Qantas has tentatively selected the Airbus A350-1000 for its Project Sunrise ultra-long-haul route initiative, following a competition against the rival Boeing 777X. The Australian carrier would order up to a dozen aircraft, and says a final “go or no-go” decision will take place in March 2020. Airbus has agreed to extend the deadline to confirm delivery slots from February 2020 to March 2020, says Qantas. “This provides additional time to negotiate an industrial agreement without impacting the planned start date of Project Sunrise flights,” the carrier adds. Qantas plans to commence the ultra-long-haul services in the first half of 2023. The airline says it carried out a detailed evalutation of both twinjets but says the A350-1000 will be its “preferred aircraft” should the Project Sunrise programme go ahead. The programme remains dependent on other factors. Qantas chief Alan Joyce says: “The A350 is a fantastic aircraft and the deal on the table with Airbus gives us the best possible combination of commercial terms, fuel efficiency, operating cost and customer experience.” Qantas has carried out two test flights using Boeing 787-9s operating non-stop to Sydney from New York and London, and will conduct the final one, on the New York-Sydney route, on 17 December. The carrier says the A350, powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines, has a “strong reliability record”. Airbus will increase the maximum take-off weight of the jet, and install additional fuel tank capacity, to deliver the required performance for the Sunrise routes, says Qantas. ”No orders have been placed but Qantas will work closely with Airbus to prepare contract terms for up to 12 aircraft ahead of a final decision by the Qantas board,” it adds. Qantas says the Australian regulator has provisionally advised that it “sees no regulatory obstacles” to the Sunrise flights. But the airline still needs to finalise an agreement with its pilot corps. “The discussions are aimed at closing the last remaining gap in the Project Sunrise business case,” says the carrier. Qantas says it has proposed “a number of suggestions” to cockpit crew representatives on bridging this divide while still offering pay increases and promotional opportunities to long-haul pilots.

Source: FlightGlobal

American Airlines has removed the grounded Boeing 737 Max from its schedule through 6 April, the airline discloses 12 December. In November the Dallas-based airline had canceled Max service through March 4. US Federal Aviation Administration chief Steve Dickson said on 11 December that the recertification process would extend into 2020. American states that the 7 April reentry of the Max to its schedule is based on the "latest guidance" from the FAA and the US Department of Transportation. The airline will publish a formal schedule change on 22 December. Assuming the Max is deemed airworthy in early 2020, American will gradually return the aircraft to its schedule throughout April.

Source: FlightGlobal

Ryanair’s aircraft allocation procedures mean passengers will not be told during the booking process whether or not their flights are due to be operated by Boeing 737 Max jets, according to group chief executive Michael O’Leary. He suggests, however, that the Irish carrier’s customers are unlikely to view this as a problem because “confidence in this aircraft will restore very rapidly”. “The reality is [if people want to know whether or not they are due to fly in a Max jet], the answer is that you won’t,” O’Leary told FlightGlobal in Brussels on 10 December. “Because we won’t know. We do our aircraft allocations on a nightly basis. You’re booking your ticket six, eight weeks in advance.” Other Max operators, including Southwest Airlines and United Airlines, have indicated that customers will be made aware of which aircraft they are due to fly on in advance of the travel date. But noting that he would place another order for Max jets “tomorrow, if the price was right”, O’Leary cites the example of consumers quickly regaining confidence in the Boeing 787 following the type’s grounding over safety fears in 2013. “I think the best example of [a similar issue with an aircraft] is the 787 – when it had the lithium-ion battery [issue] and was grounded while they replaced the batteries, there was concern about customer sentiment,” he recalls. “Customers got over it about a week after the plane was back flying.” Describing the Max as “a great aircraft”, O’Leary states that “people will love the interiors, they love the seat, wider seat pitch, more leg room, quieter engines”. He also suggests the Max will be “the most audited, the most certified, the most rigorously regulated aircraft delivery into service in history”, which should give passengers confidence in its safety. “On a daily and weekly basis as it racks up thousands of flight hours very quickly, I think confidence will return very quickly,” he adds. O’Leary concedes that “another [safety] event” – which would likely be “human failure” rather than “mechanical” – could “certainly set things back significantly”. He expresses confidence, however, in the work being done by the FAA and EASA towards the aircraft’s return to service, citing a belief that regulators and airlines will complete all required steps “professionally”. “That’s one of the reasons we’re saying to Boeing we’re not taking aircraft in July and August – we’re too busy,” he explains of Ryanair’s Max order backlog. “If you can deliver us planes in May or June we’ll take them. And we want to take the first 5, 10, 15, 20 so that get some experience actually flying the aircraft during the summer peak next year.” O’Leary notes that Ryanair currently expects “10 Max aircraft to be delivered in May and June of next year, with the possibility that might become five, it might become zero”, based on current uncertainty about when the aircraft will return to service. He clarifies that should deliveries not be possible by June, the Irish carrier would delay receipt of its first Max jet until after the July-August peak travel demand period.

Source: FlightGlobal