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Posts Tagged ‘Boeing’

EVERGREEN is suing Boeing over the abrupt cancellation of its contract to operate the Dreamlifter.

“Boeing committed bad faith and breached its contractual promises to conduct its business fairly, impartially and in an ethical and proper manner,” Evergreen claims. “Boeing’s bad faith and breach of contract have caused lost profits to Evergreen in excess of US$175 million.”

Boeing has thus far refused to comment.

Boeing unexpectedly chose not to renew Oregon-based Evergreen’s five-year contract to operate the manufacturer’s four 747-400 Dreamlifters last month. It instead awarded the contract to New York-based Atlas Air for nine years starting in September.

Boeing chose Evergreen in 2005 and even up to the New Year, according to Evergreen’s chairman, Tim Wahlberg, Boeing was happy with its service and had given no hint to suggest that the contract review would be anything but routine.

“We were on time all the time. We ran a perfect operation,” says Wahlberg. “We’re very price-competitive. We believe [the switch] was unrelated to our operation. We’re really disappointed that Boeing hasn’t come clean on what the deal is. It hurts our reputation.

“We don’t know the facts. We thought it would be nice if Boeing would have explained the facts to us. I don’t know what to say.”

In fact, Evergreen now alleges that Boeing transferred the contract as compensation to Atlas because of the delayed delivery of 12 747-8 freighters that Atlas has on order. The compensation would have cost Boeing nearly US1$ billion.

“Boeing dropped Evergreen in favour of Atlas to avert the multi-million dollar disaster that was looming over the 747-8 program,” Evergreen says. “Atlas has 12 747-8 freighters on order, with options for another 14. A Boeing employee informed an Evergreen employee that Boeing’s liability for penalties to Atlas approached $1 billion. By at least October 2009, Atlas had made a claim with Boeing for refunds resulting from Boeing’s failure to meet delivery guarantees to Atlas.

“Beginning in the fall of 2009, Boeing secretly negotiated with Atlas to trade the Evergreen contract for Boeing’s enormous exposure to Atlas’s refund claim based on late delivery [of another airplane],” the company claims.

“At the same time, Boeing lied to Evergreen, asserting that it was merely conducting a review that was standard procedure, and rebuffed Evergreen’s offers to engage in a good faith appraisal of both parties’ performance of the LCF Contract.”

source: aircargonews

EVERGREEN is suing Boeing over the abrupt cancellation of its contract to operate the Dreamlifter.

“Boeing committed bad faith and breached its contractual promises to conduct its business fairly, impartially and in an ethical and proper manner,” Evergreen claims. “Boeing’s bad faith and breach of contract have caused lost profits to Evergreen in excess of US$175 million.”

Boeing has thus far refused to comment.

Boeing unexpectedly chose not to renew Oregon-based Evergreen’s five-year contract to operate the manufacturer’s four 747-400 Dreamlifters last month. It instead awarded the contract to New York-based Atlas Air for nine years starting in September.

Boeing chose Evergreen in 2005 and even up to the New Year, according to Evergreen’s chairman, Tim Wahlberg, Boeing was happy with its service and had given no hint to suggest that the contract review would be anything but routine.

“We were on time all the time. We ran a perfect operation,” says Wahlberg. “We’re very price-competitive. We believe [the switch] was unrelated to our operation. We’re really disappointed that Boeing hasn’t come clean on what the deal is. It hurts our reputation.

“We don’t know the facts. We thought it would be nice if Boeing would have explained the facts to us. I don’t know what to say.”

In fact, Evergreen now alleges that Boeing transferred the contract as compensation to Atlas because of the delayed delivery of 12 747-8 freighters that Atlas has on order. The compensation would have cost Boeing nearly US1$ billion.

“Boeing dropped Evergreen in favour of Atlas to avert the multi-million dollar disaster that was looming over the 747-8 program,” Evergreen says. “Atlas has 12 747-8 freighters on order, with options for another 14. A Boeing employee informed an Evergreen employee that Boeing’s liability for penalties to Atlas approached $1 billion. By at least October 2009, Atlas had made a claim with Boeing for refunds resulting from Boeing’s failure to meet delivery guarantees to Atlas.

“Beginning in the fall of 2009, Boeing secretly negotiated with Atlas to trade the Evergreen contract for Boeing’s enormous exposure to Atlas’s refund claim based on late delivery [of another airplane],” the company claims.

“At the same time, Boeing lied to Evergreen, asserting that it was merely conducting a review that was standard procedure, and rebuffed Evergreen’s offers to engage in a good faith appraisal of both parties’ performance of the LCF Contract.”

source: aircargonews

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Boeing scored its first orders at the Dubai Airshow on Tuesday with requests for 11 737-800 jetliners, while the United Arab Emirates military inked two defense deals with European manufacturers.

The UAE armed forces requests from Sweden’s Saab and Switzerland’s Pilatus covers aerial radar and training aircraft worth about $725 million.

Boeing had lagged on commercial orders behind European rival Airbus, which announced deals every day since the show began Sunday. Airbus picked up a handful of additional orders of its own Tuesday, including one for planes that will break occupancy records for packing well over 800 passengers in.

Marty Bentrott, Boeing senior vice president in charge of sales for the region, called Tuesday’s pair of deals “a great success,” but downplayed the timing of the announcement by reiterating Boeing’s position that it doesn’t save up orders to roll out at airshows.

“It just so happened that we had recent success with two customers,” he told The Associated Press in an interview. “They were in a position that they were comfortable in announcing, so the timing was right.”

The orders added some competitive flair to a muted dealmaking climate at this year’s event.

Airbus’ first announcement of the show, the Middle East’s biggest, was little more than a formal signing ceremony for an order that effectively had been sealed months earlier. The company’s latest two orders were for just two planes each.

For both manufacturers, the Dubai event has lacked the blockbuster numbers of the last show two years ago — a reflection both of the slumping aviation market and the staggering backlog of existing plane orders from fast-growing carriers in the oil-rich Gulf region.

Organizers say the 2007 Dubai Airshow saw $155 billion worth of deals. Analysts expect manufacturers to score only a fraction of that amount this time around.

“We went into this show very open-minded that, given the current market environment, we were not going to see a lot of order activity. And we haven’t,” Bentrott said. “We just haven’t seen the numbers. And Airbus hasn’t seen the numbers either.”

Both of Chicago-based Boeing’s orders came from airlines backed by the Algerian government.

Seven of the planes will be used by the North African country’s national flag carrier Air Algerie, eventually bringing the airline’s 737 fleet to 22 planes.

Tassili Airlines ordered the other four 737s. That carrier is fully owned by Algeria’s state-owned oil company Sonatrach, which plans to use the planes to transport employees and cargo to work sites.

Boeing did not provide a value for the deal. The workhorse planes sell for between $72.5 million and $81 million at list prices, but buyers typically negotiate discounts, particularly in tough financial times.

Bentrott said he did not expect Boeing to announce additional “significant orders” between now and the end of the show.

Boeing’s main competitor Airbus also added to its order tally at the show with a pair of relatively small deals.

The Toulouse, France-based company said it got orders from Air Austral for two “high density” Airbus A380s that each will be packed by about 840 seats — easily the most passengers to fly in a single airplane. It valued each plane at $330 million to $335 million at list prices.

The airline, based on the French island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean, plans to offer only economy class on the planes for flights between the territory and Paris.

Airbus Chief Operating Officer John Leahy stressed that such a full plane would not be unsafe or feel excessively cramped.

“The passenger on board this airplane will have a bigger, more comfortable seat than he will have on a smaller airplane flying the same route,” he said after signing the deal.

He acknowledged, however, that he has not flown long-haul on such a plane because Airbus has never flight-tested the 10-seat-abreast configuration.

Airbus also signed orders with Nepal Airlines for an A320 and an A330 plane. The airline said it has options for six additional aircraft.

The Nepal Airlines deal, valued at $250 million, is Airbus’ fourth order at the show.

Also Tuesday, Embraer said it sold five 175 regional jets to Oman Air in the Brazilian plane maker’s only deal of the show. Embraer valued the deal at $177.5 million.

The UAE defense deal with Saab calls for two of its model 340 “early warning” aircraft. The turboprop planes, which will be delivered in the second half of 2010 and early 2011, are designed to detect friendly and hostile aircraft over a wide area.

The Emirates also agreed to buy 25 PC-21 turboprop planes and other equipment from Swiss plane maker Pilatus Aircraft to train pilots in advanced aircraft systems.

In recent years, the Emirates has emerged as one of the world’s biggest buyers of arms. Defense spending could top $100 billion across the wider Middle East annually by 2014, according to market research firm Frost & Sullivan.

Boeing (NYSE: BA) and Guggenheim Aviation Partners recently celebrated the delivery of the leasing company’s first 777, a 777-300ER (Extended Range) airplane that Guggenheim customer Korean Air will operate under lease.

The 777-300ER is Guggenheim’s first leasing arrangement with Korean, as well as the first new Boeing passenger airplane delivery to Guggenheim. The delivery is the 25th 777 for Korean.

Guggenheim is scheduled to take delivery of an additional five 777s.

The 777-300ER is 19 percent lighter than its closest competitor, greatly reducing its fuel requirement. It produces 22 percent less carbon dioxide per seat and costs 20 percent less to operate per seat. The airplane can seat up to 365 passengers in a three-class configuration and has a maximum range of 7,930 nautical miles (14,685 km). The 777 family is the world’s most successful twin-engine, twin-aisle airplane. Fifty-seven customers around the world have ordered more than 1,100 777s.

Guggenheim Aviation Partners is a leading participant in commercial aircraft leasing with offices in Seattle, London and Singapore.

Korean Air, a premier global airline, has its headquarters in Seoul.

Source and picture: Boeing

DUBAI - Another five-month delay in the the delivery of Airbus A380s is expected to hit growth at Emirates in 2010, the airline’s president Tim Clark said, UAE daily Gulf News reported on Wednesday.

“Some of our route expansion plans will be impacted due to a further delay in the delivery of A380s. We wanted to put them back on the New York route, but that will be delayed by at least six months,” he said at the World Travel Market expo, the newspaper reported.

He said Emirates, the Middle East’s largest carrier, will have 15 A380s by the end of 2010 instead of a planned 20.

“However, despite this, we are projected to take (delivery) of 22 aircraft worth $3 billion within this financial year.”

Emirates said in September it expects to redeploy the A380, the world’s biggest passenger aircraft, on its New York route in the first half of next year as travel demand picks up.

It had replaced the double-decker aircraft with a smaller Boeing plane in June, less than a year after launching its first A380 on the New York route, citing weak travel in the economic downturn.

Clark also told the World Travel Market the airline could beat full-year forecasts.

“When the crisis hit, we started taking stock of the situation. Although we maintain a lean operation, we discovered space where we could save costs,” he said.

“From our suppliers, we saved some 400 million dirhams and maximised efficiencies across the airline. In addition to these cost-cutting measures, we were greeted by a drastic fall in oil prices. However, for the full year we expect to beat forecasts and could make more than 20 percent growth in profits.”

EVERETT, Wash., Nov. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/  Boeing (NYSE: BA) has completed installing reinforcements within the side-of-body section on the first 787 Dreamliner.

The modification entails installing new fittings at 34 stringer locations within the joint where the wing is attached to the fuselage. Installations were completed yesterday.

Boeing expects to complete the installations on the static test airframe and the second flight-test airplane in the coming days.

“Completing this work is a significant step toward first flight. We continue to be pleased with the progress of the team and remain confident the first flight of the 787 Dreamliner will occur before the end of the year,” said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of the 787 program. “We will test the modification on the full-scale static test airframe later this month. As soon as we confirm the loads are being handled appropriately in the joint we will complete preflight activities on the airplane.”

Once the modification is complete on the static test airframe, it will be refitted with strain gauges and instrumentation required for testing. Access doors, systems, seals and fasteners removed from airplane No. 1 to provide access are being restored in preparation for continued testing on the airplane. Boeing continues to install fittings on the fatigue test airframe and the remaining flight-test airplanes. Other airplanes will be modified in the weeks ahead. Overall, the work on modifying airplanes is progressing well, Fancher said.

“We have a strong and capable team that has performed exceptionally well,” Fancher said. “I am very pleased with the team’s dedication to meet our commitment to fly before the end of the year.”

After airplane No. 1 is restored, the flight-test team will perform another set of gauntlet and taxi tests to ensure that all systems are ready for flight. Fancher noted that with the exception of a single high-speed taxi test, all remaining flight-test activities have been successfully completed on the first flight-test airplane.

Source: Boeing

Boeing (NYSE: BA), on Thursday afternoon, towed the first 747-8 Freighter out of the factory in Everett, Wash. The airplane, ultimately destined for Cargolux, will be painted and begin preparations for flight test.

“It is very rewarding to see this airplane transition to the flight test phase,” said Mo Yahyavi, 747 program vice president and general manager. “Our employees, suppliers and customers have put a lot of work into making the 747-8 Freighter a reality.”

The 747-8 Freighter is the new high-capacity 747 that will give cargo operators the lowest operating costs and best economics of any freighter airplane while providing enhanced environmental performance. It is 250 feet, 2 inches (76.3 m) long, which is 18 feet and 4 inches (5.6 m) longer than the 747-400 Freighter. The stretch provides customers with 16 percent more revenue cargo volume compared to its predecessor. That translates to four additional main-deck pallets and three additional lower-hold pallets.

Boeing has secured 105 orders for the 747-8, 78 of which are orders for the new freighter. Cargolux, Nippon Cargo Airlines, AirBridgeCargo Airlines, Atlas Air, Cathay Pacific, Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, Emirates SkyCargo, Guggenheim and Korean Air all have placed orders for the 747-8 Freighter.