The Lockheed Martin "A380" that was never built

The iconic Airbus A380 may have been phased out now, after 12 years of being in service, but did you know, plans for a similar engineering marvel had been on the cards since the early 90s? Perhaps not!

Boeing has always wanted to build a competitor to rival the mighty A380. At around the same time, the Russians were also reported to have plans of building a double-decker featuring escalators.

A380 | Emirates

Lockheed Martin, as it would turn out, came up with an idea for a double-decker super transport aircraft that would be bigger than a 747, carry more passengers than an A380 and would have dominated the skies.

Airports, unlike today, had a slew of issues back in the 90s. Although air travel was on the rise, acquiring airport slots was getting increasingly difficult. Quite interestingly, airports started selling landing slot pairs for millions of pounds!

B747 | Britannica

Thus, according to Lockheed Martin, if the frequency of planes couldn't be increased, the next logical step would be to create bigger planes. Boeing had already started the trend of manufacturing massive jets like the B747 by then with Airbus trailing with the A340 series.

The company in 1996 thereby came up with the program- "Large Subsonic Transport"-  a series of designs for an aircraft that would be the natural evolution of the Boeing 747. This also came at a time when heavy-lift aircraft for the US military were approaching the end of their operational period thereby putting Lockheed right where it needed to be to win the contract.

The Large Subsonic Transport, officially known as " Lockheed Very Large Aeroplane " was designed to carry around 800 passengers for long haul flights, as well as the possibility for it to be configured as a freighter. Additionally, it was to have a military application as well.

Lockheed Very Large Aeroplane

Wordless Tech

Tech and Specs

Take-off weight1.4 million pounds / 635 metric tonnesWingspan282 feet / 85 mLength262 feet / 79 mfoundandexplained.com

With a passenger capacity of 800-900 passengers, travellers would have ideally found themselves in a cabin around 17 seats across, or 3 – 4 – 3 – 4 – 3 configurations with four aisles and two decks. Aircraft today, have a maximum of 10 seats across and not more.

Additionally, it would also have foldable wingtips, much like the ones we see on the B777X today.

B777X foldable wingtips | Aerotime Hub

Lockheed Martin had also unveiled plans of a cargo version of the touted model. The model would have intermodal containers, very similar to the ones used on trains, boats and trucks. The very fact that this aircraft would still have space for accommodating 450 passengers on the upper deck even after holding 16 of the containers in the lower deck, goes to show the sheer size of the aircraft.

Shipping containers | Representative | Bankrate.com

Despite all the impressive features, the model still lacked drastically in terms of range, especially in comparison to its modern-day rivals. The Lockheed model only had a range of 3,200 nautical miles, and this is shockingly less when compared to the 7,730 nautical miles by B747. The Airbus A380 takes the centre stage again with a maximum range of  8,000 nautical miles. The massive plane by Lockheed was tentatively priced at $200-300 million USD in the 90s, which is equivalent to around half a billion dollars in 2020. (Cheaper than the A380 cost of USD 445 million).

Why did it never see the light of the day despite an impressive portfolio?

It's one thing to talk about it and another to actually implement it. Apparently, the company had neither the resources nor the know-how to build the plane. It became apparent that Lockheed would have to collaborate with other aerospace giants like Boeing and Airbus to bring the project to fruition at a total development cost of $18 billion US.

Other major setbacks included:

The massive vortex generated by such a massive aircraft would mean longer waiting times for preceeding and succeeding aircraft to take-off or land.The aircraft would sink immediately in case of ditching eventsThe entire demographic of airports would have to be altered with longer and wider runways and taxiways.The aircraft would be extremely noisyEmergency evacuation procedures would take a hit as the nearest emergency exit would be far away for travellors seated in the middle and worse, it wouldn't be meet today's FAA standards.

Ironically, the company wasn't entirely sure of how the design would work in the air, considering the architecture was entirely different from that of a conventional aircraft. As fate would have it, the project was finally shelved and never made it beyond design papers.

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COVER: Wordless Tech

Thanks to the Hindu Kush route, Air India's popular nonstop flights between Delhi and North America have just become a lot faster, cutting about an hour off the flight time.

AI Boeing 777s flying between India and North America have taken a longer route since the Afghan airspace was closed to non-defence aircraft on August 16, resulting in more flying time and fuel consumption. Instead of taking the shorter Pakistan-Afghanistan-Turkmenistan/Uzbekistan route, they flew through south Pakistan below Afghanistan and then into Iran-Turkey-beyond.

A recent AI Chicago-Delhi flight flew over the mountains. (Image Courtesy - Simple Flying)

Since Thursday, December 16, AI B777s have been flying directly north, over the Hindu Kush range, and then west along the usual route. As a result, the flight time of AI 101 (Delhi-New York JFK) will be less than 16 hours, rather than the over 16.5 hours on the longer route avoiding Afghanistan, resulting in a 7-tonne fuel savings one-way.

Captains Zoya Agarwal, R Someshwar, Sandeep Mukhedkar, and Abhay Agarwal flew AI's first B777 (VT-ALQ named Manipur) from Toronto to Delhi over the Hindu Kush on December 16.

Given the high mountain ranges the aircraft flies over, pilots describe this as a "very critical and challenging sector." Captain Zoya was also one of the pilots who flew AI's first San Francisco-Bengaluru flight, which took the polar route in January and was one of the world's longest nonstops.

“Our management played a critical role in getting this route cleared for the B777s. Cutting flying time means less fuel burn and lower emissions, something we did by taking the polar route and, now, with the Hindu Kush,” said a senior pilot.

As reported by TOI, AI had started flying its Boeing 787 Dreamliners between Delhi and Europe over the Hindukush from this October and, now, the B777s to and North America have also joined them.

“The logistics for B777 and B787 are very different. A fully laden B787 (with passengers, cargo and fuel) can have a maximum altitude of 35,000 feet. But a B777, due to factors like its different wing design and the fact that more fuel has to be carried for the much longer North America nonstops, can have a maximum altitude of 29,000 feet,” said a senior official.

Air India has stated that it will go back to its previous route once the Afghan airspace reopens, and other carriers are likely to do the same.

Taking the Hindu Kush route means flying over the awe-inspiring Tirich Mir (7,780 metres or 25,525 feet) — the world’s highest peak outside the Himalaya-Karakoram range.

It’s abundantly clear how important Pakistani and Afghan airspace is for carriers flying between India and the west. Any political unrest which leads to airspace closure of these two countries severely impacts airlines’ operations.

In 2019, when escalating tensions between India and Pakistan led to the closure of Pakistani airspace, several airlines either had to restrategize their routes or suspend flights altogether. United Airlines decided to wait for airspace to reopen before resuming its Newark flights to Delhi and Mumbai.

Indian airline Go First, founded as GoAir, on Tuesday, December 21 announced a 20% discount for fully-vaccinated passengers. People travelling on GoAir domestic flights will now be able to avail the discount offer by using the GOVACCI scheme.

According to the airlines, the offer is only applicable for passengers located in India and who are double vaccinated at the time of booking of domestic flight tickets. The passengers must carry their COVID-19 vaccination certificate issued by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, or show their vaccination status on the Aarogya Setu mobile app at the airport check-in counter. 

The airline is calling the new scheme ‘GOVACCI’. It is available to passengers located in India and who are double vaccinated at the time of booking domestic flight tickets. Flights must be at least two weeks ahead in time from the date of booking.

The offer is valid only on the Go First website or mobile app, the company added. The double-vaccination discount is applicable for travel dates till 15 days from the date of booking. 

Potential passengers will have to enter the promo code GOVACCI in the promo code section on the search page.  The announcement comes as India’s Omicron tally crosses 200, with Maharashtra and Delhi recording 54 each. 

Keeping in view the rising infections, the government has made it compulsory for international passengers arriving at the country from "at-risk" nations to pre-book an RT-PCR test amid a surge in COVID-19 new variant 'Omicron.'

Before the pandemic hit, GoAir operated over 330 daily flights to 36 destinations, including nine international. Go First has an all-Airbus fleet, currently consisting of 59 aircraft. Seven of these are A320-200s, and 52 are A320neos. Furthermore, the airline has outstanding orders for as many as 92 of the latter.

Air India shelled out an "avoidable" penalty of INR 43.85 crore to Boeing for non-adherence with the contractually stipulated timelines under the agreement for an aircraft component service programme, according to CAG.

The penalty amount was paid in August 2020 for the July 2016 to December 2019 period. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has mentioned the penalty in a report tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, December 21 wherein it said that "avoidable payment of penalty due to delay in the return of removed components" was made by Air India.

In December 2015, the airline had entered into an agreement with Boeing for the Rotatable Exchange Programme related to servicing 787 aircraft components and the pact came into effect in July 2016.

As per the agreement, Air India was required to return the removed component along with the component information to Boeing within 10 calendar days after Boeing delivered the serviceable exchange component and in case of failure to do so, then delayed return fee is payable to the aircraft maker.

The national carrier defaulted on the concessional late return fees/ penalty for the period from July 2016 to December 2019, following which Boeing served a letter, in July 2020, intimating suspension of the programme if payment was not received by July 31, 2020.

Subsequently, Boeing served six months' notice of termination and withdrew the discounts offered earlier. During July 2016 to December 2019 period, CAG said there were several instances of delayed return of removed components by Air India over and above the stipulated time limit of 10 days.

(Image Courtesy - Ganesh Panner)

Citing audit analysis, CAG said that during the initial period (July 2016 to December 2017), there were 170 instances of delayed return and in 88 instances, the delay was more than 30 days with a maximum of 214 days. "… due to non-adherence to the timeline for return of removed parts as stipulated in the Agreement, Air India Limited paid the penalty of USD 5.87 million (INR 43.85 crore) to M/s Boeing," the report said.

The apex auditor's findings are part of the report 'Union Government (Commercial) (Compliance Audit Observations) for the year ended 31 March 2020'.

According to CAG, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) saw a revenue loss of INR 15.66 crore due to inadequate assessment and delay in the arrangement of the required electricity load at Goa airport. The top auditor also mentioned an avoidable extra expenditure of INR 6.88 crore after the unilateral increase of royalty by AAI in violation of the terms of an agreement.

Further, it flagged that non-pursuance for reimbursement of electricity charges by AAI in connection with Rajahmundry airport led to INR 6.36 crore pending with Andhra Pradesh. This is despite there being a provision for such reimbursement in the MoU signed between AAI and the state government to facilitate minimisation of losses to AAI in the initial five years of operationalisation of the Rajahmundry airport.

In September, AAI entered into a concession agreement with Travel Food Services Pvt Ltd for food and beverage outlets at Goa airport. Initially, Goa airport had sanctioned an electricity load of 4,000 KW and the unutilised load of about 1,000 KW was surrendered in June 2015.

In November 2018, AAI applied for an additional sanctioned load of 1,500 KW and the same was sanctioned by Goa Electricity Department in January 2019. This was subject to the condition that the cost of INR 5.67 crore for enhancement of contract demand would be borne by AAI, as per the report.

"However, till date, electrical work has not been completed and AAI is supplying electricity to TFS from the available load at Goa Airport through DG sets. Due to the non-availability of full load, TFS claimed a further rebate of INR 17.30 crore against the demand raised by AAI in November 2019.

"Hence, inadequate assessment and delay in the arrangement of required electricity load at Goa Airport resulted in the loss of revenue of INR 15.66 crore," the CAG report said.

The winning consortium of Jet Airways on Friday, December 17 said it wants to infuse funds in the airline and has approached the NCLT to fast-track implementation of the resolution plan approved by the insolvency court in June this year.

The consortium, in a statement, also said it plans to restart domestic operations at the earliest in 2022 as a full-service carrier.

The Murari Lal Jalan and Florian Fritsch consortium, which emerged as the winning bidder for Jet Airways after the completion of the resolution process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, said it wants to commence payments to all stakeholders including ex-employees, workmen, ticket claimants and lenders of Jet Airways as per the approved plan.

The consortium is ready with the required capital and has applied to the NCLT for the necessary approvals to start capital infusion in Jet Airways for further implementation of the plan approved by the tribunal in June 2021, it said.

In its latest filing before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), the consortium has intimated December 22, 2021, as its plan "effective date" and sought to implement the plan as approved earlier, it said.

It added that the process of revalidation of its existing Air Operator Certificate (AOC) has been fast-tracked, saying that it was initiated in August itself, within days of receiving the NCLT approval.

Besides, the consortium said it is working closely with the relevant authorities and airport coordinators on slot allocation, required airport infrastructure, and night parking and is confident to get the initial slots required to commence operations in the Summer Schedule of 2022.

"We are excited to embark on the next phase of the revival of India’s most loved Airline. We at JKC await the Hon’ble NCLT’s decision on our last filing and look forward to recommencing operations of Jet Airways at the earliest.The Consortium is ready with its investments and given the progress the team has made operationally since NCLT Approval in June 2021, we feel it is time to fund the company immediately for the revival of the business, without delay.We are aiming to start Domestic Operations at the earliest in 2022 as a full-service carrier and look forward to creating history with Jet Airways revival."Murari Lal Jalan, Proposed Promoter and Non-Executive Chairman, Jet Airways

Consortium partner Fritsch said, "I am totally aligned with Jalan and his vision for Jet Airways...the decision to invest in Jet Airways has been well thought off by me and Jalan and we both feel that now is the time that next steps of plan implementation be complied with as per orders of the NCLT."

Stating that the consortium teams are working tirelessly to ensure its revival, he said, "Jet Airways will commence its operations in 2022 with 6 narrow-body aircraft and reach over 100 aircraft fleet as a 5-year plan."

For its larger restructuring program, the Jalan-Kalrock Consortium is in conversation with both Boeing and Airbus for an order of at least 100 narrowbodies, which is said to have a budget of around USD 12 billion.

The consortium is confident of receiving the AOC in the coming months and will start operations soon thereafter, it said, adding, "We are in regular touch with the DGCA and the Ministry of Civil Aviation to have Jet's AOC revalidated and we thank the authorities for their continued support."

Jet Airways has an existing AOC valid until 2023, which was only suspended in 2019 due to the financial health of the company then.

The current process taken up is towards removing the said suspension and therefore the time required for getting the AOC revalidated will be substantially lesser in comparison to obtaining fresh AOC by a new company, it said.

It also said the company has received more than 35,000 applications across job categories and the team is shortlisting candidates as per its business requirements.

Jet Airways 2.0's new corporate office is in Gurugram and the consortium is looking for a bigger office in Delhi-NCR to house the entire team in one office.

It also said most of the senior management positions as per its approved organisation structure have been filled and the consortium will introduce the entire senior management team to all stakeholders soon.

From the Vault

The Boeing B2707 was touted to be the future of supersonic travel way back in 1958, but as fate would have it, the million-dollar ambitious project by Boeing, had to be scrapped owing to several obvious reasons- economics majorly and bad marketing.

Airline Ratings

So, what was the Boeing Supersonic Project all about?

On New Year's Eve 1966, after more than 14 years of study, design work and competition, the U.S. federal government selected Boeing to build the prototype for the country's first supersonic transport (SST).

At the time, Pan American World Airways had already ordered six Anglo / French Concordes and the Boeing B2707 was intended to be much larger and faster than its Anglo/French rival.

Tech and specs

Length318 feetCruising speed Mach 2.7AltitudeMore than 60,000 feetPower4 × General Electric GE4/J5P turbojets, 63,200 lbf (281 kN) thrust eachRange4,000 mi (6,400 km, 3,500 nmi)Wikipedia

A "swing-wing" configuration was incorporated during the initial stage of development before finally graduating to "Delta wing".

It was around this time that announcements for the Concorde were made and hence the Americans, in a bid to catch up with its European rival, hastened the production of B707, despite knowing well it wouldn't keep up with the performance standards within that brief period. Additionally, the Soviets were also working on a similar design around this very same time.

Magazine

Furthermore, the IATA released a set of "design imperatives" for an SST that was essentially impossible to meet.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) invited tenders from the US industry to build an aircraft superior to the Concorde. Giant airframe manufacturers like Lockheed, Douglas and North American and Boeing would go on to build two prototypes over the next four years for $1.44 billion in 1967 dollars which are equivalent to $35 billion today.

Why did such an ambitious project bite the dust?

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For an aircraft with speeds exceeding MACH 2, the only materials feasible for the construction of the airframe was stainless steel or titanium, working with which was considered to be daunting at the time.

Supersonic aircraft, when they cross the sound barrier, produce the iconic sonic boom, which would only add to the overall undesirable noise produced by the aircraft.

During production, the "swing-wing " configuration was found to be flawed which practically meant the B2707 could carry 0 payloads, although it did change to "delta wing" later.

Last, but not least, the "cost" factor hit the final blow on the project as the surmounting costs due to fuel and concerns from environmental activists regarding the operating noise levels of the aircraft sounded the death knell of this iconic project by the company.

COVER: Magazine