In a paint dispute with Qatar Airways, Airbus goes legal

Airbus dramatically raised the stakes in a dispute with Qatar Airways over skin flaws on A350 jetliners on Thursday, December 9 accusing the Gulf carrier of misrepresenting the problem as a safety issue and calling for independent legal advice.

Airbus has been locked in a row with one of the industry's biggest buyers for months over damage to paint and an underlying layer of lightning protection, which Qatar Airways says has led to the grounding of 20 jets by its domestic aviation regulator.

In a rare statement airing a breakdown in relations between the planemaker and the launch customer of Europe's premier long-haul jet, Airbus said the A350s had been declared safe to fly by European regulators despite some "surface degradation."

"The attempt by this customer to misrepresent this specific topic as an airworthiness issue represents a threat to the international protocols on safety matters," it said.

Industry sources said there was no indication Qatar Airways was ready to back down in the dispute, which has already prompted it to exclude Airbus from a multi-billion-dollar deal to replace its 35 freighters, which is set to go to Boeing.

At stake is the credibility of two of the industry's most powerful players and a potential compensation battle over hundreds of millions of dollars in estimated grounding costs.

(Image Courtesy - Reuters)

The row widened last week when documents revealed at least five other airlines had complained about paint or other skin flaws since late 2016. Delta Air Lines joined the list of affected carriers this week, but so far only Qatar has seen jets being grounded.

Exclusive photographs published by Reuters have shown exposed and corroded lightning protection beneath cracked paint. Industry sources say Qatar Airways is reluctant to implement short-term fixes without a full breakdown of the root cause.

"We have worked actively with Qatar Airways to minimise the impact of this in-service surface degradation on their aircraft.Airbus had offered solutions to Qatar Airways from patches to repairs of the anti-lightning material or repainting of entire aircraft, but Qatar Airways had declined the offer.The legal step taken by Airbus comes under a contract clause allowing for arbitration."Philippe Mhun, Executive Vice President Programmes & Services, Airbus

Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said in London last week, "we don't know if it is an airworthiness issue. We also don't know that it is not an airworthiness issue."

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has said "no potential airworthiness issue has been identified to date" and ruled out a link with a separate manufacturing flaw which prompted it to issue a draft safety directive for 13 A350s.

Airbus says it understands the cause, though sources say a formal diagnosis may require further tests on surface ageing. Usually, arbitration is carried out away from the public gaze, but Airbus said it was acting to "defend its position and reputation" while calling for a "constructive dialogue".

Qatar Airways says its own brand and wide-body operations are at stake due to the grounding of 20 of its A350 jets, less than a year before the Gulf state hosts the FIFA World Cup.

Some airlines have been pressuring Airbus to head off any damage to their brands as a result of the bitter public row between Airbus and a high-profile customer who has clashed with planemakers in the past, though rarely to such a degree.

"I have never seen anything like this. It is not only a problem between Airbus and Qatar Airways but it is also designed to prevent further damage to the A350's reputation with all operators," said aviation adviser Bertrand Grabowski.

A British minister has offered to mediate in a row between Airbus and Qatar Airways over costly flaws on the surface of the aircraft maker's A350 passenger jets, three people familiar with the matter said.

Investment Minister Gerry Grimstone made the offer to host a meeting between the sparring groups before the row escalated on Thursday, December 9 with Airbus threatening to use a procedure in the English courts to seek an independent legal assessment.

Qatar Airways isn’t the only carrier facing these issues. Finnair, Etihad, Air France, Cathay Pacific, and more have also reported seeing similar A350 issues. However, no other carrier has grounded its aircraft. While this does not mean safety is affected, it does show that the A350 is facing widespread cosmetic issues.

(With Inputs from Reuters)

An Australian couple plans to shell out tens of thousands of dollars hiring a private jet to fly their stranded dog home from New Zealand in time for Christmas.

Munchkin, a former Bali street dog, is stuck in New Zealand unable to travel to her owners' home on Australia's Sunshine Coast due to Covid border rules and flight disruptions.

Owner Tash Corbin said after a five-month separation from Munchkin and her fiance, David Daynes, she had decided to hire a private jet costing Aus$45,000 (US$32,000) for her pooch and partner's trip to Australia.

"The money part is not the number one driver, it's about who can most certainly get them home before Christmas," she told AFP. "Christmas is a really big deal for us... I just want us all to be together."

Pandemic-related disruptions mean few flights are operating between New Zealand's South Island and airports near the Sunshine Coast. And travelling via New Zealand's North Island, where there is currently a virus outbreak, would put Daynes in a two-week quarantine lasting through much of the festive season.

The couple is hoping to split the costs by recruiting passengers, offering to foot half of the jet bill while selling four remaining seats to other travellers, or perhaps hitching a ride on another private charter.

If their scheme is successful, it would be the final stage in a five-year journey to bring Munchkin from the Indonesian island of Bali, where she was adopted as a puppy.

Corbin said the canine spent three years in Singapore with various foster families after failing medical tests to enter Australia, which has strict rules around importing pets.

She and Daynes eventually packed up and moved to New Zealand when the country accepted Munchkin in 2019, hoping to stay there temporarily until Australia approved the dog's entry.

Corbin eventually returned home alone for medical reasons while Daynes waited for the green light from Australia.

The entire process has cost so much money that Corbin has christened the dog "Million Dollar Munchkin" on social media. "We stopped counting about three years ago when it got to Aus$40,000," she said. "We didn't ever at the start of this process expect that it would cost this much or take this long. We expected it to be Aus$10,000 and six weeks."

Corbin said she realised the couple was "in such a privileged position" to have the funds and there was "no way" she could ever leave Munchkin behind."She's our family now and so I wouldn't change it for the world. I love her so much and she's such an amazing little creature."

Apple attracts some of the best engineers in their field of expertise and it is a given. The company is known for its competitive salaries and attractive perks-according to Glassdoor an average software engineer at Apple earns more than $141,000 per year, in addition to bonuses.

Gizmodo

So what is it about the small, electric-powered rotorcraft industry, that's luring them away?

The eVTOL industry is still in its nascent stages and has a long way to go. With the advent of ever-evolving electric propulsion, various entities have come forward with numerous innovative models of eVTOL aircraft, although most are yet to be type-certified by the FAA.

Apparently, these firms appear to offer more money and better perks to the new hires.

Michael Schwekutsch, amongst many other key engineers, has left the iconic IT behemoth to join the evolving industry of electrical, vertical take-off and landing aircraft.

He has moved on to join Archer Aviation, as the new senior vice president of engineering, specializing in propulsion, HV, and battery systems.

Dr. Michael Schwekutsch | Gamingsym

Archer's flying taxi 'Maker" debuts in eVTOL market | Reuters

We’re looking to build the No. 1 electric powertrain team in the worldArcher co-founder and co-CEO Brett Adcock in a recent LinkedIn post

The director of flight control systems at Archer is headed by Sergio Ferreir, who led flight control systems development at Gulfstream for its G650 business jet and other aircraft.

Stephen Spiteri, Eric Rogers, and Alex Clarabut are some of the other engineers to have quit the company and join eVTOL makers, {courtesy of their LinkedIn profile(s).}

Apparently, this is a very crucial time for Archer, as the company is very close to flight testing its prototype aircraft, "Maker". It is touted to enter service by 2024 and expects to conduct hover test trials sometime this month.

Joby Aviation is yet another eVTOL company based in Silicon Valley, that's hiring engineers from Apple.The company flew its model for 150 miles on a single battery charge earlier this year and expects to have it certified by 2023.

Joby Aviation CEO Joeben Bevirt | CNBC

The programs and systems engineering at Joby's is headed by Didier Papadopoulos, who previously designed the Autoland system for in-flight emergencies at Garmin, subsequently winning an award for it.

Interestingly, both companies have been infused with hundreds of millions of dollars in investor capital, right after they went public with their companies.

In conclusion, much of the final success of these eVTOL companies will lie in how effectively these "key hires" from Apple and other tech companies will contribute to the overall product.

SOURCE: FlyingMag

COVER: AIRBUS

American Airlines is dropping some international flights from its plans for next summer because Boeing has failed to deliver planes that the airline ordered, according to an internal memo Thursday.

Boeing has been unable to deliver its 787 jetliner, which it calls the Dreamliner, for about a year because of a series of manufacturing problems.

The twin-aisle jet is popular with airlines for long flights because of its improved fuel efficiency over older planes of similar size.

The carrier has claimed that it is 13 aircraft behind on expected deliveries, having ordered a number of Boeing 787s in 2018.

American had expected 13 more Dreamliners in its fleet by this winter. Without those planes, “we simply won't be able to fly as much internationally as we had planned next summer, or as we did in summer 2019," Chief Revenue Officer Vasu Raja said in the memo to American's employees.

According to the memo, American won't fly to Edinburgh, Scotland; Shannon, Ireland; or Hong Kong next summer and won't bring back some destinations it served in 2019, including Prague.

It will also cut the number of flights it hoped to offer to destinations in Asia, including Shanghai, Beijing and Sydney and will delay starting new service including flights between Seattle and Bengaluru, India.

American “will do our best to minimize the damage these aircraft delivery delays have caused to our long-haul portfolio" while giving customers certainty about flights as they book summer travel, Raja said in the memo, which was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Around 25 Airports Authority of India (AAI) airports have been earmarked by the Centre for asset monetisation over the next three years under the National Monetization Pipeline (NMP).

These airports include Bhubaneshwar, Varanasi, Amritsar, Trichy, Indore, Raipur, Calicut, Coimbatore, Nagpur, Patna, Madurai, Surat, Ranchi, Jodhpur, Chennai, Vijayawada, Vadodara, Bhopal, Tirupati, Hubli, Imphal, Agartala, Udaipur, Dehradun and Rajahmundry.

Minister of State for Civil Aviation General Dr VK Singh announced this in Lok Sabha on Thursday, December 9 in a written reply after Member of Parliament Mimi Chakraborty asked whether the government proposes to privatise another 30-35 airports of the country in the next five years.

Singh said that the criteria adopted for the monetisation of airport assets under the NMP are for airports having annual traffic above the threshold of 0.4 million passengers (in FY 2019 and 2020) and also airports with a sizeable ongoing or proposed capital expenditure plan as per the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP).

In August this year, the Centre said it was planning to raise approximately INR 20,782 crore till FY25 by monetising airports across the country.

Except for four airports out of 137 airports in the country, all continue to suffer losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the financial year 2020-21. These four are Kandala (0.11 crore), Kanpur Chakeri (6.07 crore), Bareilly (0.68 crores) and Porbandar (1.54 crores).

"Delhi and Mumbai airports suffered a huge loss of INR 317 crore and INR 331 crore respectively. Except for the few airports like Goa that has made a profit of Rs 146 crore in FY 2019-20 has suffered a huge loss of Rs 118 crore in FY 2020-21, most of the airports continued to suffer losses in the last three financial years," Singh added.

AAI owns 136 airports, out of which AAI has formed Joint Venture in seven. AAI has recently awarded six airports namely Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram, Mangaluru for Operations, Management and Development under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) for 50 years.

The Adani Group had forayed into the airport's sector in 2019. In February the company signed the concession agreement for three airports, followed by Mangaluru airport in October, and Lucknow and Ahmedabad airports in November.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation confirmed on Thursday, December 9 that the government is yet to estimate the value of the much-revered "The Maharaja Collection" of Air India. However, the ministry did confirm that Air India's "The Maharaja Collection" has approximately 4,840 paintings and 2,390 other objects.

Presently, the Art and Artifacts of Air India are kept in the Air India Building in Mumbai under 24x7 CCTV surveillance, which is supervised by Air India security, noted VK Singh, minister of state, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, December 9.

Responding to a question on whether any artwork has been stolen, lost or damaged, Singh wrote, "One painting "Flying Apsara" was found stolen/misplaced, which was subsequently recovered and an FIR in the case was registered with Delhi Police."

He also added that according to Air India records, 19 paintings were destroyed in various fire incidents, two were scrapped, one was broken and a few were not traceable.

On October 8, the government had announced that Talace Private Limited -- a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons -- had won the bid to acquire debt-laden Air India. Tata had outbid a consortium led by SpiceJet promoter Ajay Singh by offering INR 18,000 crore.

KH Ara

The government will hand over Air India to Tata Sons. Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia had stated on December 3 that the Air India transfer will be completed in the next 1 to 1.5 months.

However, the art collection is likely to stay with the government as it hands over the national carrier to Tata.

In October, it was reported that Air India's invaluable art collection was in the process of being transferred to the Ministry of Culture. News agency PTI had reported that the collection was to be displayed at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) after the airline's sale to the Tata Group.

"We have been trying to procure the Air India artefacts for some time. So, it's an ongoing process. Recently we had a meeting with officials of Air India," NGMA Director-General Adwaita Gadanayak had told the agency. "Now, the file (of the transfer) is with the Ministry of Culture and hopefully we will be able to get them and display them at NGMA," he added.

"The Maharaja Collection" of Air India includes works of legendary artists like M F Husain, Anjolie Ela Menon, Jatin Das, S H Raza, V S Gaitonde and K A Ara. Air India has stated that several of the paintings in the collection came under the airline's possession when the artists were not well-known among the masses. Some artists had also readily availed Air India's unique option of bartering their artwork for a flight ticket.

The art collection includes stone sculptures dating back to the ninth century, woodwork, decorative friezes and a collection of exquisite clocks. The clock collection includes a mantle clock in an ebonised break-arch wood case, which is said to have been made in London in 1845.

The man behind Air India's "The Maharaja Collection" is its former chairman JRD Tata. Due to his efforts, the artwork was displayed on the office walls of Air India in cities like Paris, London, Rome, Geneva and Cairo which provided a glimpse into the rich Indian culture to the visiting people.

In 2018, officials had told PTI that the preservation of the collection had been suffering due to the then uncertainty over the future of Air India.

(With Inputs from Business Today)