Aerospace Diary

by  Neelam Mathews  -  October 12, 2018, 2:09 PM India's SpiceJet took delivery of its first CFM Leap-1B-powered 737 Max 8 on October 12. (Photo: Boeing) CFM International expects to meet its target for delivering 1,100 engines by the end of the year, as a once six-week schedule lag progressively dwindles thanks to what CEO Gael Meheust attributes to a strict dual-source supplier policy. “Production will be in line with the projected schedule by the end of this year,” said Meheust as he addressed reporters in New Delhi this week. “For each (engine) part, we have a dual supplier and sometimes even three…. [a reason] we have made the ramp up fast…We are on track for the next year.”  He confirmed to  AIN  that the present production rate per year would nearly double to 2000 in 2020.  Referencing a turbine disc issue in Leap-1As for the Airbus A320neo and a batch of flawed metal discovered last May in some Le...

AINONLINE by    NEELAM MATHEWS Indian low-cost carrier SpiceJet has increased its order for Boeing 737 Max airliners. [Photo: Neelam Mathews] March 12, 2014, 11:53 AM India’s SpiceJet has confirmed an order for 42 of Boeing’s new 737 Max 8 narrrowbodies. The $4.4 billion deal was previously logged as being for an unidentified customer by Boeing and was announced on Wednesday at the India Aviation show in Hyderabad. It includes changes to previously announced business. The contract builds on a deal signed by SpiceJet in 2010 when it ordered 25 737  NG s with deliveries to start in 2015. Now SpiceJet has converted 12 of these to the new Max 8 model, featuring the more fuel-efficient  CFM  International Leap 1-B engine, adding to the 30 Max 8s that it already has on order. Currently, the SpiceJet fleet comprises 15 Bombardier Q400s and 43 Boeing 737- 900ER /800s, with four more expected to be delivered by Decem...

Pratt & Whitney update by president FARNBOROUGH AIR SHOW  »  JULY 10, 2012 by    NEELAM MATHEWS July 10, 2012, 3:00 PM After generating $12.7 billion in revenue in 2011 and having won the first three launch orders for the  Airbus A320neo re-engined narrowbody , Pratt  &  Whitney president David Hess was naturally in an upbeat mood when he faced reporters at the show yesterday. Asked about the move by P&W and  MTU  earlier this year to purchase Rolls-Royce’s share in the International Aero Engines, he replied, “The acquisition will simplify our global market strategy [to] align with our partners and…optimize deals for the A320.” This week Hess was named as board chairman of  IAE . He said Rolls-Royce remains “an important part” of  IAE  in supporting legacy engines, adding that preparations are under way to switch the production line to focus on the new Pratt  & ...