the route are taken into account, the aircraft effectively flew 4,700nm (8,700km). AER CAP DEAL BOOSTS FREE SPIRIT ACQUISITIONS Spirit Airlines has agreed to purchase by June all 14 Airbus A319s that it currently leases from AerCap. The Miramar, Florida-based carrier will acquire the narrowbodies – which were built between 2005 and 2007 – for an aggregate price of $258 million, according to a securities filing. The airline currently owns 59 A320-family aircraft and leases 58, including examples sourced via Air Lease, Avolon, Castlelake, DAE Capital and GECAS, Flight Fleets Analyzer shows. HOP ATR SUFFERS WING DAMAGE For up-to-the-minute air transport news, network and fleet information sign up at: flightglobal.com/dashboard DELIVERY DOMINIC PERRY SÃO JOSÉ DOS CAMPOS Embraer throws a party to kick-start the E2 generation Double milestone for “almost clean-sheet” narrowbody, as launch operator Widerøe welcomes its first jet aircraft I t was not a typical delivery ceremony. With orchestration by Paulo Cesar de Souza e Silva, Embraer’s chief executive, the manufacturer’s employees first began a synchronised dance, complete with waving flags. Then they were summoned forward to get nearer to the first E190-E2. And come forward they did: spilling from behind their barriers to get close to the aircraft, mobile phones held aloft to grab selfies in front of the green and white twinjet. All the while, a visibly animated Souza e Silva stood on a central stage, waving his arms, exhorting the crowd to cheer more loudly. That is not something you can imagine from either Tom Enders or Dennis Muilenburg, the respective heads of Airbus and Boeing. Quite what the executives from Norwegian carrier Widerøe made of this display of Brazilian exuberance is anyone’s guess; perhaps this is what chief executive Stein Nilsen was alluding to when he mentioned “cultural differences” between the two businesses. But in a day of aviation firsts – the inaugural E2-family delivery, coupled with it being the first jetpowered aircraft for the operator – such an extravagant display of emotion can be forgiven. For Embraer, the delivery was an important milestone: Souza e Silva describes it as a “new chapter in the history of the company and for commercial aviation”. RIGHT ON SCHEDULE Embraer launched the E-Jet E2 family at the 2013 Paris air show, promising to hand over the first aircraft in the “first semester of 2018”. Five years later, the manufacturer did exactly as promised, with the first aircraft due to depart for Norway on 9 April and to enter revenue service between Bergen and Tromsø on 24 April. Although the E2 series is frequently labelled as a “re-engined” version of the original E-Jet line, Souza e Silva is at pains to point out that it is “almost a clean-sheet design”. The INCIDENT French investigation authority BEA has confirmed that an undercarriage hatch was discovered to be missing on a Hop ATR 42-500 that was badly damaged during a domestic flight. The crew of the aircraft (F-GPYF) felt an impact during its descent to Aurillac, following a service from Paris Orly on 25 March. Investigators say the root of the wing was damaged during the incident, and that a hatch from the left main-gear was found to to be missing after the aircraft parked. AFRICAN SHIFT FOR WEST ATLANTIC ATP Dominic Perry/FlightGlobal DISPOSAL Swedish freight operator West Atlantic has sold a pair of British Aerospace ATP freighters to Kenyan company Encomm, with the transaction also including the provision of spare parts and training support. “This transaction marks the first step in reallocating our ATP aircraft portfolio into markets and geographies that can capitalise in full on the benefits of this efficient turboprop,” says West Atlantic aircraft management vice-president Robert Drews. Stein Nilsen (left) and Paulo Cesar de Souza e Silva at the ceremony 6 | Flight International | 10-16 April 2018 flightglobal.com THIS WEEK Boeing seeks peace as trade war looms This Week P8 Embraer Staff at the São José dos Campos plant were out in force to mark the occasion most obvious change is its new Pratt & Whitney PW1900G geared turbofan engines, which are considerably larger and heavier than the GE Aviation CF34s they replace, but the airframer has also developed a new highaspect-ratio wing – the most efficient on any single-aisle – a smaller horizontal stabiliser and a new trailing-link landing gear. In the cockpit, full closed-loop fly-by-wire controls have been introduced, while still retaining sufficient commonality with the E1 series that pilots can convert to the new type after just 2.5 days. All these changes contribute to a fuel-burn improvement over the previous-generation model of 17.3%. About 11% comes from the new engines, the remainder from the fly-by-wire controls and extensive aerodynamic clean-up. A revised cabin has also been introduced, featuring overhead bins that are 3in (7.62cm) deeper, to accommodate a carry-on bag for each passenger. Seats are arranged in a two-by-two layout – as on the E1 – with capacity for between 97-114 passengers, depending on the cabin density. Widerøe has opted to carry 114 passengers using seats with a 29in pitch and 2° of recline. The Norwegian airline was a surprise choice for launch opera- tor, given its long allegiance to turboprop flying. But, says Embraer Commercial Aviation chief executive John Slattery, its technical and maintenance capabilities, and experience of flying in harsh conditions, means it is ideally suited to the role. MORE ACTIVITY “We do not anticipate any significant issues with the launch of this aircraft. All that being said, to have an airline with the rather unique capabilities that Widerøe brings made them a perfect launch customer,” Slattery says. Although orders for the entire E-Jet E2 family – which also in- TIE-UP Airframer ‘doesn’t need’ Boeing deal, but both would benefit Although Embraer had hoped the focus of its 4 April handover event would be on the delivery of its first E2-family E-Jet, inevitably the spectre of its ongoing talks with Boeing about a possible tieup hovered over proceedings. Paulo Cesar de Souza e Silva, Embraer’s chief executive, declined to comment on the status of the discussions, but believes there will be substantial benefits for both the Brazilian manufacturer and Boeing if the pair can agree how to combine forces. flightglobal.com “We don’t need it to happen,” says Souza e Silva. “Embraer is in a very good position now, with a very strong balance sheet. “However, when we look towards the future, given the [market] dynamics, and given that every company would like to grow, in order to have Embraer grow faster, we would need a move like this one [with Boeing].” The two companies disclosed in late 2017 that they were in talks about a possible “combination”, although few details have emerged on the structure or scope of any such tie-up. Boeing would also benefit from a closer union, says Souza e Silva, who notes: “It is a good strategic move, given the capabilities that we have.” A planned alliance between Airbus and Bombardier, centred on the latter’s CSeries programme, appears to have prompted the talks between Boeing and Embraer, with a successful conclusion now hinging on Brazilian government approval. ■ cludes the E175 and E195 – have been slow in recent years (the most recent was Widerøe’s 2017 commitment for three) Slattery is confident that Embraer will secure more deals this year. “It is clear and evident to ­everyone that there is a constant throughput of airline chief executives visiting São José [dos Campos] to see the E2,” he says. “There has been a meaningful uptick in commercial activity, which will culminate in d ­iscussions closing in the coming quarters.” For the airline’s part, Nilsen says the carrier was “extremely proud” to be selected as launch operator for the E190-E2. “Working with Embraer has been a pleasure – they share many of our values. We are impressed by the airplane, but most of all we are impressed by the people of Embraer,” he says. Widerøe will receive its two subsequent aircraft in May and June, but while it also holds options covering an additional 12 jets, Nilsen is in no hurry to firm those commitments. “After the summer vacation we will start thinking about the next step,” he says. “We are not converting [options] at the moment; we have to keep focused on entry into service. If we can find a good position in the market in Norway then I am sure we will move.” ■ 10-16 April 2018 | Flight International | 7 THIS WEEK For up-to-the-minute air transport news, network and fleet information sign up at: flightglobal.com/dashboard DISPUTE STEPHEN TRIMBLE WASHINGTON DC Boeing seeks peace as trade war looms Seattle responds to threat of tariffs between USA and China, saying move would “do harm to global aerospace industry” oeing has responded to the broiling prospect of a trade war that threatens to engulf commercial aircraft produced in China and the USA, releasing a carefully-worded statement designed to highlight that neither side has taken action. The 4 April step came after US President Donald Trump’s administration proposed a 25% tariff on Chinese commercial aircraft the previous day. Beijing responded within 12h with a package of retaliatory tariffs, including taxes on importing 737-800s. “Boeing is confident that dialogue continues. While both governments have outlined positions that could do harm to the global aerospace industry, neither has Boeing B Beijing’s carriers represent a key customer base for manufacturer’s 737 series, including the new Max 8 yet imposed these drastic measures,” the company says. “We will continue in our efforts to engage both governments and build on assurances by US and Chinese leaders that productive talks are ongoing. A strong and vibrant aerospace industry is important to the economic prosperity and national security of both countries.” The US proposals cast Boeing in the awkward position of push- PROGRAMME Chinese-Russian widebody venture moves to select suppliers A year-long joint concept definition phase launched on 27 March will select the Tier 1 suppliers for the Chinese-Russian CR929-600 widebody, the CRAIC joint venture announced on 30 March. The new phase means China’s Comac and Russia’s United Aircraft (UAC) are expanding the scope of supplier selection beyond engine suppliers. GE Aviation and ­Rolls-Royce are expected to sub- mit bids by May for the 75,000lb (333kN)-thrust turbofans planned for the twin-engined widebody. Meanwhile, CRAIC will begin working with suppliers on defining the requirements for major aircraft systems including the landing gear, environmental control system and avionics, UAC says. CRAIC plans to send the rest of the solicitations for all of the major work packages on the CR929-600 by the end of the year, UAC says. The supplier selection phase of the programme should be completed by the end of 2019, it adds. The CR929-600 represents a Chinese/Russian response to the Airbus A350-900 and Boeing ­7­87-9 and -10. If introduced in the 2025-2028 timeframe as planned, the aircraft would become the first twin-engined widebody aircraft produced by either country. ■ ing against trade restrictions only a few months after championing a defeated Trump administration attempt to slap a nearly 300% tariff on imports of the Bombardier CSeries. In this round, Boeing’s fate may again be decided by the US International Trade Commission (ITC). The panel rejected the proposed tariff on the CSeries, arguing that the US airframer was not harmed by an under-priced sale of CS100s to Delta Air Lines. On 15 May, the same ITC panel will decide on the Trump administration’s newly-unveiled package of tariffs on more than 1,000 products, which includes imports of large Chinese commercial aircraft, such as the Comac ARJ21. ■ See Air Transport P15 TAKEOVER MICHAEL GUBISCH LONDON GKN repeats warning after shareholders back bid S hareholders in GKN voted on 29 March to accept a take­over offer from turnaround s­ pecialist Melrose Industries. Melrose says that 52.43% of shareholders voted in favour of its revised offer, which valued the UK aerostructures specialist at £8.1 billion ($11.4 billion). In January it had tabled an initial, speculative bid that valued the company at about £7 billion. Chairman Christopher Miller says Melrose is “delighted and grateful to have received support from GKN shareholders for our plan to create a UK industrial powerhouse with a market capitalisation of over £10 billion and a tremendous future”. Melrose has “made commitments as to investment in R&D, skills and people,” Miller notes, adding that GKN will be “enter- 8 | Flight International | 10-16 April 2018 ing into very good hands”. The GKN board has reiterated its criticism that Melrose’s offer “fundamentally undervalues” the business. It warns that if the shareholder acceptance reaches 75% and Melrose delists GKN, shareholders could be left with “a minority interest in an unlisted company” with the “liquidity and marketability of GKN shares significantly reduced as a result”. UK aerospace trade association ADS has called on Melrose to provide “binding commitments” to address “concerns” raised by GKN stakeholders – including the manufacturer’s largest customer, Airbus – in response to the takeover bid. “This is a worrying time for GKN, its employees, pensioners, suppliers and customers,” ADS chief executive Paul Everitt says. ■ flightglobal.com THIS WEEK Embraer sends reminder to Santiago Show Report P10 PROGRAMME GARRETT REIM LOS ANGELES ACQUISITION DAVID KAMINSKI-­MORROW LONDON KC-46A tankers prove boom capacity during crucial tests A380 arrivals to boost Hi Fly fleet in luxury update Pegasus hits fuel transfer objective in significant step towards full certification for Boeing P Boeing B oeing’s 767-based KC-46A Pegasus aerial tanker programme has completed its fuel on-load testing objective, by successfully transferring 66,200kg (146,000lb) of fuel to another example via its centreline boom. The fuel transfer took place during a 3h, 40min-long flight on an undisclosed date, Boeing says. Both aircraft took off from and landed at Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington, and demonstrated a maximum fuel offload rate of 4,540l (1,200gal) per minute. The two-ship refuelling objective was another step toward receiving a supplemental type certificate from the US Federal Aviation Administration, needed by Boeing to modify the commercial 767-2C into a military tanker. The KC-46A now has demonstrated the ability to receive fuel from three tankers in the US Air Force fleet, also including the Boeing KC-135 and McDonnell Offload was achieved between two examples at 4,540l per minute Douglas KC-10. To date, the programme’s test aircraft have completed 2,700 flight hours and made more than 2,500 boom and hose-and-drogue contacts during refuelling activities, also supporting transports and combat types including the Boeing AV-8B, F/A18 and Lockheed Martin F-16. Progress towards full FAA ­certification comes several weeks after secretary of the air force Heather Wilson criticised Boeing for what she believed will be fur- ther delivery delays of the aircraft. The USAF had expected the company to deliver its first of an initial 18 production examples by the end of 2017, and Wilson expects it to miss a revised target during the second quarter of this year. Boeing says it has “no greater priority” than delivering the ­KC-135 replacement, but late last month stopped short of guaranteeing a first delivery by mid-year. The USAF expects to eventually field 179 of the type. ■ L-39NG orders take off with Senegal light-attack version, maintaining also the full training capability.” Its deal with Dakar also covers the provision of training services for pilots and maintainers, plus ground-support equipment, spare parts and logistics support. Once fielded, the combat-roled L-39NGs will complement the Katsuhiko Tokunaga/Aero Vodochody ero Vodochody has secured its first buyer for the new-generation L-39NG, with ­ Senegal to acquire four armed ­examples from the Czech Republic manufacturer. Confirming its selection on 4 April, Aero Vodochody said: “The order contains four aircraft in a Dakar has ordered four armed aircraft in a light-attack configuration flightglobal.com “This acquisition has been part of our company’s plans for a while. It is a very proud moment for us” Paulo Mirpuri President, Hi Fly PROCUREMENT CRAIG HOYLE LONDON A ortuguese long-haul wet-lease specialist Hi Fly is to become the latest operator of the Airbus A380, with plans to take delivery of the type around the middle of this year. Hi Fly had previously signalled that it was holding talks to introduce a pair of A380s. The carrier says the first Rolls-Royce Trent 900-powered aircraft will arrive in mid-2018, and will be operated “worldwide”, with a 471-seat configuration. This includes 399 seats on the main deck and 60 business- and 12 first-class seats on the upper deck. This matches the configuration used by Singapore Airlines, which started withdrawing its older A380s last year. Senegal air force’s on-order trio of Embraer EMB-314 Super Tucano armed turboprops. The service currently lacks a fixed-wing strike capability, Flight Fleets Analyzer shows. Hailing the first order for the Williams International FJ44-4Mengined NG, Aero Vodochody president Giuseppe Giordo says: “Currently we also have two additional contracts in a very mature state of negotiation.” Production deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2020, with Aero Vodochody having early this year launched work on a preseries batch of four examples: two flight-test articles, plus static and fatigue test examples. ■ Hi Fly has yet to confirm the serial number of its first example, but has provided an illustration of the A380 in the carrier’s livery, which appears to include a Maltese registration. The company’s Hi Fly Malta division is based on the Mediterranean island. The operator states that it will employ the A380 with a “truly luxurious” interior, including a Panasonic CX2 in-flight entertainment system. “This acquisition has been part of our company’s plans for a while,” says company president Paulo Mirpuri. “It is a very proud moment for Hi Fly.” Flight Fleets Analyzer shows that Hi Fly currently operates a long-haul fleet including one A330 and three A340s. ■ 10-16 April 2018 | Flight International | 9 SHOW REPORT For insight and analysis of the latest developments in the defence sector, visit: flightglobal.com/defence FIDAE 2018 Stephen Trimble/FlightGlobal A new wind is blowing in Latin America – particularly in Chile. A right-wing government took office in Santiago in March, replacing a left-wing incumbent which had shown little appetite for large military acquisitions. It is still too early to gauge how a regional tilt towards the right might influence procurement priorities. But the world’s biggest military contractors returned for the 19th FIDAE air show near the Chilean capital, hoping to learn how the region’s political shift could influence a long list of neglected requirements. Show report by Stephen Trimble PROCUREMENT Embraer sends reminder to Santiago KC-390 flies in as Brazilian airframer awaits decision of returning president Piñera on Chile’s commitment to jet transport KC-390 previously grounded by Embraer for several months after an October 2017 flight-test mishap returned to the spotlight as the star of the FIDAE air show. The tanker/transport made its debut at the event eight years after the Chilean government committed to buy the aircraft. Chilean president Sebastián Piñera, who took office for the second time last month, was also president in 2010 when his government committed to join the KC-390 project as a customer. But the KC-390 never became an acquisition priority under the previous Bachelet government, and Piñera’s current policy, only a few weeks after his return to of- Stephen Trimble/FlightGlobal A Brazilian company sent its first prototype for appearance at FIDAE fice, is not yet known. Speaking to FlightGlobal on 4 April, Gen Lorenzo Villalón Del Fierro, chief of the general staff of the Chilean air force, declined to answer any questions about fixed-wing procurements. Although Chile was one of five countries that committed to import the KC-390, so far only Portugal has moved forward with plans to buy the jet-powered type. Ten months ago, the Portuguese government opened negotiations with Embraer to buy five examples, with an option for a sixth, but talks remain ongoing, says KC-390 programme director Paulo Gastão Silva. Meanwhile, Embraer has a lot of work still to do before it can deliver the first productionstandard KC-390 by the end of this year to the Brazilian air force’s 11th Wing. With only two flight test aircraft delivered, if Embraer is to achieve full operational capability by 2019 it still has to conduct “wet” refuelling missions, airdrop heavy cargo loads and validate the aircraft’s self-protection systems, Gastão Silva says. ■ REPLACEMENT Leonardo offers light alternative AirTeamImages C The Mexican air force is one Latin American operator of the C-27J 10 | Flight International | 10-16 April 2018 hile’s next military aircraft purchase could be a light airlifter. The Chilean government published a request for information for a light, fixed-wing transport to replace at least two different types now operated by its army and air force, Eduardo Munhos De Campos, marketing and sales for Leonardo’s aircraft division, tells FlightGlobal. Leonardo, he says, responded earlier this year with information about its C-27J Spartan – a twinengined cargo aircraft featuring the same avionics and engines as the Lockheed Martin C-130J. If the procurement moves forward, Chile would replace Airbus Defence & Space C212s and CN235s. The Chilean navy already operates the newer C295, but Munhos de Campos points to the C-27J’s growing fleet in the region, with Mexico and Peru now operators of the type. ■ flightglobal.com FIDAE 2018 SIA’s 787-10 brings capacity for change Air Transport P12 Show report TECHNOLOGY FIREFIGHTING Swedish airframer will give future customers option to select AEL-developed equipment A voyages Saab displays strong support Viking south seeking for Gripen E cockpit updates CL-415 orders ide-area and head-up displays for the Saab Gripen E/F will be offered to all customers of the single-engined fighter as a potential cockpit upgrade, says Mikael Franzén, head of the company’s Gripen Brazil business unit. The Brazilian air force’s $5.4 billion order for 36 Gripen fighters includes several changes from the Swedish air force version. Instead of three multifunction displays, the service selected a 19in x 8in wide-area touchscreen from AEL Sistemas, an Elbit Systems subsidiary based in Brazil. The latest version of both the wide-area and head-up displays are now in safety-of-flight testing with Saab, according to AEL. Saab W Brazil’s future fighters will feature locally-produced equipment “We will make them available for all Swedish air force customers,” Franzén says. So far, the Gripen E has been ordered only by Sweden and export buyer Brazil. The latter’s commitment includes eight twoseat F-model examples, which Brazilian partner Embraer is responsible for designing. The Brazilian fighter development programme is on track to complete first flight of its lead single-seat Gripen E in 2019, with all 36 aircraft to be delivered between 2021 and 2024. ■ ROTORCRAFT Colombia wants more Black Hawks despite its truce with FARC guerrillas T budget to continue acquiring this aircraft,” said Gen Carlos Eduardo Bueno Vargas, speaking during a Sikorksy press conference at the show on 4 April. Colombian military and police forces now operate 103 Black Hawks, having received the first Pacific Press via ZUMA Wire/REX/Shutterstock he Colombian air force’s appetite for the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk has not waned, five months after the government in Bogota signed an agreement ending a 50-year-old conflict with FARC guerrilla fighters. “I hope we will have enough Nation’s police and air force have operated the UH-60 since 1988 flightglobal.com example in 1988, including the air force’s unique Arpia armed gunship. The medium-lift aircraft played a key role in the government’s campaign against FARC personnel fighting across Colombia’s mountainous jungles. FARC rebels referred to the air force’s Black Hawk as “the Witch”, Vargas says, because of its vertical-lift capabilities and ability to arrive silently in unexpected places. “I’m sure Colombia will continue to improve these capabilities,” he adds. Sikorsky plans to deliver six more Black Hawks to the Latin American region later this year. A first batch of three S-70i-model Black Hawks ordered by the Colombian air force will be delivered in August, followed by a second round of deliveries in October. ■ s the Chilean government emerges as a potential customer, Calgary-based Viking Air is within months of inducting the first of 11 CL-415 enhanced aerial firefighter (EAF) airframes into modification, says executive vicepresident of sales and marketing Rob Mauracher. Bombardier closed production of the family of amphibious water-bombers in 2015 and sold the type certificate to Viking. In 2017, Viking launched the CL-415 EAF as a re-engined and heavily updated version of the CL-215 Series V, using 11 aircraft purchased from the used market. MODERN FEEL In addition to replacing the CL-215’s piston engines with ­ Pratt & Whitney Canada PW100 turboshafts, it also is upgrading its avionics with a modern integrated flight deck, and replacing obsolescent flight controls and hydraulic and fuel systems. The first CL-415 EAF is scheduled to be delivered to an unnamed launch customer in the first quarter of 2020, Mauracher tells FlightGlobal. The aircraft also will be strengthened, to increase its maximum take-off weight, he adds. With the CL-415 EAF modifications set as a new baseline, Viking continues to evaluate the possibility of producing a new aircraft with the same configuration, rebranded as the CL-515. A final decision on whether to move forward with the CL-515 is scheduled in the second half of this year, Mauracher says. Meanwhile, Viking is in discussions with Chilean military and government officials about a potential acquisition of aerial firefighting aircraft, Mauracher says. The company is also in talks with its armed forces about replacing an ageing fleet of de Havilland Canada Twin Otter Series 300 aircraft with new Viking 400s, he adds. ■ 10-16 April 2018 | Flight International | 11 AIR TRANSPORT For up-to-the-minute air transport news, network and fleet information sign up at: flightglobal.com/dashboard FLEET AARON CHONG SINGAPORE & EDWARD RUSSELL NORTH CHARLESTON SIA’s 787-10 brings capacity for change Carrier planning to deploy longest Dreamliner variant on medium-haul routes into Australia and Japanese destinations ingapore Airlines (SIA) on 3 April launched short-haul proving runs with its first 787-10, with initial flights to Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur performed just over a week after taking delivery of Boeing’s longest ­ Dreamliner variant. The carrier had accepted the aircraft (9V-SCA) at the company’s North Charleston, South Carolina final assembly facility on 25 March, as the first of 49 onorder -10s. The twinjet is configured with 36 business-class seats and 301 in economy. “The intention for the aircraft is medium-haul,” says chief executive Goh Choon Phong. SIA will introduce the type on flights to Japan’s Osaka Kansai on 3 May and to Perth, Australia, four days later, FlightGlobal schedules data shows, replacing an Airbus A330-300 and 777-200, respectively. Goh says the airline has no plans for reconfiguring later deliveries for long-haul service, adding that it has the flexibility to convert its orders to either the -8 or -9 variants if required. Singapore Airlines S Carrier’s first example of stretched twinjet received watercannon salute on arrival at Changi airport “At this point in time, we have the aircraft for longer haul,” he says, referring to its current fleet and orders for the A350-900 and -900ULR, along with 787-9s at subsidiary Scoot. SIA’s current primary regional type, the A330, flies sectors of up to 3,250nm (6,010km) to Melbourne. This range encompasses all of East Asia, the Indian subcontinent and much of Australia. “There will probably be more routes in Australia where we’ll consider deploying this aircraft,” Goh suggests, while noting that Nagoya and Fukuoka will be the next routes to be served by its new Dreamliners. “Japan is a hugely important market for us, and the travellers on our Japanese routes are very discerning. I’m very sure they will appreciate the new products that we have on the plane. There will be a capacity increase in Japanese routes, and [they] are experiencing very high demand,” he adds. CONFIGURATION FIRDAUS HASHIM SINGAPORE Interior investment gives ‘highly customised’ class to cabin layout, with each having aisle ­access, and recline into a 76in full-flat bed. In economy, the Star Alliance carrier is using the same Recaro seat as installed on its newer and soon-to-be-reconfigured Airbus A380s, in a nine-abreast layout. Its 787s also feature Panasonic Avionics’ eX3 inflight entertainment system, with in-flight wifi connectivity provided by the same company. “The 787-10 is a very important addition to the SIA family,” says chief executive Goh Choon Phong. “I have very good confidence that it will set a new level of comfort for people who travel on medium-haul [services], be- 12 | Flight International | 10-16 April 2018 cause the product we’re having on the 787-10 is something that is even better than what others are deploying on the long-haul [sectors]. I’m sure that it will be something that our customers would love to travel on.” ■ Singapore Airlines Introduction of the Boeing ­787-10 by Singapore Airlines (SIA) is being backed by the ­carrier’s $350 million investment in new regional cabin products for its first 20 examples. The ­enhancement was unveiled shortly following the twinjet’s arrival at Changi airport following a delivery flight from North Charleston, South Carolina, via Japan’s Osaka Kansai. SIA has configured its -10 with 337 seats in two classes: 36 in business and 301 in economy. The carrier says its “highly customised” new business-class seats were developed exclusively with Stelia Aerospace. They are configured in a staggered 1-2-1 Business passengers have lie-flat seats, all with access to an aisle “All or most of the Japanese points are destinations that we intend to deploy the 787-10 [to] progressively,” adds Goh. SIA also currently serves Tokyo’s Haneda and Narita airports, using A350-900s and 777-300ERs. The 787-10 represents an 18.2% increase in capacity from the A330-300’s 285 seats, and a 4.3% rise from SIA’s high-density 777-200s, which have 323. SIA is scheduled to receive eight 787-10s by the end of this year and another 11 in 2019, and will return 11 A330s to lessors through 2020, Fleets Analyzer shows. It owns 18 777-200s, and has not disclosed plans to remove any of these over the period. Boeing is eyeing additional widebody sales opportunities with its 787 family and developmental 777X in the Asia-Pacific region, with airlines in Thailand and Vietnam identified as potential near-term buyers. Dinesh Keskar, senior vicepresident of sales for Asia-Pacific and India, also notes that the company has seen “tremendous” interest from airlines in Southeast Asia that are keen to use the company’s proposed New Mid-market Airplane for services to China. Designed to fit between the 737 Max 10 and 787-8, the 220-270seat type could enter service in the 2024-2025 timeframe. ■ flightglobal.com AIR TRANSPORT ARJ21 testing a breeze Air Transport P15 REGULATION DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON EASA bids to reinforce flight recorder resilience E uropean safety regulators have detailed certification proposals to improve the protection of information from flight recorders. The European Aviation Safety Agency says premature depowering of cockpit-voice recorders has resulted in loss of information which might have been captured if an alternate power source had been installed. EASA adds that some investi- gations have found both the cockpit-voice and flight-data recorders were fed from the same electrical bus – rendering both recorders inoperative in the event of bus failure. The revision also intends to reduce the possibility that impact sensors – known as g-switches, and designed to stop the recording – might accidentally be activated by other events. “Several safety investigation bodies have reported reliability issues with negative acceleration sensors,” says EASA. “In several occurrences involving high levels of airframe vibrations, some g-switches were triggered prematurely during the occurrence and, therefore, the recording of voices or data stopped before the end of the flight.” EASA is proposing updating certification specifications to ensure that g-switches are “not used as the sole means” to detect a crash impact. The recommendation involves relying on the start-stop logic of the recorder, instead of the use of dedicated sensors. EASA is also proposing provisions to accommodate installation of combination recorders as well as deployable recorders. ■ INVESTIGATION DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON MH17 missile could have evaded radar Display filters possibly limited visibility, says independent assessment on Russian data, as analysis considers theories nternational investigators have confirmed that a surface-to-air missile fired at a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200ER could have avoided detection on radar. Such a weapon could have simply been travelling too fast for the surveillance processing capabilities of the civil radar station at Ust-Donetsk, the analysis indicates. Ust-Donetsk is located in the Rostov region of Russia. The joint investigation team looking into the destruction of flight MH17 in July 2014 had enlisted two independent radar specialists to examine radar data from the station supplied by Russian authorities. No other aircraft were displayed on radar in the vicinity of MH17 at the time of the event, the analysis has found. The five-nation investigation team had previously concluded that an Almaz-Antey 9M38 Buk surface-to-air weapon had been fired from a field near Pervomais- REX/Shutterstock I The 777-200ER was brought down by a Buk surface-to-air weapon kiy in eastern Ukraine, and destroyed the 777. While no Buk missile can be detected on the Russian radar images – a fact pointed out by the Russian government, which has put forward alternative theories on the loss of MH17 – the analysis identified several reasons for its absence. The Buk missile is capable of speeds in excess of 1,400kt (2,600km/h), and this supersonic velocity is far beyond those typi- cally being processed by civil aviation surveillance systems. “Display filters could limit the visibility – this is to avoid clutter on the radar image,” the analysis adds. “The consequence is that, therefore, a Buk cannot be seen.” Russian authorities supplied radar data in its original format, as well as data converted to the standard “Asterix” format. Investigators believe there is “no reason to assume” that conversion result- ed in the loss of any relevant information, but the analysis nevertheless covered both data sets. “The findings by these radar experts show that a Buk missile could have been fired from the firing location established by the joint investigation team without it being visible on the radar images,” the analysis states. Investigators had sought data from a second radar station, sited at Baturinskaya, but none has been supplied by Russia. Dutch investigators are to examine the extent to which recommendations regarding overflight of conflict zones have been implemented since the loss of MH17. The Dutch Safety Board says it wants to compile an inventory of measures taken regarding airspace management and sharing of threat information. It also intends to examine airlines’ risk-assessment strategies – and accountability – when considering overflying conflict zones. ■ C A N C U N THE NEW FACE OF TRAINING ...where requirements surpass expectations flightglobal.com afgsim.com 10-16 April 2018 | Flight International | 13 REGISTER FOR THE PREMIER BUSINESS AVIATION EVENT IN EUROPE Join European business leaders, government officials, manufacturers, flight department personnel and all those involved in business aviation for the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE2018). Visit the EBACE website to learn more and register today. REGISTER TODAY: www.ebace.aero AIR TRANSPORT More than simply a Boeing support act News Focus P16 DELIVERY Max 8 arrival boosts Kazakh aviation Boeing Kazakh carrier SCAT has taken delivery of its first Boeing 737 Max 8, one of six being introduced by the Central Asian airline. Online tracking sites indicate that the -8 flew its first domestic services from Astana in early April. The re-engined narrowbody will “raise the level of service in the company”, says SCAT president Vladimir Denisov, and also provide “new impetus” to Kazakh civil aviation development. Flight Fleets Analyzer shows the carrier as already operating seven 737-300/500/700s aged between 10 and 26 years. It has purchase rights on another five 737-8s. VALIDATION FIRDAUS HASHIM SINGAPORE FLEET AARON CHONG SINGAPORE ARJ21 testing a breeze C omac’s ARJ21 regional jet has completed crosswind validation testing in Iceland aimed at widening its operational scope. China’s ministry of industry and information technology says aircraft 104 completed the testing on 26 March at Keflavik International airport. The test activity involved six take-offs and landings, under average crosswind conditions of 38.4kt (71km/h) and 34.9kt, re- 737 backlog rises with Jet follow-on spectively. The maximum verified crosswind was 48.7kt, exceeding the design target. The Civil Aviation Administration of China had previously validated the aircraft at up to 22kt during testing in China. Comac has so far secured commitments for 453 ARJ21s, but Flight Fleets Analyzer shows that so far only four of the regional twinjets are in service, all with Chengdu Airlines. ■ Further 75 re-engined examples to bolster Indian carrier’s operations, with deliveries planned for completion by 2023 I AirTeamImages Twinjet completed tests exceeding its design target ndian carrier Jet Airways has finalised a deal to buy an additional 75 Boeing 737 Max aircraft, confirming the move in a brief stock exchange disclosure. The commitment is in addition to a previous order for a similar number of 737 Max 8s – a mix of firm orders and purchase rights – announced at the Dubai air show in 2015. The airline has provided no details about which variant will be acquired under the follow-on deal. Flight Fleets Analyzer indicates that orders for 21 of Jet Airways’ 737-8s were cancelled at the end of 2017. Boeing’s orders and deliveries data shows that at the end of February the carrier’s outstanding commitment for the model stood at 54 aircraft. Jet Airways chief executive Vinay Dube had been looking to complete a deal for 75 additional narrowbody aircraft by the end of March. “It will be for the next five years, so 2018 to 2023, to take delivery of all 150 aircraft. The first Max aircraft will be delivered in 2018,” he said at the Dubai air show last November. Fleets Analyzer shows that Jet Airways currently operates 72 737-800s, four -700s, four -900ERs and two -900s. ■ C A N C U N THE NEW FACE OF TRAINING “Mi Casa es su Casa” Boutique-style Training Centers built and tailored to fulfill specific airline requirements. “Mi casa es su casa”, our agility and quality will lead to your success. Avenger Flight Group, LLC afgsim.com flightglobal.com 10-16 April 2018 | Flight International | 15 NEWS FOCUS For up-to-the-minute air transport news, network and fleet information sign up at: flightglobal.com/dashboard Air Canada Aftermarket work forms key part of BGS strategy STRATEGY STEPHEN TRIMBLE PLANO More than simply a Boeing support act Company has always set the bar high, but internal target for its services division will require unprecedented growth A daring and controversial stretch goal to treble Boeing’s services revenue within eight years, in a market already crowded with the company’s customers and suppliers, came out of a 2016 brainstorm session. In the 1950s, Boeing soared to the top of the industry after betting the company’s survival on jet-powered commercial airliners, displacing larger American rivals Douglas and Lockheed in the process. As chief executive Dennis Muilenburg convened strategy sessions in the year of Boeing’s centenary in 2016, he sought out similarly provocative moves that could propel the company into its second century. “We set some pretty audacious stretches [during those sessions in 2016],” said Stan Deal, now the head of Boeing Global Services (BGS), during a March interview in his new headquarters in Plano, Texas. In the two years that followed those sessions, Boeing has made several provocative moves, including standing up an avionics business, partnering with auto- motive supplier Adient to develop seats for airliners and, most recently, proposing a combination with Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer. But the single most controversial – and ambitious – change Boeing has made concerns a stretch goal on services. “There’s some bad behaviour that’s taking place in the supply chain” Stan Deal Chief executive, Boeing Global Services By 2016, Boeing already had one of the largest services businesses in the market, but it was split up as a support element to two major business units, with other key pieces, including Aviall and Jeppesen, not fully integrated. When the discussion turned to the services market in Muilenburg’s sessions two years ago, Boeing’s executives started with setting a stretch goal for reaching $50 billion in services revenue by 2025, Deal says. “Then we looked at, what do 16 | Flight International | 10-16 April 2018 we think we need to do to obtain it?” he recalls. A few months later, in November 2016, Muilenburg announced that Boeing would form BGS on 1 July 2017 by consolidating the company’s balkanised services offerings into a single business, and setting an “aspirational target” to reach $50 billion in annual revenue by 2025. The depth of that financial challenge became apparent a year later, when Boeing revealed that the size of its various services offerings within BGS amounted to only $14 billion. To reach the aspirational target within eight years, the company would have to sustain an average compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.6%. For comparison, Boeing’s revenues have risen from $64.3 billion in 2010 to $93.4 billion last year: a 45% improvement. Measured by CAGR, however, the improvement seems more modest at 4.7%. Boeing must nearly quadruple that performance to achieve the growth targets set for BGS over a similar eight-year period. “That’s pretty phenomenal growth,” Deal agrees, when told about the CAGR calculation. “It is aspirational,” he adds. “This is, in general, how you see Dennis running The Boeing Company under his tenure. Let’s not be afraid to set a stretch in order to stimulate a different way of thinking to go to the market.” PRICING PROBLEM The move has put Boeing in competition with some of its biggest suppliers for aftermarket services, but Deal makes no apologies. “There’s some bad behaviour that’s taking place in the supply chain on the sustainment side – exorbitant price increases on certain parts,” he says. “Airlines don’t like year-over-year price increases in the double-digit range.” As Boeing consolidates more aftermarket services under its brand, it could wield the same power to dictate prices on customers. But Deal dismisses that possibility, noting that it still has to sell airlines factory-built products before competing for aftermarket deals. “We’re a supplier to our airlines on both sides of the situation, flightglobal.com NEWS FOCUS Netherlands reveals plan for long-term spending increase Defence P18 whereas many of those suppliers only have to sell once, and that’s in the aftermarket,” Deal says. Since standing up the business on 1 July last year, BGS has moved quickly into one new market. The unit acquired a Boeing 777 to “part-out”, or strip the useable parts to sell to airlines at a discount compared with factory-built spares, Deal says. A less visible part of the business, Boeing already has one of the industry’s largest service operations rational target” of $50 billion in annual revenues remains part of the plan. But the company has softened the timeline for achieving that target. In November 2016, Muilenburg set the date as 2025, but now the company talks about a five- to 10-year window. The opportunities for growth over that period are significant. Boeing AnalytX, more than any other division, represents the potential of BGS. The division has recently surpassed $1 billion in annual sales from a portfolio of data services, including analysing fleet performance and reliability, as well as supply chain and inventory optimisation. The $1 billion annual sales total is im- Boeing Boeing Commercial Airplanes’ (BCA) headquarters is in Seattle, Washington, and the defence business is based in St Louis, Missouri: each with a tempo for making decisions on new investments measured in months. The newly established BGS headquarters in Plano operates on a different tempo. A leadership team meets every two weeks to make decisions about investment in new products or new markets, Deal says. “We’re not making bets like a new [737] Max, [New Mid-market Airplane] or new T-X [trainer]. These are much smaller investment bets: a software update, a 737 converted freighter with a two-year development cycle,” he says. “As we organised we came forward with a much flatter organisation than our two businesses. It increases the velocity of decision-making. Speed in this business is very important.” As Boeing makes bets on new investments, achieving the “aspi- Boeing FASTER TEMPO The AnalytX data division recently passed the $1 billion sales mark flightglobal.com “These are much smaller investment bets: a software update, a 737 converted freighter” Stan Deal Chief executive, Boeing Global Services pressive for a new business, but BGS believes it can grow by an order of magnitude over time, Deal says. Another option to drive growth is the newly consolidated Supply Chain Management group, which accounts for the largest share of the BGS unit’s overall revenues. At the heart of this is Aviall, the parts distribution company that Boeing acquired in 2006. Boeing does not disclose Aviall’s annual revenues, but confirms that overall sales have grown more than 300% over the last 12 years. In 2017 alone, Aviall revenues increased by about 20%, Boeing says. Aviall’s recent growth has been fuelled partly by another of Muilenburg’s strategic initiatives with suppliers. In the first round of the Partnership for Success campaign that began in 2011, Boeing focused on reducing supplier pricing across the board. The second round of the campaign, which is ongoing, has taken a broader approach, including encouraging suppliers to out- source parts distribution on Boeing commercial aircraft programmes to Aviall. “When we negotiate now as Boeing in Partnering for Success, we’re negotiating as all three businesses – not BCA or BDS [Boeing Defense, Space & Security] only,” Deal says. “We’re putting into trade with our suppliers every dimension of our business, as well as they’re putting in trade every dimension of their business.” PARTS TOGETHER To support further growth, Boeing plans to integrate its three separate parts distribution units – Aviall, BCA and BDS – on to the same SAP-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform. Aviall adopted a SAP platform four years ago, and a similar version was activated for BCA last October. As with many transitions to an ERP platform, BCA has struggled with the transition, with deliveries of spare parts to airlines getting delayed in some cases. “There are very few cases where we have impacted customer operations,” says Richard Teza, vice-president of business development and global product strategy for Aviall. “There are cases though where we’ve made it more challenging than it needed to be for our customers. We’re working hard to get that back so we make it a lot easier for our customers to operate.” ■ 10-16 April 2018 | Flight International | 17 DEFENCE New divisions at Boeing as Caret pursues change B oeing has established two new divisions within its ­Defense, Space & Security business, as part of an ongoing reorganisation effort initiated by chief executive Leanne Caret. The Commercial Derivative Aircraft unit will be based in Seattle, Washington, and oversee activities including the US Air Force’s 767-derived KC-46A tanker and 747-8I adaptation for the Air Force One mission – both were previously within the noweliminated Development division – plus the US Navy’s P-8 Poseidon variant of the 737. Tim Peters, who is currently head of Boeing’s flight test ­activities and a former KC-46A programme manager, will lead the division. Based in Huntsville, Alabama, the Missile and Weapon Systems division’s projects will include the ground-based strategic deterrent and air-launched weapons such as the Joint Direct Attack Munition series, produced near St Louis, Missouri. Norm Tew will lead the operation, moving from the ­ ­position of head of engineering at the previous Space and Missile Systems unit. n STRATEGY ANNO GRAVEMAKER ARNHEM Netherlands reveals plan for long-term spending increase Updates to rotary-wing fleet and C-130H transports also included in funding proposal T he Netherlands has unveiled a new long-term defence plan, which includes additional funding to boost its armed forces’ operational readiness. Presented by recently appointed defence minister Ank Bijleveld-Schouten, the white paper proposes annual spending of €1.5 billion ($1.84 billion) – or about 1.3% of gross domestic product. The Hague has already made a number of major procurement commitments, including for the Lockheed Martin F-35; it will eventually operate a 37-strong fleet of the conventional take-off and landing A-model variant. Deliveries are due to begin next year, with the final examples to arrive in 2023. To support the F-35 fleet, the defence ministry intends to procure new tactical and strategic air-to-surface munitions. Acquisition decisions for these are expected in 2019, with deliveries to begin in 2023 and 2024, respectively, the white paper says. The Netherlands has already joined a multinational effort to buy an eight-strong fleet of Airbus Defence & Space A330 multi-role Royal Norwegian Air Force RESTRUCTURING GARRETT REIM LOS ANGELES For insight and analysis of the latest developments in the defence sector, visit: flightglobal.com/defence Nation’s KDC-10 tankers are to replaced by a pooled fleet of A330s tanker transports, with access to the pooled assets – to be flown from Eindhoven air base – to replace its aged pair of McDonnell Douglas KDC-10 tankers. Meanwhile, the Royal Netherlands Air Force’s current four Lockheed C-130H tactical transports will remain in service until 2031, the document says, but will require a major update running from 2022-2025. In addition, the nation’s single Gulfstream GV VIP transport will soldier on until 2022, with a replacement to be identified two years earlier. The Netherlands’ rotary-wing fleet is also to be updated, the paper says. In 2020, the first of 14 new Boeing CH-47F Chinooks will be delivered, replacing 11 aged D-model examples. Its six current CH-47Fs will also be raised to the newer standard. Further updates for the nation’s Boeing AH-64D Apache and NH Industries NH90 helicopters are envisaged in the early and mid-2020s, respectively. The paper also revives a shelved plan to acquire General Atomics Aeronautical Systems MQ-9 Reaper unmanned air systems, with a first delivery in 2021. Finally, the air force’s fleet of 13 Pilatus PC-7 basic trainers, in service since 1989, will be replaced by 2026, the white paper says, with the procurement process to start in 2020. n INITIATIVE CRAIG HOYLE LONDON Team Tempest eyes UCAS demonstrator contract BAE Systems T Future activity could build on experience from Taranis programme 18 | Flight International | 10-16 April 2018 he UK Ministry of Defence plans to conduct a future test campaign using a low-cost unmanned combat air system (UCAS) demonstrator, building on lessons learned from previous activities including its BAE Systems-led Taranis programme. “This UCAS would see a significant reduction in its cost and development time compared to traditional combat air systems, and a potential future requirement would include the develop- ment and manufacture of the proposed design, and the con­ duct of a limited flight-test programme,” says the MoD. An industry day was staged for interested parties on 13 March, with BAE, Leonardo, MBDA and Rolls-Royce forming “Team Tempest” to pursue the opportunity. The UK-only initiative will be performed in addition to an existing Anglo-French future combat air system activity involving BAE and Dassault. n flightglobal.com DEFENCE Centenary milestone propels evolution of Royal Air Force News Focus P20 PROCUREMENT GARRETT REIM LOS ANGELES Kuwait advances Super Hornet order Initial part of potentially $10.1 billion acquisition focuses on long-lead engineering to develop baseline configuration oeing has been awarded an initial contract worth almost $1.17 billion linked to Kuwait’s acquisition of 28 F/A-18E/F Super Hornets. Outlined by the US Department of Defense on 30 March, the deal is related to “long-lead nonrecurring engineering to develop a baseline configuration for the production and delivery” of 22 single-seat E-model examples and six two-seat Fs by 2022. US State Department approval for the proposed sale was first granted in November 2016, at which time the Gulf nation was seeking the procurement of 28 multirole fighters, plus options on another 12. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) valued the deal at a potential $10.1 billion, and noted that it would “allow for greater inter­operability with US forces, providing benefits for training and possible future coalition operations in support of shared regional security objectives”. Kuwait currently operates Boeing’s legacy Hornet, with Flight Fleets Analyzer recording it as having 34 F/A-18C/Ds in use, aged between 24 and 26 years. An ongoing modernisation activity will also see it introduce 28 Eurofighter Typhoons, under a deal co-ordinated with the Italian government and Leonardo. Placed via Washington’s Foreign Military Sales mechanism, the new contract also will fund the procurement of long-lead items for the Super Hornet’s radar warning receivers and airlaunched weapons, the DoD says. US Navy B Gulf nation’s air force modernisation activity will include introducing 22 single-seat F/A-18Es by 2022 Having previously been threatened with a break in production activities, Boeing’s Super Hornet assembly line in St Louis, Missouri, has recently been buoyed by a Congressional addition of $739 million to provide the US Navy with a further 10 units in fiscal year 2018, boosting its total commitment to 24 aircraft worth $1.8 billion. The company will begin producing the Super Hornet in an enhanced Block III configuration from around the end of this decade. REMOTE CONTROL Meanwhile, the USN has for the first time demonstrated the ability to remotely take control of an F/A-18E and land it on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. Using the aircraft terminal approach remote inceptor (ATARI) system, landing signal officers demonstrated remote piloting of the Super Hornet while conducting carrier qualifications and flight testing over a two-day period in March. They also performed touch-and-go manoeuvres. The ATARI technology was developed at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, by the US Naval Air Systems Command. It was initially tested on a Learjet in 2016, performing shore-based low approaches. An undisclosed number of F/A-18s were fitted with the system last year, before it was deemed ready for trials at sea. “There was some nervousness because the sea state was so bad,” says Lt John Marino, a carrier suitability pilot from the service’s Download the 2018 Wo r l d A i r Fo r c e s R e p o r t Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23. “Back on the airfield, testing was benign,” he adds. The system provides a potential method for recovering an unmanned air vehicle by using the landing signal officer’s ability to observe and fix glideslope and line-up errors, the USN says. It is not intended to be a primary method for recovering manned aircraft. During the recent testing, ATARI system operators controlled the Super Hornet using a joystick, while a safety pilot sat in the cockpit as a back-up. The technology is capable of taking over an aircraft from up to five miles away. System engineers plan to analyse the data collected from the activity and make adjustments prior to further at-sea testing. n IN ASSOCIATION WITH w w w. f l i g h t g l o b a l . c o m / w a f Ruag 2017 strip ad.indd 1 flightglobal.com 06/12/2017 11:25 10-16 April 2018 | Flight International | 19 NEWS FOCUS For insight and analysis of the latest developments in the defence sector, visit: flightglobal.com/defence ANNIVERSARY CRAIG HOYLE LONDON Centenary milestone propels evolution of Royal Air Force As it marks 100 operational years, service chief outlines plan for new-generation duties T he formal commemoration on 1 April of the Royal Air Force’s centenary grabbed many headlines in the UK and around the world, as service officials highlighted its proud heritage, current diverse operational commitments and future ambitions. Its status as the world’s oldest independent air force dates back to 1918, when the RAF was ­created in a move to counter the threat posed by Zeppelin raids that were being mounted by ­Germany on the east coast of England. It also acted swiftly to help quell its foe’s Spring Offensive on the Western Front. Current chief of the air staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Hillier notes that the service’s birth – by a combination of the army and navy’s air assets – was by no means universally welcomed. Indeed, some argued that “major organisa- ­institutions to survive and flourish after war”. “The founding members of the RAF were pioneers, exploiting a new environment and at the cutting-edge of innovation and the technology of the day,” he says. Now totalling about 35,000 regular and reserve staff, today’s RAF is of a different scale to its peaktime posture of nearly 500 squadrons and almost one million personnel in 1943. But speaking before a Royal Aeronautical Society audience in London on 27 March, Hillier said: “The RAF knows that its operating environment is all-pervasive, and its breadth of capabilities fundamental to the success of any military endeavour – whether that be in the air, on land or at sea.” Pointing to its contemporary commitments, he notes: “We are currently busier than we have been for a least a generation, in the middle of our most sustained period of high-intensity warfighting operations since the Second World War.” He cites a total of 13 operations being staged in 21 countries on five continents. tional change in the middle of a war would disrupt output”. “That day in 1918, a vision was brought to life: a vision that air power was fundamentally changing warfare,” Hillier says. “The founding members of the RAF were pioneers, at the cutting edge of innovation” Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Hillier Chief of the air staff, Royal Air Force And in addition to providing a capability which would help the allied powers win that conflict, he highlights the role played by the service’s first leaders and personnel in establishing a set of “beliefs, ethos and Crown Copyright PRECISION EFFECT Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Hillier wants RAF 100 to inspire nation 20 | Flight International | 10-16 April 2018 Operations against Daesh militants in Iraq and Syria conducted over the past three-and-a-half years have involved the use of more than 3,700 precision-guided munitions, deployed by the service’s Eurofighter Typhoon, Panavia Tornado GR4 and remotely-piloted General Atomics Aeronautical Systems MQ-9 Reaper forces. Next year will bring the retirement of the RAF’s last Tornados, after a service life spanning 36 years, and a remarkable record of having been continuously deployed on operations since 1990. Hillier describes the type as “a powerful demonstration of combat air power: flexibility, adapta- bility and utility across the whole spectrum of conflict”. He also points to the importance of the service’s manned intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft fleet, noting that in a 10-year service life, its Shadow R1s – mission-adapted Beechcraft King Air 350CERs – have spent “only a couple of months not on operations”. Elements of its Raytheon Systems Sentinel R1 airborne ground-surveillance force have also been continuously deployed to the Middle East for more than 1,000 days, and its Reapers have accumulated more than 100,000 flying hours since service entry. Looking to the near future, he points to an incoming fleet of Boeing P-8A maritime patrol aircraft as key pending additions, in the face of a “growing submarine threat” from Russia. “The post-war consensus that has provided the basis for rulesbased international order is being challenged and undermined,” he says of Moscow’s recent activities. “We must respond, collectively with our NATO partners, to counter hostile acts by Russia against our country, interests and values.” Examples include a £10 million ($14 million) investment to reactivate an air-defence radar on flightglobal.com NEWS FOCUS Business need attracts ANA to sector Business Aviation P22 plex technology that gives me the decisive edge, and I want mass.” Referring to a perceived assumption of uncontested control of the air during operations, Hillier says: “The world is not only changing – it has changed. Our strengths in the air have been seen by our potential adversaries. We need to get used to the idea that in a future conflict, control of the air will have to be fought for. That is what makes the introduction of the [Lockheed Martin] F-35 Lightning so important.” the Shetland Islands to boost detection capabilities, and launching quick reaction alert-tasked Typhoons on 42 occasions over the past year, he says. Hillier also points to the service’s rapid deployment capability, which was demonstrated in the wake of Hurricane Irma, which devastated parts of the “Why can’t I have better capability at lower real-terms cost, in an information enabled air force?” Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Hillier Chief of the air staff, Royal Air Force Caribbean last year. The RAF swiftly sent relief supplies and personnel to the region, using assets including its Airbus Defence & Space A400Ms, plus Airbus Helicopters Puma HC2s operating in a support role. “We have an outstanding record of responding quickly, successfully and in force to emerging crises, deploying and sustaining aircraft and support capabilities at considerable range,” he notes. Hillier – whose background includes combat duty as a Tornado flightglobal.com GR4 pilot – sees a long future for manned aircraft, despite the i­ ncreasing number of remotelypiloted air systems (RPAS) to be fielded by the RAF. “RPAS are one of the fastest growing parts of our service,” he notes, “with [General Atomics’] Protector coming.” To enter service from the middle of the next decade, the Protector force will be at least double the size of the UK’s current Reaper operations. With an eye on future capability, Hillier sees artificial intelligence, human-machine interface enhancements, remote operations and disruptive technologies as having an increasing part to play in the RAF’s activities. Space is another focus area, with the Ministry of Defence having recently invested £4.5 million on the Carbonite-2 satellite: its first with the ability to relay realtime video from low Earth orbit. The system went from concept to a January 2018 launch within just eight months, he says, using commercial off-the-shelf equipment produced by the UK’s Surrey Satellite Technology. Pointing to the current strength of the service – which totals about 700 aircraft – he notes: “We are ­already at too low a level, with too little resilience left. I want com- Meanwhile, he is challenging the defence industry to shorten development cycles and reduce costs. “The Typhoon is brilliant, but it is more than three decades since conception,” he says. “No longer can we accept that better technology can only come at ever greater cost. Why can’t I have better capability at lower real-terms cost, in an information-enabled air force?” Hillier welcomes the UK government’s recent announcement about releasing a new combat air strategy around mid-year, and points to the strengths of its defence industry. “We are a powerful aviation nation: we can do platforms, propulsion, sensors, weapons ­ and information. It’s a vital industry for the UK,” he adds, noting that combat aircraft currently account for about 85% of the nation’s defence exports. The current programme to “commemorate, celebrate and inspire” will peak with a main event Crown Copyright Tornado GR4 is due for retirement in 2019, after a service life of 36 years Crown Copyright MORE FOR LESS and flypast over central London on 10 July, along with exposure at occasions including the same month’s Royal International Air Tattoo and Farnborough air show. In addition, the RAF aims to engage with more than two million students during 2018, which is also the year of the engineer. “Our focus has always been on the future – and the legacy of RAF 100 must be to build a launchpad for flight into our second century,” Hillier says. The service in 2017 experienced its best recruitment year this decade, and with 2,700 aerospace apprentices, serves as “a dynamic engine of social mobility, where everyone can fulfil their full potential”. Hillier says: “Our strategy to deliver the next-generation air force is simple: focus on our people, ­deliver on operations, and grow our frontline. We need to grow capability – people as well as ­ equipment – to give us greater resilience to deal with consistently high operational demand. “We look forward to our second century with pride in what we have already achieved, and with confidence about our future and the enduring importance of air and space power. We are transforming into a next-generation air force, that recognises information as its lifeblood, and is able to respond more rapidly and with ever-greater agility.” Stating that his forebears would be equally proud as the service enters its new era, he adds: “The last 100 years has proven their beliefs right, in every respect.” ■ Service swiftly sent relief supplies to Caribbean after Hurricane Irma 10-16 April 2018 | Flight International | 21 BUSINESS AVIATION Keep up to date with business aviation news and analysis at: flightglobal.com/bizav LAUNCH ELLIS TAYLOR PERTH Business need attracts ANA to sector Joint venture with Sojitz will offer passengers private, direct flights from Japan and connect with scheduled services NA Holdings, parent company of Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways, is making a foray into the business aircraft market, via a partnership with local c­ harter operator and trading house Sojitz. ANA has also signed a separate deal with Honda A ­ ircraft to introduce the HA-420 HondaJet on its feeder routes, particularly within the Japanese market, the airline says. ANA Business Jet is scheduled to launch operations by the third quarter. ANA owns a 51% stake in the venture, with the rest held by Sojitz. The Tokyo-headquartered company represents Bombardier and Boeing Business Jets in the Japanese market, and operates a diverse fleet of aircraft for charter, largely through partnerships with other operators. ANA Business Jet will provide onward travel in a private aircraft to the carrier’s scheduled passengers arriving in Japan. The highend offering is also available to customers connecting to ANA’s scheduled services bound for North America and Europe. “ANA Business Jet will drastically shorten travel time and allow passengers to travel in comfort and in privacy,” says Sojitz. Clients can also use the service for ad hoc charter flights, it adds. POTENTIAL SALES Meanwhile, ANA has signed a memorandum of understanding with Honda Aircraft, designed it says to introduce Japanese business aircraft users and commercial airline customers to the HondaJet. The companies have not disclosed details of p ­ otential sales or leasing arrangements for the light business jet, but say the seven-seat aircraft will be used for charter and ­feeder flights. Honda Aircraft will support these operations, including establishing a ground support ­ framework at various ANA transit locations. “Through this strategic partnership and use of the HondaJet, ANA will create new demand to utilise business jets, in particular for travelers of various Japanese entities who value convenience and privacy in their Honda Aircraft A Carrier also could employ HondaJets for charter and feeder flights overseas travel,” says ANA Holdings president and chief executive Shinya Katanozaka. ANA’s move into the business jet market comes around a year after rival Japan Airlines partnered with Dassault Falcon ­Services, a subsidiary of Dassault Aviation, to offer bespoke private jet connections for passengers from Paris to destinations in ­Africa and Europe. Flight Fleets Analyzer records a global fleet of 79 HondaJets. The USA is home to the largest inventory with 61 examples, followed by the UK and Germany, with three aircraft each. The Greensboro, North ­Carolina-based airframer is progressively ramping up production of the GE Honda Aero Engines HF120-powered type to meet market demand. Deliveries climbed from 23 units in 2016 to more than 43 last year, and the company expects a “steady” increase in output in 2018. ■ HANDOVER KATE SARSFIELD LONDON Embraer delivers new-generation Phenom 300E S rial number 448 came just over five months after the launch of the upgraded business jet – the second iteration of the nine-yearold Phenom 300 – which secured Embraer outh A ­frican businessman and long-time Embraer customer John McCormick has taken delivery of the first Phenom 300E. The handover of aircraft se- Variant forms part of wider effort to enhance portfolio and lift sales 22 | Flight International | 10-16 April 2018 Brazilian, European and US validation in March. The Phenom 300E – short for Enhanced – features a redesigned cabin, restyled and improved seating designed by Embraer Aero Seating Technologies in Titusville, Florida, and a high­ end in-flight entertainment and cabin management system supplied by Lufthansa Technik. Embraer describes the Phenom 300 as the “best-selling and mostdelivered light business jet for the last six years”. Flight Fleets Analyzer records a global inventory of nearly 450 examples. The E-variant is one of a wave of upgrades that Embraer is intro- ducing across its business jet range to bolster appeal and help rekindle sales in the fragile and competitive marketplace. The airframer will shortly deliver its first Legacy 450s and 500s with a reduced cabin altitude of 5,800ft – 200ft lower than their predecessors – when flying at an altitude of 45,000ft. The midsize pair will also feature restyled passenger seats as standard from the second quarter, says Embraer. An upgraded version of the entry-level Phenom 100 was introduced in April 2017, featuring a Garmin G3000 flightdeck and higher-thrust Pratt & Whitney Canada PW617F1-E engines. ■ flightglobal.com Demand springs back for carriers Data View P24 BUSINESS AVIATION MILESTONE KATE SARSFIELD LONDON Second PC-24 arrives as first gets down to work ilatus Aircraft has delivered its second PC-24 to its US dealer and maintenance provider Western Aircraft. The handover of aircraft serial number 102 – registration N224WA – comes as the first production example enters service with fractional ownership company PlaneSense. Pilatus plans to deliver 23 of the superlight business jets in 2018, from an order backlog of 84. Western Aircraft says it has seen strong demand for the ­PC-24, “with more than a dozen offers to buy the first aircraft”. Despite this demand Western plans to add aircraft 102 to its own inventory, where it will be used for ad hoc charter and, for the coming year, as a company demonstrator. “This gives us the ability to show the PC-24 to existing order holders, and also to prospective customers who want to get in on the next block of aircraft when Pilatus re-opens the orderbook,” says Western’s vicepresident of sales and charter, Phil Winters. The manufacturer, headquartered in Stans, has not disclosed a Western will employ aircraft 102 to support demonstrations Pilatus Aircraft P timeframe for the next order round – but it could be as early as the fourth quarter of this year. PlaneSense, one of Pilatus’s largest customers, has an order for six PC-24s, but is keen to acquire additional aircraft to bolster its fleet of 36 PC-12s. ■ MODIFICATION KATE SARSFIELD LONDON OUTLOOK KATE SARSFIELD LONDON Rising corporate profits will drive fleet growth, FAA says Upgraded King Air 350 secures Canadian STC U Twenty-year forecast expects jets to outperform turboprops, with piston singles in decline usiness jets are set to outperform all other certificated general aviation types in the USA over the next 20 years, according to a forecast published by the Federal Aviation Administration. It predicts that although the average annual growth rate for the whole general aviation sector – which includes traditional business jets, turboprops, fixed-wing piston aircraft and helicopters – will remain flat in the period to 2038, the business jet fleet will grow at an average rate of 2.2%. It expects the overall fleet and business jet totals to reach 214,100 and 22,200, respectively. Turbine aircraft as a whole will also perform better than pistonpowered types, the report says, with the US inventory expected to climb from 23,600 units in 2018 to more than 35,000 in 20 years – an average annual increase of 2%. Turboprops will grow by a more modest 1.7% per year, with the fleet forecast to total 12,600 in 2038, the report says. The FAA’s upbeat prediction is flightglobal.com Gulfstream B Strengthening US economy is expected to support rise in demand based on forecast growth in the US economy and corporate profits – key ingredients for a thriving business aircraft market. By contrast, the country’s fleet of fixed-wing, certificated pistonsingles is expected to shrink over the forecast period by 23,750 aircraft – an average annual decline of 0.9% – with the FAA predicting an inventory of about 119,650 in 2038. The agency attributes this gloomy outlook to “pilot demographics, overall increasing cost of aircraft ownership, coupled with new aircraft deliveries not keeping pace with retirements of the ageing fleet”. Hours flown by turbine business aircraft are expected to rise from 7.2 million in 2018 to 11.6 million in 2038 – or 2.4% a year – thanks largely to the higher business jet utilisation. ■ S engineering company and aftermarket specialist Blackhawk Modifications has received a Canadian supplemental type certificate (STC) for its XP67A engine upgrade on the Beechcraft King Air 350, and is preparing to begin work on the first retrofit for a local customer. The upgrade replaces the type’s 1,050shp (783kW) Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-60A engines with 1,200shp PT6A-67As, which boost the 350’s maximum cruise speed by up to 40kt (74km/h). The XP67A-powered twin can also climb from sea level to 35,000ft in 18min in hot conditions, says Blackhawk – more than twice the rate of the baseline model. The upgrade package includes five-blade composite propellers from German manufacturer MT, which Blackhawk says “delivers significant reductions in noise and vibration levels, while improving overall performance”. Jim Allmon, president and chief executive of the Waco, Texas-based company, calls the upgraded model “the fastest King Air on the planet”. ■ 10-16 April 2018 | Flight International | 23 DATA VIEW Demand springs back for carriers Steady month saw Emirates cement its position as the A380’s largest customer, while Hawaiian left the A330-800neo high and dry after switching its order to rival 787-9 GRAHAM DUNN & ANTOINE FAFARD LONDON New orders, February 2018 Emirates Airline UPS Airlines Bangkok Airways UPS Airlines TUI Travel A380 20 747-8F 14 ATR 72-600 4 767-300F 4 737 Max 2 Source: Flight Fleets Analyzer Note: Information for known customers only 24 | Flight International | 10-16 April 2018 TUI Travel made a commitment for two 737 Max-series aircraft Travel signed for two 737 Max-series aircraft. New business for regional aircraft manufacturers included a follow-on order from ­Bangkok Airways for four ATR 72-600s, in what was one of the few commercial deals disclosed during February’s Singapore air show. Fleets Analyzer records the overall commercial order backlog as totalling 15,172 ­aircraft at the end of February: down 40 from the previous month. Meanwhile, our information shows that 97 aircraft were delivered to 60 operators during the month – an 18% decrease versus February 2017. This extends a sluggish ­ ­period, following an exceptionally busy conclusion seen last December. European carriers led the way with deliveries, receiving a combined 32 units. This was followed by totals of 29 and 25, respectively, for operators in the Asia-Pacific and North America regions. Almost half of the global ­deliveries were made to mainline operators. In the widebody sector, Air Canada, ­Norwegian and United Airlines each took two 787s, while freight operator FedEx received a pair of 767s. Boeing A fter what was a slow start to 2018 for commercial orders, preliminary information from Flight Fleets A ­ nalyzer shows that 67 ­aircraft were added to production backlogs during February, balanced against 12 cancellations and seven swaps. Most notably, Emirates Airline confirmed an order for 20 Airbus A380s, in what was the first firm commitment for the widebody type to be made in more than a year. The Gulf c­ arrier – which is by some distance the ­largest customer for the superjumbo – had in January signed a p ­ reliminary deal for 20 ­examples, plus 16 options. Boeing’s 747-8 programme also received a boost, with UPS Airlines ordering 14 Freighters, along with a further four 767-300Fs to support its operations. An undisclosed ­customer also placed an order for three 777s. This activity meant February was the ­second busiest month of the previous 12 for widebody deals, and also one of the highestprofile due to cancellations. Virgin Atlantic finally dropped its long-dormant order for six A380s – a commitment dating back to 2001, while the sole customer for the A330neo’s -800 model, Hawaiian Airlines, axed its ­six-unit order, after signing a letter of intent to instead acquire 787-9s. In the narrowbody sector, orders were ­confirmed for 20 re-engined A320neos from as-yet unannounced customers, while TUI Emirates firmed an order for 20 A380s, in what was the first firm commitment for the widebody type in more than a year Narrowbody deliveries included eight 737NGs for Ryanair, which has a backlog of 35 of the legacy model and 110 737 Max 200s. Delta Air Lines took four A321s and two 737-900s, while Southwest Airlines received four 737-800s. Shipments made to regional operators comprised a pair of ATR 72 twin-turboprops for Mexico’s Aeromar Airlines, plus an ­Embraer 175 and an E190 that were received by KLM Cityhopper. Fleets Analyzer shows that the global inservice commercial fleet stood at slightly more than 28,600 units at the end of February, of which more than 26,000 are deployed in a passenger role. The remainder includes freighters and combi types. ■ flightglobal.com ORDERS & DELIVERIES Commercial in-service fleet by region Commercial monthly net orders, February 2017-2018 Units 1,200 1,100 1,000 900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 -100 7% 5% 5% 24% 28,626 Total 30% 29% Source: Flight Fleets Analyzer Feb-17 Mar-17 Apr-17 May-17 Jun-17 Jul-17 Aug-17 Sep-17 Oct-17 Nov-17 Dec-17 Jan-18 Feb-18 Source: Flight Fleets Analyzer Narrowbody Regional Turboprop Widebody Asia-Pacific 8,603 North America 8,466 Europe 6,790 Latin America 2,025 Middle East 1,441 Africa 1,301 Commercial aircraft order backlog by manufacturer Commercial monthly deliveries, February 2017-2018 Units 300 3% 3% 3% 5% 38% 250 15,172 200 Total 150 48% 100 50 Source: Flight Fleets Analyzer 0 Feb-17 Mar-17 Apr-17 May-17 Jun-17 Jul-17 Aug-17 Sep-17 Oct-17 Nov-17 Dec-17 Jan-18 Feb-18 Source: Flight Fleets Analyzer Narrowbody Regional Turboprop Widebody Airbus 7,215 Boeing 5,725 Comac 503 Bombardier 434 Embraer 429 Other 866 In focus: fleet evolution for leading countries Fleet development for leading countries Total fleet Stored aircraft (%) 15,000 30 12,500 25 10,000 20 7,500 15 5,000 10 2,500 5 0 0 Mar-09 Mar-10 Mar-11 Mar-12 Mar-13 Mar-14 Mar-15 Mar-16 Mar-17 Mar-18 Source: Flight Fleets Analyzer USA fleet China fleet China (stored fleet) Canada (stored fleet) Canada fleet Russia fleet Russia (stored fleet) USA (stored fleet) flightglobal.com The USA, China, Canada and Russia are the leading countries in terms of the volume of aircraft in commercial operation. The rapid growth of the fleet in China stands out, having risen from 1,300 units in 2009 to almost 3,400 nine years later. The stored fleet in the country has not exceeded 4% during this period. The commercial fleet in the USA currently stands at 8,325 units: roughly 200 fewer than in 2009, due to restructuring, consolidation and capacity discipline. The in-service total for US airlines dipped below 8,000 units in 2014, but has since started climbing again. In Canada, the fleet strength has increased, from just over 1,000 in 2009 to more than 1,300 now. Economic challenges saw Russia’s inventory fall below the 1,000-unit mark three years ago, but its commercial fleet now stands at a little over 1,100 aircraft. ■ 10-16 April 2018 | Flight International | 25 Technology and Innovation in Airline Distribution Conference 22-24 May 2018 | Bangkok, Thailand 148 Leveraging data for enhanced distribution attendees 64 Is the ‘Big Data’ gathered relating to millions of airline passengers being effectively leveraged for distribution? companies Find out how the best in the aviation distribution world manage their data for optimum results. 26 countries Secure your place today: flightglobal.com/TIAD18 Delegate enquiries: +44 (0)20 8652 3233 [email protected] Silver sponsor: Sponsor enquiries: +44(0)20 7911 1490 [email protected] Bronze sponsor: TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT Special report DIGITAL FLYERS CONTENTS 28 Technology Keeping pace 32 Recruitment Raising the game 34 Profiles Directory Aviation Images/REX/Shutterstock With demand for pilots at an all-time high, airlines are facing two huge challenges – attracting enough candidates, and adapting training to the expectations of the computer age Flightdeck technology has advanced faster than accompanying crew training concepts – and recruitment is also struggling to keep up flightglobal.com 10-16 April 2018 | Flight International | 27 TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT Special report Don’t read the manual Advances in airliners’ digital flightdeck technology has outpaced evolution of pilot training, leaving the industry scrambling for new ways to ensure aviators stay in control DAVID LEARMOUNT LONDON K eeping airline pilot training relevant while flightdeck technology advances apace – and as airspace management demands ever greater flight trajectory accuracy – is a task that will end only when airliners no longer have flightdecks. The end of flightdecks, most experts agree, is in the distant future – even if the single-pilot flightdeck is looking feasible within the next decade or so, starting with freighters. For there has long been, and still is, a conservative belief among many senior figures in the industry that traditional pilot skills, and less tangible qualities such as airmanship, are immutable absolutes. Certainly these basic qualities are still an essential part of what makes a good pilot, but aircraft have changed massively in recent years, as has the airspace environment, the means of navigation, and also that of traffic separation and flow management. Expectations of safety standards are far higher than they used to be, and young recruits to the piloting profession have been raised and educated in a different era. For three decades after the first digital avionics and flight control systems began to be introduced in the early 1980s, neither ab initio nor recurrent airline pilot training was modified accordingly. As cockpit technology continued its rapid advance, although accident rates were reducing, when they did occur it was increasingly because the pilots found themselves unable to cope when faced with an unexpected occurrence that called for independent decision-making. Evidence that training philosophy and technique has not prepared pilots well for today’s “fourth-generation” cockpits has been the elephant in the flight simulator for a long time. The most obvious evidence is the distressingly regular incidence of loss of control in flight (LOC-I) involving aircraft that were 28 | Flight International | 10-16 April 2018 actually controllable. As a statistic – given the number of flights that take place globally – LOC-I crashes do not represent a high risk, but their regularity over the years since 2000 is unacceptable, and no-one at present can claim confidently that they will not continue to happen. The very existence today of a European Aviation Safety Agency advisory body called the Airline Training Policy Group (ATPG) is testimony to the fact that the ab initio pilot training system frequently does not produce the finished product airlines need, and that more needs to be done to correct this. The ATPG is made up of training experts from the airlines, training industry, aircraft manufacturers and EASA. They are addressing the fact that many pilots with commercial pilot licences who present themselves for jobs at airlines are just not good enough to fly today’s jet airliners safely. EasyJet puts the figure at up to 90% of applicants, while adding that graduates from consolidated training courses are usually good. Smart flightdecks did not lower the workload, they changed it. It became less physical and more cerebral But even when those pilots who do pass the airlines’ acceptance tests get on to the line, evidence from incidents, accidents and flight data monitoring (FDM) suggests that recurrent training does not advance their knowledge and skills the way it should. At many airlines, recurrent training is a misnomer, because it is still more about recurrent checking than training. And since the reliability of today’s aircraft is such that it deprives crews of experience of dealing with real failures or anomalies, recurrent training is needed more than ever to advance pilot knowledge, resilience and confidence. Capt Chris Warton, director of customer training in Europe for Bombardier Business Aircraft, says his company no longer reports on recurrent training sessions simply as pass or fail; it grades individual performance. The old pass/fail system did not encourage progress, Warton says, nor allow progress to be accurately monitored. ATTITUDE PROBLEM Ryanair’s head of training, Capt Andy O’Shea, who is on the ATPG, summarises what is missing in pilot graduates from the ab initio system. He says they lack – to a greater or lesser degree – knowledge and understanding, flight path flightglobal.com TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT Digital technology Airbus With the A350, Airbus introduced state-of-the-art digital flightdeck and a bold new concept of type-rating management skills, crew resource management ability, and what he calls “maturity and attitude”. The ATPG’s answer to the deficit is effectively a course extension to the commercial pilot licence/instrument rating training course, adding high quality multi-crew co-operation (MCC) and jet orientation courses (JOC). Unlike off-the-peg MCC/JOC, this includes simulator instruction in the style of line-oriented flight training, plus advanced knowledge consolidation ground-school. The result is a course dubbed the Airline Pilot Certificate Course, which Ryanair requires all of its own new recruits to go through. This is an admission that the present system, as designed, does not work well enough flightglobal.com for airlines which expect pilots with licences to arrive on the line completely trained. Although improving the effectiveness of pilot ab initio and recurrent training has been much discussed at forums such as the Royal Aeronautical Society’s annual International Flight Crew Training Conference (IFCTC) over the past decade, until recently the focus has continued to be directed at making “better pilots” in the traditional sense, and on reacting to the kind of accidents that continue to happen, rather than on preparing pilots to be experts in understanding and manipulating the high-technology cockpit tools with which they manage flights today. But this year’s conference (25-26 Septem- ber) plans to home in on the human interface with technology, and on competency-based training. As national aviation authorities move towards “performance-based regulation” rather than the traditional prescriptive kind of rulemaking, it will also be taking a look at training quality oversight. Even aircraft with fourth-generation highly automated flightdecks need pilots with traditional skills because, as the notorious example of Air France flight 447 (LOC-I over the South Atlantic in June 2009) demonstrated, the automation is programmed to trip out if the system recognises it is receiving faulty sensor data. And that will, inevitably, continue to happen from time to time. ❯❯ 10-16 April 2018 | Flight International | 29 TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT Special report with what they saw as an opportunity to trim pilot training cost. As it became clear that LOC-I was here to stay, one solution to it was seen as being upset recovery training. Over the years, however, Airbus argued long and hard that it was better to train pilots to prevent upsets than to recover from them. Buried in the Airbus argument is the belief that the shortcomings in skills and knowledge that allowed licensed pilots to get the aircraft into an upset were the real problem, not their failure to recover from a situation they had played their part in creating. As the entry into service of the Airbus A350 was approaching, the manufacturer’s training policy experts engaged in a bold programme of rethinking the way pilots were prepared for the state-of-the-art digital flightdeck on a new aircraft type. Airbus called the new approach “learning by discovery”, or learning by doing. Boeing has adopted a similar approach and calls it “active learning”. This starts with the concept that nobody nowadays reads a manual before operating a new tablet, computer or smartphone. They know what the device is designed to do, and what they want to do with it, so they switch it on and experiment to discover how this particular product can deliver the results they want. JUST FLY IT According to the new Airbus training philosophy, the crew are presented with a full-flight simulator for the aircraft on which they are going to do their type-rating course, and told to “fly” it. After all, the aircraft, however advanced, is an aircraft like any other, and it will fly like any other. The pilots are told they can work out for themselves how to start it, taxi it, line up and take-off, but they are not allowed to engage the autopilot or flight director. They are encouraged to find out how it behaves in standard flight scenarios, and finally they land. This exercise also includes “learning by failing”, by being permitted to find out what does not work; this approach is the diametric opposite of the “don’t touch any­thing until you have learned all about it” attitude. The psychology of this approach is sound. The rules of aerodynamics have not been al- AirTeamImages ❯❯ So, for more than two decades now, the commercial air transport industry has been confronted with a dilemma regarding pilot training policy, but it seems the changes needed are still under development. The advent of the digital flightdeck brought with it improved avionics capability and reliability at the same time as higher design and engineering standards reduced equipment failure rates for airframe and engine hardware. The result was that accident figures reduced significantly. Meanwhile, in the early days of digital cockpits, the new smart flightdeck avionics were marketed as lowering pilots’ workload. In fact they did not lower the workload, they simply changed its nature. It became less physical and more cerebral. It demanded knowledge of the sophisticated flight management equipment and its capabilities, but it did not take away the need for crew planning and decision-making, and pilots still needed to exercise trajectory management and monitoring skills. Nevertheless, the combination of reduced serious accident statistics and the illusion of lower pilot workloads provided the airlines Ryanair sees shortcomings ranging from basic skills to attitude, while EasyJet reckons 90% of applicants are not ready to fly a modern airliner 30 | Flight International | 10-16 April 2018 flightglobal.com TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT tered just because this is a state of the art flyby-wire machine. And after a couple of practical sessions flying the simulator, the ground-school classes will feel more relevant to the pilots, and the more traditional process of learning details about the new type can begin. Pilots need to be re-introduced to the fact that their complex machine, with all its automation, is just an aeroplane, and it still flies like one. If a pilot loses sight of this basic fact, the traditional “get out of trouble” mantra that tells pilots to “aviate, navigate, and communicate – in that order” does not mean very much. These reminders need to be provided not only when they begin their type-rating training but also in their recurrent training. Jacqui Suren, head of regulation and training development at L3 Commercial Training Solutions, talks of new teaching/learning processes using virtual reality and “gamification” of the learning process, which she says relates ground-school more closely to flying. Regulators such as the US Federal Aviation Administration and EASA have always known that innovation brings risk as well as reward, especially during the introduction of new equipment or capabilities, but they also acknowledge that technical advances tend to bring net benefits. Modern flight instrument and navigation displays may have a graphic clarity that improves pilot situational awareness, but the flight management computers, with their multiple capabilities, have also introduced the potential for mode confusion, and flight management systems (FMS) can take the pilot out of the cognitive loop by being so accurate and reliable that his/her critical faculties become comatose. Training changes – such as evidence- and competency-based training – designed to correct this situation, have only begun to be adopted in the past three years or so, but at least the process is beginning in some parts of the air transport industry. There is, however, a long way to go, and technology will still keep advancing, so the training goalposts will keep moving and the new instructional methodologies have to have flexibility built-in. The principal change that is making recurrent training more relevant now is the gradual adoption of evidence-based training (EBT). Data provides the evidence of what pilots are getting wrong – or not getting quite right – whether through individual aircraft FDM, or “big data” assembled by organisations such as the International Air Transport Association. The possession of this evidence enables airlines to identify where their training challenges lie as an operator, but also enables a fully capable in-house training department to tailor training to individual pilot needs. In Europe, EBT will be fully implemented as policy in early 2019 by EASA. The agenflightglobal.com Sipa Press/REX/Shutterstock Digital technology Loss of Air France flight 447 showed that cockpit automation has not banished LOC-I risk cy’s executive director, Patrick Ky, observes that the capacity of this carefully mined data to maximise the effectiveness of an EBT session works best when airlines carry out their training in-house. This is so, he says, because the specific lessons are naturally brought together with the airline’s own standard operating procedures. Achieving this with the use of third party training organisations is much more difficult, he points out, suggesting that the full advantage that EBT should be able to deliver can only be provided by third party trainers if they work extremely closely with the airline. Global third party training provider CAE commented at the 2017 IFCTC that “airlinefocussed” flight training provision is increasing as a proportion of the market, and generic third party training is reducing. CAE points out that an airline can provide a third-party training supplier with FDM data so as to tailor the training to the airline’s needs. STAYING AHEAD Ky insists that syllabus-based or generic training is not adequate for the task when flightdeck technology is advancing fast, and when some risks are declining and others are increasing. Pilot training now, he says, has to be aimed at coping with identified risks, and providing pilots with the knowledge and skills to use cockpit technology to its best advantage. The old adage that the crew should always be ahead of the aircraft contains the implication that today’s pilots must now be ahead of the FMS. Asked whether, in these days of performance-based oversight, close training stand- ards inspection by regulators still needs to be exercised, Ky observes that airlines are always looking for training economies, and if they start cutting corners “it immediately shows”. That sounds like a “yes”. Finally, Dr Georgina Fletcher, principal consultant at analyst Frazer Nash, was given the task of taking a look at training systems from a UK perspective and making recommendations to ensure the maintenance of quality pilot training. She presented her findings at the 2017 IFCTC, and recommended that training quality would benefit if all parts of the industry were to take “collective ownership” of the task. That means the end-user – the airlines – should work closely with the Civil Aviation Authority, flight training organisations, educational establishments and with what is now the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. There should, Fletcher says, be a training needs analysis, and training policy should be based on its findings. Unfortunately, airline representation was thin on the ground at the 2017 IFCTC, which tends to validate Fletcher’s recommendation. Now that EBT is to be formally implemented, and because there is a growing awareness of the need to train and improve crews in simulator sessions rather than just checking, recurrent training has the potential to address skill needs far better than it has been doing. The product of ab initio flight training organisations, however, remains hugely variable and even the top quality still seems to fall short of expectations. But that problem can only be solved if the airlines will invest in improvement. ■ 10-16 April 2018 | Flight International | 31 TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT Thomas Hanser/Boeing Special report Boeing’s “active learning” philosophy grew from development of type conversion courses which recognise need for new instruction methods Skills generation For all its appeal, the aerospace industry struggles to recruit talented young people, so various UK institutions are working together to build a modern, accessible training system DAVID LEARMOUNT LONDON D ifficult though it may be for those in the aerospace industry to comprehend, there is a real problem generating sufficient interest in aviation careers to meet the demand for highly skilled jobs such as engineers, pilots and air traffic controllers. These professions demand extensive, high-level academic and practical training. Pilot training in particular requires a huge upfront financial investment. Once the students have gained their qualifications there is plenty of competition for their skills – newly qualified aeronautical engineers with the right degree, for example, can easily be poached by other industries. A year ago, when launching a new training 32 | Flight International | 10-16 April 2018 centre near London Gatwick airport, Boeing Flight Services observed that the industry needed “innovative solutions focused on educational outreach and career pipeline programmes to inspire the next generation of pilots, technicians, and cabin crew”. Boeing adds: “The growing diversity of aviation personnel will also require instructors to have cross-cultural and cross-generational skills to engage tomorrow’s workforce.” Boeing makes clear that the digital sophistication of new aircraft and equipment poses a training challenge, but the same technology can also provide new learning and teaching solutions. The manufacturer argues that the complexity of the subject matter and the new learning styles of today’s generation demand new teaching methods, and it has been work- ing steadily on designing a new approach: “Our scenario-based approach for ‘active learning’ was proven almost three years ago on our 747-8 EASA [European Aviation Safety Agency] conversion [type-rating] course, which previously did not exist.” On a worldwide basis, Boeing is one of the dream employers for those who want an aviation or aerospace career, and for that reason it probably has less recruitment trouble than others. So the fact that it admits it has to work on a strategy for attracting the right people for itself or for its customers hints at the challenge facing, say, a small, specialist aircraft component supplier. If a young person today has an interest in an aviation career and queries one of the online search engines, there are generic sites that proflightglobal.com TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT Recruitment flightglobal.com The airline provided them with mentoring for their degree work, which, as they describe it, included reflective writing on all aspects of their aviating job, including threat and error management. On the student engineer front, Tom Emms set out into aviation from school by doing a Level 3 City and Guilds course in aircraft engineering at Newcastle College. He is now doing a BSc degree in Aircraft Engineering accredited by Kingston University, but he is carrying it out at KLM UK Engineering, based at the new ASP International Aviation Academy, Norwich (IAA-N). Witts’ initiatives in bringing together educational institutions, central and local government and industry will result in the creation of a series of international aviation academies throughout the country. The first such unit to go live is IAA-N, operating in partnership with Norwich County Council, the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership, KLM UK Engineering, City College Norwich and the University of East Anglia. RAF CONNECTION The next ASP academy – Aaron Aviation Academy – has a strong connection to the Royal Air Force. It will be up and running at RAF Syerston in Nottinghamshire next year as an RAF Air Cadets and ASP joint venture. ASP’s Whittle Engineering Academy will be set up at the RAF’s centre of engineering excellence at RAF Cosford in Shropshire, while Scotland will soon host the International Aviation Academy, Dundee, based at the city’s airport. ASP helped plan a £12 million ($16.8 million) aerospace and technology college to be set up at Biggin Hill Airport, in partnership with London South East colleges and funded by the Greater London Authority. To be known as the London Aerospace and Technology College (LATC) it is, however, not to be an academy in the ASP style, but a traditional technical college that will produce qualified engineers and mechanical, electronic and service technicians and ground crew. London deputy mayor for planning, regeneration and skills, Jules Pipe, says: “It’s vital we tackle the skills gap in aviation, and the LATC will help to keep London at the cutting edge of aviation technology.” The problems the aviation industry has had with attracting well-educated people cannot be blamed on a lack visibility – aviation is highly visible. But it has come to be perceived as unattainable for ordinary mortals. This has not been helped by the airlines’ inconsistency in their recruiting policies in the last few decades, driven by nervous accountants. They have less of an excuse for that now, given that the industry has consolidated and matured in its new form, margins are better and profits are more reliable than they were through the 1980s and 1990s, and then the early 2000s when the shock of 9/11 hurt them badly. This year the RAF is celebrating its centenary, which will enhance its already-high visibility in the UK. Meanwhile the world’s taste for air travel is growing, and the air freight industry is doing well. So the airlines had better make sure they can recruit the trained staff they will need while the good times roll. ■ EasyJet vide some answers. The same sort of search will yield plenty of offers from fight training organisations and some technical colleges. But cost is a serious factor and advice on finance, grants, apprenticeships, student loans or tax relief is harder to come by. Enter Simon Witts, founder of Aviation Skills Partnership (ASP). Responsible a decade ago for setting up and running the Flybe Training Academy at Exeter airport, Witts noticed at that time that there was poor co-ordination between UK education and training institutions and the aviation industry. He believed they could all serve each other’s needs much better than they were doing. Witts set about a root-and-branch analysis of the disparate elements, intending to bring the enablers together and help them act more like a system, making it easier and more attractive for those who wanted a career in aviation to prepare for it. His vision was of a system that would motivate youngsters from the time they first recognised their interest in aviation at school, and maintain that enthusiasm all the way through education and training into their career. In January at the Palace of Westminster, Witts addressed an invited audience with an interest in improving the quality and availability of technical skills related to aviation, including members of parliament, business leaders, educators, trainers and academics. He explained: “People have always had a fascination with aviation, but we rarely see that interest and excitement translating into careers. There is a whole pool of talent out there, but the onus is on us to make our industry accessible to the right people by providing the right infrastructure at a local, regional, national and international level.” ASP sets out to provide career training pathways not just for engineers, pilots and air traffic controllers, but for potential airport operations executives, airline operations and crewing staff, cabin crew and airport ground handling management. An example of someone who benefited from ASP co-ordination and advice is Anna McGrady, now a first officer with EasyJet. In 2013 she set out from school intending to do a science degree and then train as an airline pilot. But through meeting Witts while investigating a flying training course at what was then CTC Aviation (now L3 Commercial Aviation Solutions) she learned that she could combine study for a BSc degree in Professional Aviation Pilot Practice (PAPP) with CTC’s flying training. She and fellow student pilot Steven Hadley – who was also focused on the same objective – were the first two students to enrol on the new PAPP BSc course. They graduated in 2017. By that time, they had been working on the line with EasyJet for two years. EasyJet is among the airlines which have embraced innovation in attracting young engineers 10-16 April 2018 | Flight International | 33 BAINES SIMMONS PROFILE We are specialists in aviation regulations, compliance and safety management and partner with the world’s leading civil and defence aviation organisations to improve safety performance. Working across all sectors of aviation and with Competent Authorities around the globe, we help to advance best practice, shape safety thinking and drive continuous improvement to the management of safety through our consulting, training and outsourced services. CONTACT INFORMATION Baines Simmons Aviation Safety Centre, Fairoaks Airport, Chobham, ­ Surrey, GU24 8HU Tel: +44 (0) 1276 859519 Email: [email protected] www.bainessimmons.com Baines Simmons is an Air Partner plc company Our passion for aviation safety is world-renowned. Whether you are an established operator, regulator or an individual looking to advance your career, we promise to enhance your skills, improve your knowledge and help you understand your role in improving aviation safety. Call us today to find out how we can assist with your requirements. 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Comprehensive portfolio of professional aviation training Courses span across design, production, maintenance, air operations and regulator environments Call our learning advisors now on +44 1276 859 519 or email [email protected] Visit www.bainessimmons.com/training 34 | Flight International | 10-16 April 2018 flightglobal.com CAA INTERNATIONAL (UK CAA) PROFILE As part of the UK CAA International Group, CAAi is perfectly placed to provide relevant, bestin-class training to National Aviation Authorities and Industry across the globe. Our training experts help aviation professionals achieve higher standards every day, delivering practical regulatory training for a better, safer aviation world. Based on ICAO and EASA standards as a minimum, our training covers all of aviation’s major disciplines, providing you with a wide range of choices for training solutions. CONTACT INFORMATION CAA International (UK CAA) Civil Aviation Authority, Aviation House, Gatwick Airport South, RH6 0YR UK Tel: +44 (0) 3300 224401 Email: [email protected] www.caainternational.com/training Part of the UK CAA International Group What’s more, every one of our courses is developed by UK CAA Regulators, so whether you train with us in the UK, Malaysia, Singapore, UAE, Hong Kong or commission us to deliver in your region, you’ll r­ eceive an education that’s in a class of its own. HIGHLIGHTS ■ ISO 9001:2008 certified ■ Courses developed by UK CAA Regulators ■ Based on EASA and ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices ■ EASA Virtual Academy Member ■ e-Learning and Blended Learning courses ■ Accredited provider of short courses by British Accredited Council ■ Tailored training programs available – Delivered in-company, anywhere worldwide Take off with regulatory training from the practising UK CAA experts London Gatwick | Kuala Lumpur | Singapore | Dubai | Hong Kong A comprehensive portfolio of public access courses developed in accordance with EASA and ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices, designed to cover all aspects of aviation safety regulations, including: • SMS and Risk Management, Just Culture and Root Cause Analysis • Airworthiness (NDT Audit Oversight) • EASA Approvals (Part 21, Part 145, Part 147 & Part M) • Inspector Theory (Flight Ops, Cabin Safety, Dangerous Goods) • Fatigue Risk Management Systems • Accountable Manager (Aerodrome, Airworthiness, AOC) • FSTD Operations & Qualification • Human Factors in the Aviation Maintenance • Introduction to International Air Law To book now or for more information, please visit www.caainternational.com/training or contact us: +44 (0) 3300 224401 or [email protected] www.caainternational.com Part of the UK CAA International Group flightglobal.com 113867 CAAi_Half page 175x123.indd 1 Together for better aviation 10-16 April 2018 | Flight International | 35 27/02/2018 17:15 CAE CONTACT INFORMATION CAE – 9 Global Locations Phoenix, United States Brussels, Belgium Madrid, Spain Oxford, United Kingdom Gondia, India Rae Bareli, India Melbourne, Australia Perth, Australia Tamworth, Australia www.cae.com/becomeapilot PROFILE CAE trains aspiring pilots through its network of aviation academies in 9 global locations. Depending on the location, a range of training programs are available including, Commercial Pilot License (CPL), Airline Transport Pilot Licence (ATPL), and airline-mentored Multi-crew Pilot Licence (MPL), all of which combine premier ground school courses with high quality flying instruction. No other organisation places more pilots with more airlines than CAE. CAE has active cadet programs with easyJet, Ryanair, Cityjet, Volotea, IndiGo and Jet Airways. Every year, one thousand new pilots graduate from CAE. Our numerous relationships with airlines around the globe, translates into more career opportunities for our students. CAE has a dedicated team that provides pre-employment support, and advice to enable our graduates to gain their first professional flying job. CAE offers training programs that address the entire career life cycle of a pilot from cadet to captain. As the training partner of choice of many aircraft manufacturers and airlines, we offer innovative training solutions to our customers, such as the XR Series Training Equipment suite, including the CAE 7000XR Series full-flight simulator. With 50+ training locations worldwide, CAE has the world’s largest civil aviation training network, providing training on the widest coverage of in-production and in-service aircraft models. In addition, we offer aviation personnel sourcing services including recruitment of flight personnel and leasing of pilots to airlines. Backed by a 70-year record of industry firsts, we continue to help define global training standards with our innovative virtual-to-live training solutions to make flying safer. We have the broadest global presence in the industry, with 8,500 employees, 160 sites and training locations in over 35 countries. Each year, we train more than 120,000 pilots worldwide. www.cae.com HIGHLIGHTS ■ Largest cadet training network in the world ■ Modern fleet of EFIS ‘glass cockpit’ ­training aircraft including Piper, Cessna and Diamond aircraft types ■ Cadet training partnerships with some of the world’s leading airlines, including, 36 | Flight International | 10-16 April 2018 easyJet, Japan Airlines, Jet Airways, JetBlue, Jetstar Australia, IndiGo, Ryanair and Volotea ■ University partnership to offer aca­demic accreditation combined with pilot training ■ CAE training programmes span the entire life cycle of a professional pilot, so we’re able to provide you with the training you require throughout your career, from cadet to captain ■ As the worldwide training partner of choice, no other training provider places more pilots with airlines than CAE flightglobal.com They’re waiting for new pilots. What are you waiting for? There’s never been a better time to become an airline pilot with CAE. Each year we recruit and train one thousand men and women, successful graduates beginning their flying careers with more than 70 airlines worldwide. Start your journey right, and right here. Contact us today at www.cae.com/becomeapilot Follow the global journeys of recent CAE graduates on Instagram @caepilot and follow #caepilot Your worldwide training partner of choice STRAIGHT&LEVEL From yuckspeak to tales of yore, send your offcuts to [email protected] “Knocking on? I’m a lot Junker than you might think” cricket team for the great job they’ve done in raising Australia’s profile this weekend,” he remarked. corrugated aluminium skin – the project team says it needed to “re-learn long-forgotten construction techniques”. Much of the aircraft was built like the original, with compromises in “as few areas as possible”. These included installation of brakes on the taildragging aircraft, and hydraulic shock absorbers rather than bundled rubber bands on the original landing-gear. A 450hp Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior radial engine was selected to have a “reliable” powerplant, replacing the original 300hp BMW engine. The pilots were unable to draw on much experience for the first flight. “No pilots with F 13 experience remained who could have informed us about the F 13’s flying qualities,” Junkers says. But the pilots were reportedly “surprised” about the aircraft’s “benign handling characteristics”. Metal maid Nearly 100 years after the Junkers F 13 took to the air, German and Swiss aviation enthusiasts plan to restart production of the world’s first all-metal aircraft. A replica of the low-wing, single-engine aircraft – which could accommodate four passengers in its cabin and two pilots in an open cockpit – was built in Switzerland by a team around project initiator and investor Dieter Morszeck, chief executive of German luggage manufacturer Rimowa. The aircraft flew for the first time in 2016 and was certificated in January by Swiss regulators. A company called Junkers Flugzeugwerke is being set up in Dübendorf to operate the aircraft, with a plan to start “small-scale production in response to individual market demand”. For the reconstruction of the aircraft – which features, like many Junkers types, a Eagle’s era Action Press/REX/Shutterstock Qantas boss Alan Joyce was the guest of honour at the Aviation Club in London just after flying in from Perth on the flag carrier’s first direct flight from Australia. Asked in which part of the Dreamliner he’d endured the 17h leg, he confessed he had “travelled in business class, as you’d expect”. However, he is no stranger to turning right. During his five years as chief executive of Qantas’s no-frills sister Jetstar – which offers flights of up to 12h – he had only ever patronised his own airline, he said, adding: “I’ve done my penance.” Meanwhile, if anyone thinks 17h in a metal tube is pushing the limits of human endurance, spare a thought for those who travelled on the airline’s Double Sunrise service during the last two years of the Second World War. Flown on a Consolidated PBY Catalina, stripped of all non-essential equipment, between Crawley, near Perth, and southern Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka), the flight took up to 33h and helped maintain the essential air link between England and Australia. A total of 271 operations took place between 1943 and the end of the war, with passengers being awarded the Secret Order of the Double Sunrise, named after the two dawns the flight witnessed. At another reception at Australia House in London to mark the nonstop service from Perth, the Premier of Western Australia, Mark McGowan, pointed out that Australia had been on the front of every newspaper. “I want to thank the Junkers Joyce’s choice berth from Perth Two long-gone names share the ramp at JFK in 1966 38 | Flight International | 10-16 April 2018 Nigel Thompson, ex-general manager marketing and PA to the chairman and managing director, Harold Bamberg, writes to remind us that 14 April marks the 70th anniversary of the formation of British Eagle. Sadly, 2018 also marks 50 years since its bankruptcy in November 1968. The airline latterly operated Vickers Viscounts and Bristol Britannias, and was a victim, among other things, of the UK’s sterling devaluation that year. The war effort The Germans have strained every nerve during the past winter to hasten production, and are now able to turn out machines at a far faster rate than has been the case at any previous period of the war, in spite of their shortage of many materials. Russians rejoice The fact that both Berlin and the Ruhr can now be raided on the same night is very significant. News of the raids is said to have had a very heartening effect on the Russians, who have the most intimate knowledge of the cruelty of the enemy. Under the bridge An RAF Hunter flew through Tower Bridge, London, in a down-river direction just after noon last Friday, April 5. The Hunter, carrying underwing tanks, was glimpsed momentarily from Flight’s offices seen making a descending, mushing turn until it was lost to sight behind United Africa House. Nuclear fallout Additional reductions in the strength of the Royal Navy may be the prelude to the removal of the RAF’s nuclearstrike capability, if the MoD decides not to replace the WE 177 free-fall nuclear bomb with another airlaunched nuclear system. 100-YEAR ARCHIVE Every issue of Flight from 1909 onwards can be viewed online at flightglobal.com/archive flightglobal.com LETTERS [email protected] WINDOWS We welcome your letters on any aspect of the aerospace industry. Please write to: The Editor, Flight International, Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey, SM2 5AS, UK Or email: [email protected] The opinions on this page do not necessarily represent those of the editor. Letters without a full postal address supplied may not be published. Letters may also be published on flightglobal.com and must be no longer than 250 words. Money a priority over health Qantas is to be congratulated for setting a new record for a nonstop flight between Australia and the UK – 17h using a Boeing 787 (Flight International, 3-9 April). But is this the future of long- With Boeing considering a New Mid-market Airplane, I wonder if it is considering a windowless aircraft, except for the flightdeck. Emirates, in its new cabin interiors for the 777, has installed virtual windows in the centre suites. The cost of designing, constructing and testing a fuselage with windows must be costly. Has Emirates started a trend? David Clemow Auckland, New Zealand Emirates’ realistic alternative haul flights using only twin-engined planes? I hope not. In-flight shut-downs are becoming more common now, despite engine technology supposedly providing the means of flying from A to B without C. Aerospace Big Data Series Sept 2018 - Miami | Nov 2018 - London Mar 2019 - Singapore Emirates Another view on cabin design There is another issue at stake here – deep vein thrombosis. I’m surprised the medical profession hasn’t raised concerns that airlines are cramming their passengers into a narrow tube on long-haul flights in order to make money. I speak from bitter experience – a 10h haul to Vancouver on a twin-jet with a Canadian leisure airline, with only a baguette and a cold drink for sustenance, and little opportunity to get up and stretch my legs. Never again will I subject my body to such treatment. Virgin Atlantic was prudent in retaining its four-engined Airbus A340 as a replacement for the Dreamliners, avoiding even more disruption. I recall a fantastic slogan adopted by British Caledonian back in the 1970s: “We never forget you have a choice.” My choice is a four-engined aircraft with an airline that really knows about customer service. It’s really down to passengers and tour operators in the end, whether money takes priority over health. Peter Carey Portchester, Hampshire, UK Aerospace Big Data Series Do you unlock the value of aircraft health data for airlines? Airlines are faced with a plethora of competing digital platforms when it comes to sharing their data. Get in front of airlines, MROs and OEMs to show how your product can help. Don’t miss out on: Learning airline problems that would deliver most value if solved Defining and quantifying digital transitions Discovering critical new business opportunities Join the conversation #AeroBigData Interested in attending, speaking or sponsoring? 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Published by Reed Business Information Ltd, Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5AS, UK. Tel: +44 20 8652 3500. Newstrade distributed by Marketforce (UK), 2nd Floor, 5 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5HU, UK. Tel: +44 20 3787 9001. Classified advertising prepress by CCM. Printed in Great Britain by William Gibbons and Sons Ltd Flight International published weekly 49 issues per year. Periodicals postage paid at Rahway, NJ. Postmaster send changes to Reed Business Information, c/o Mercury International Ltd, 365 Blair Road, Avenel, NJ 07001 This periodical is sold subject to the following conditions: namely that it is not, without the written consent of the publishers first given, lent, re-sold, hired out or in any unauthorised cover by way of trade, or affixed to, or as part of, any publication of advertising, literary or pictorial matter whatsoever. No part of the content may be stored electronically, or reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the Publisher. ISSN 0015-3710 (Print) ISSN 2059-3864 (Online) flightglobal.com TEL +44 (0) 20 8652 8022 EMAIL [email protected] CLASSIFIED Classified Calls may be monitored for training purposes TEL +44 (0) 20 8652 8022 EMAIL [email protected] New and used aircraft flightglobal.com 10-16 April 2018 | Flight International | 41 CLASSIFIED TEL +44 (0) 20 8652 8022 EMAIL [email protected] Courses and tuition Tenders Equipment, maintenance and service Business services Let your recruitment FTKXGVCMGƃKIJV Reach our worldwide community of over 700,000 aerospace and aviation professionals Start attracting the right talent. Speak to the experienced Flight Jobs team about our bespoke recruitment solutions. ƃKIJVINQDCNEQOLQDU General flightglobal.com/jobs TEL +44 (0) 20 8652 4900 EMAIL [email protected] RECRUITMENT Getting careers off the ground flightglobal.com 10-16 April 2018 | Flight International | 43 RECRUITMENT flightglobal.com/jobs 44 | Flight International | 10-16 April 2018 flightglobal.com RECRUITMENT "("& (% 2!(" &((% 2"2%%&&2("&(2!!% &&2!&! &%2(!" (% 2("%(% 22 %2%2(&!2!&%& "! &(2"(&% '/ 02)1*,0/-.+2&.+)1#0-*2-.+'0,.0 -.+'0,.021122HK$138,500 approximately US$17,756* per month (*Based on exchange rate of HK$7.8 = US$1) (subject to fluctuation) (.0*2"1 /*11.0+2 Candidates should have (a) a current Airline Transport Pilot's Licence (ATPL) (Aeroplane)(See note 1) with not less than 5,000 hours air transport pilot-in-command experience, of which a significant proportion should be on civil transport aeroplanes, (b) recent experience in civil aviation flight operations management and have been in current practice as a Training Captain (IRE/TRE) preferably on A320, A321, A330, A340, B747-400 or B777 aircraft, and (c) with not less than 12 years' relevant experience. Note 1 : A current ATPL (Aeroplane) should include a current Class One Medical Certificate. Applicants who do not have a current Class One Medical Certificate may also apply; if selected, appointment will be subject to their obtaining of the requisite Class One Medical Certificate. Note 2 : Candidates should submit their application forms together with an Experience Resume by mail to the enquiry address on or before the closing date for application. The Experience Resume can be downloaded from the Civil Aviation Department’s website. (http://www.cad.gov.hk/english/recruitment.html) 0/1+2 The duties of Flight Operations Inspector Consultants include, but not limited to, the monitoring of the operational and management standards of the holders of Air Operator’s Certificates, the appointment and supervision of type rating and instrument rating examiners (IRE/TRE), and providing advice on flight operational matters to the Civil Aviation Department. The Consultants may be required to travel extensively on duty and work irregular hours. 1*+2-2!))-/.01.02 The appointment will be on agreement, with vacation leave, of three years' resident service. */. 121.1/0+2 The consultant fee is HK$138,500 (approximately US$17,756) per month. The fee will be adjusted in accordance with any pay adjustment to civil servants in Hong Kong remunerated at a pay point on a civil service pay scale, the salary value of which is equivalent to the consultant fee. The civil service salary adjustment may take the form of pay increase, pay freeze or pay reduction. Upon satisfactory completion of the full contract period, the Consultant(s) will be granted a gratuity for the period of service. In addition, in compliance with the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Ordinance, the Government will arrange to make contributions for the appointee to a registered mandatory provident fund scheme (MPF scheme). The gratuity payable for the agreement will be the sum which, when added to the Government’s contribution to the said MPF scheme, equals 15% of the total consultant fee drawn during the period of agreement. The Consultants will be eligible for a housing benefit equivalent to the civil service Non-accountable Cash Allowance (NCA) subject to their meeting the eligibility criteria of the scheme. The NCA is, currently at HK$33,830 (approximately US$4,337*) per month subject to periodic revision. The terms of appointment and conditions of service to be offered are subject to the provisions prevailing at the time the offer of appointment is made. (. /*2!$$*1++2,.$2 1'2%-2 Assistant Departmental Secretary (Personnel)2, Civil Aviation Department, Level 5, Office Building, Civil Aviation Department Headquarters, 1 Tung Fai Road, Hong Kong International Airport, Lantau, Hong Kong S.A.R., People’s Republic of China. (Fax.: (852) 2910 6399 or e-mail to <[email protected]>, or Telephone (852) 2910 6334 quoting reference CAD ADMD PR/5-25/59 (2018)) '-+/. 2,012-2!))'/#,0/-.2 3 May 2018 flightglobal.com/jobs 1.1*,'2%-01+22 (a) Persons who are not permanent residents of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) may also apply for this vacancy but will be appointed only when no suitable and qualified candidates who are permanent residents of the HKSAR are available. (b) As an Equal Opportunities Employer, the Government is committed to eliminating discrimination in employment. The vacancy advertised is open to all applicants meeting the basic entry requirement irrespective of their disability, sex, marital status, pregnancy, age, family status, sexual orientation and race. (c) Non-civil service Consultants are not posts on the civil service establishment. Candidates appointed are not on civil service terms of appointment and conditions of service. Candidates appointed are not civil servants and will not be eligible for posting, promotion or transfer to any posts in the Civil Service. (d) The entry pay, terms of appointment and conditions of service to be offered are subject to the provisions prevailing at the time the offer of appointment is made. (e) Where a large number of candidates meet the specified entry requirements, the recruiting department may devise shortlisting criteria to select the better qualified candidates for further processing. In these circumstances, only shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend recruitment examination and/or interview. (f) It is Government policy to place people with a disability in appropriate jobs wherever possible. If a disabled candidate meets the entry requirements, he/she will be invited to attend the selection interview/written examination without being subject to any further shortlisting criteria. (g) Holders of academic qualifications other than those obtained from Hong Kong institutions/Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority may also apply but their qualifications will be subject to assessments on equivalence with the required entry qualifications. They should submit copies of their official transcripts and certificates by mail to the above enquiry address. (h) Towards the application deadline, our on-line system would likely be overloaded due to large volume of applications. To ensure timely completion of your on-line application, it is advisable to submit the application as early as possible. (i) Non-civil service vacancies information contained in this column is also available on the ‘GovHK’ on the Internet at http://www.gov.hk. -2 0-2 !))'2 Application Forms [G.F. 340 (Rev. 3/2013)] can be downloaded from the Civil Service Bureau's web site (http://www.csb.gov.hk). ,.$/$,01+2+02+0,012#'1,*'2012$10,/'+2-2)*-1++/-.,'2 ,'//#,0/-.2- 0,/.1$2-.2012,))'/#,0/-.2-*+2,.$ ,00,#2012()1*/1.#12"1+1(See Note 2) Completed forms, together with the Experience Resume, should reach the above enquiry address of the recruiting department on or before the closing date for application. On-line application can also be made through the Civil Service Bureau's web site (http://www.csb.gov.hk). Candidates who apply online should submit 012()1*/1.#12"1+12/0/.2-.12112,01* #'-+12-2,))'/#,0/-.2)1*/-$ to the above enquiry address, and the online application number should be quoted on the envelope and the Experience Resume. &2#,.$/$,01+2,/'20-2)*-/$12012()1*/1.#12"1+1 201/*2,))'/#,0/-.+2,2.-02 12#-.+/$1*1$ Applicants should ensure that the correct address is clearly printed or written on the envelope and sufficient postage is affixed before posting so as to avoid unsuccessful delivery of application. Any underpaid mail items will be returned or disposed of by the Hongkong Post. Applicants are encouraged to provide their email addresses on the application forms. Candidates who are selected for interview will normally receive an invitation (by email or by post) in about eight to ten weeks from the closing date for application. Those who are not invited for interview may assume that their applications are unsuccessful. For enquiries, please call the telephone number indicated. 46 | Flight International | 10-16 April 2018 flightglobal.com WORKING WEEK WORK EXPERIENCE CAPT DOUGLAS VERISSIMO Officer charts course to leading role What inspired you to fly? I grew up in a blue-collar house in Massachusetts. As a kid, I loved fast, noisy things. I remember building models of rockets, aircraft and racing cars and imagined myself as a fighter pilot or racing car driver. I didn’t have the money to pursue the latter, so chose a naval aviation career. I had only travelled in an aircraft three times before I entered flight school. My first assignment was with a strike fighter squadron based in Lemoore, California, that flew McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornets when they were very new to the US Navy fleet. When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990 and the squadron was embarked aboard the aircraft carrier USS Independence, we were ordered to head to the Middle East for Operation Desert Shield. We were the first of the American forces to arrive. But we didn’t fly any combat missions and left before the war started because Saddam stopped moving south. Desert Storm didn’t start until after my unit left the area and coalition forces were on the scene. What have you flown, and from where? I’ve flown fighter jets throughout my career – both legacy Hornets and Super Hornets. Over 30 years, I have operated from both US coasts and travelled across the world. I was lucky enough to serve as a Blue Angels pilot for three years. This experience led me to be a better pilot than I ever imagined as a child. US Navy distinguished career flying fighters for the US Navy and prestigious Blue Angels display team taught Capt A Douglas Verissimo many vital lessons in preparation for commanding the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson Stint on catapult crew showed the value of teamwork, says Verissimo What has been the most challenging assignment? Of all the high points in my career, flying with the Blue Angels was the most challenging. I didn’t command the squadron, but it still was my most challenging assignment. Flying at different show sites in different weather and in different formations was incredibly demanding. There’s a lot of responsibility that comes with flying in that unit, but you get through it by not quitting and doing the right thing. It sounds like a cliché, but it works. How did you become a carrier commander? I was never fully certain I would one day command one of our nation’s 11 aircraft carriers. But an assignment as a catapult and arresting gear officer aboard the USS John C Stennis earlier in my career helped me realise that naval aviation is more than just flying jets off a flightdeck. It takes a team working seamlessly together. This piqued my interest in carrier operations and I mapped out achievable goals, although some of it was good luck. But when preparation meets good luck, great things happen. How large is your crew? What is your current mission? I command a crew of more than 3,000 sailors, who are responsible for operating and maintaining a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. The ship also supports an additional 2,000 embarked personnel, who make up the air wing and strike group leadership staff whenever we operate at sea. We have just completed an his- toric port visit to Vietnam that marked the first time a US carrier has visited the country in more than 40 years. We are on a scheduled deployment in the Western Pacific working with international partners and maintaining regional peace and stability. What is a typical day like? I wake up as early as 06:00. Depending on the day, I conduct inspections or attend meetings before flight operations begin. Flight operations can last late into the night, and I usually watch from the navigation bridge. I am able to fly about once or twice a week. What’s the most difficult part of your job? One of the toughest parts of my job as captain is holding crew members accountable when they don’t follow rules and standards that exist to keep them safe and fulfil our mission. Any advice for aspiring military aviators? Don’t give up your dream. Stay resilient and focused. If you want to be a fighter pilot then pursue that. But even if you run out of luck, don’t give up. There are great opportunities across the military in many fields. n Looking for a job in aerospace? Check out our listings online at flightglobal.com/jobs If you would like to feature in Working Week, or you know someone who does, email your pitch to kate.sarsfield@ flightglobal.com Check out Flight International’s Image Store Browse or customise a gift or memento from our CUTAWAY ARCHIVE of more than 1000 aircraft drawings www.flightglobalimages.com PlaneCutaway.indd 1 flightglobal.com 09/02/2017 12:28 10-16 April 2018 | Flight International | 47 STAY AHEAD OF THE THREATS WITH ADVANCED MULTI-MISSION SOLUTIONS. 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