ARC NEWS
De Havilland to halt Dash 8 production
February 18, 2021
De Havilland Aircraft of Canada will temporarily stop producing Dash 8s and begin vacating its Downsview Toronto production site in the second half of 2021. The company disclosed the changes on 17 February, calling the move a production “pause”. But De Havilland insists it remains committed to the Dash 8 turboprop, saying it is investing in product upgrades and intends to restart production as soon as possible. “Given that prevailing industry circumstances have hindered the ability to confirm new aircraft sales, De Havilland Canada will not produce new Dash 8-400 aircraft at its Downsview site beyond currently confirmed orders,” the company says on 17 February. “Approximately 500 employees will be affected by the production pause.” De Havilland describes the decision as “a responsible and prudent measure that reflects current industry conditions, and will limit strain on the market and De Havilland Canada’s supply base as the pandemic recovery occurs”. De Havilland does not specify how many outstanding firm Dash 8 orders it holds or specify when work at Downsview will stop. The company also does not respond to a request for comment. However, Cirium fleets data shows that De Havilland holds 17 Dash 8-400 orders from airlines including Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Canadian aerial firefighting company Conair, Nigeria’s Elin Group, Ethiopian Airlines, Philippine Airlines, the government of Tanzania and TAAG Angola Airlines. De Havilland delivered 11 Dash 8s in 2020, it says. De Havilland assembles Dash 8s at a leased facility in the Downsview section of Toronto. The lease expires in 2021, though De Havilland has previously said the lease can be extended until 2023. “Accordingly, De Havilland Canada has begun preparing to leave the site over the latter part of the year. There are a number of excellent production site options in Canada, and the company will be ready to meet new aircraft demand as the industry recovers,” De Havilland says. The airframer’s parent Longview Aviation Capital acquired the Dash 8 programme from Bombardier in May 2019 for $250 million. “We fully expect worldwide demand for the Dash 8 to return once the industry has recovered from the pandemic,” says David Curtis, Longview executive chairman. He says the turboprop’s performance and operating economics will make it “an important part of the aviation industry’s post-pandemic recovery”. The company insists it intends to “resume new aircraft delivery at the earliest possible time, subject to market demand”. Also on 17 February, De Havilland outlined several “enhancements” it is making to the Dash 8 programme. Those include “investing significant capital” in the Dash 8’s customer support and information technology systems so as to reduce operating costs. De Havilland is also developing Dash 8 upgrades and modifications, among them “cabin refurbishment features” that include overhead bin extensions. “While the pandemic has ravaged the global aviation industry, De Havilland Canada is making future-oriented investments in its organisation, systems and infrastructure to enhance the Dash 8 platform for current and future aircraft operators,” the company says.


FAA orders inspection of 222 Boeing 787s
February 18, 2021
The US Federal Aviation Administration will publish an airworthiness directive on 19 February ordering the inspection of cargo compartments on Boeing 787 type aircraft, adding to the list of safety and maintenance complications for the aircraft. The FAA estimates that 222 787 aircraft will be impacted, according to a copy of the unpublished directive obtained. The agency says it received "reports of multiple incidents", so it will require "repetitive inspections" of the forward and aft cargo areas of 787s for disengaged or torn decompression panels, which should be reinstalled or replaced if necessary. These decompression panels are a safety risk because "in the event of a cargo fire, significant leakage in the bilge area could result in insufficient Halon [fire extinguisher gas] concentrations to adequately control the fire", the FAA says. The agency estimates that each inspection cycle will cost $56,610. The first inspections should be done by the end of March and should be repeated within 120 days. This safety fix is the latest in a growing list of maintenance defects and other quirks Boeing faces with its 787 family aircraft. Manufacturing errors reported by Boeing and the aircraft's operators have included a problem that affects the aircraft’s horizontal stabilisers, troubles with its autopilot flight-director systems, and gaps in its fuselage


Stored portion of US carriers' aircraft shrinks to 21%
February 17, 2021
US carriers during the last three months have decreased by four percentage points the portion of their combined fleet being kept in storage. On 15 November 2020, 25% of US carriers' aircraft were in storage, data shows. On 16 February 2021, 21% of the combined fleet was in storage. US airlines increased the utilisation of their most-operated aircraft families during the three-month period. From 9 to 15 November 2020, 77% (1,452) of US carriers' Boeing 737 family aircraft and 79% (1,185) of Airbus A320 family aircraft were tracked in flight at least once, data shows. During the period 9-15 February 2021, 80% (1,508) of 737 family aircraft and 81% (1,210) of A320 family aircraft were flown. The relatively slow return to service of US airlines' stored aircraft could undergo a jolting acceleration during the second half of this year if, as is hoped, Covid-19 vaccines are available to nearly the entirety of the US population by the end of the summer.


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