Boeing and Airbus need to seriously look at their planning systems. Compared to those of China they are very definitely third world.

Both are suffering the sort of delays which will make their major customers — think China — that it is quicker and better and cheaper to build the damn thing themselves.

Boeing has said the inaugural flight of its much-anticipated B787 would be delayed by up to three months to the end of the second quarter due to supply chain problems and slow progress on the assembly line.

The delay means Boeing will not be able to start delivering the plane until early 2009, rather than late 2008.

This is the third time Boeing has announced delays for the hot-selling airplane. Which makes is look like a very silly billy.

Scott Carson, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said in a statement, ‘The fundamental design and technologies of the 787 remain sound. However, we continue to be challenged by start-up issues in our factory and in our extended global supply chain.’

In other words we cannot make it on time. Perhaps a new approach is needed?

The B787, also called the Dreamliner, has been the most successful new jet launch in history with 817 orders, including 60 from five Chinese airlines — Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Hainan Airlines and Shanghai Airlines.

Boeing China yesterday declined to say when China would receive its first B787 after the latest delay. Certainly this century. Almost without a doubt.

Air China was originally scheduled to receive two B787s in 2008, with one delivered in June. The aircraft will be used on its European or US routes. The Chinese flag carrier has ordered 15 B787s.

An unnamed official from the Beijing-based carrier yesterday said the airline was capable of adjusting its fleet to the delay.

Wu Yucun, an aviation analyst with Shenzhen-based Lianhe Securities said, ‘The B787 delay is unlikely to have a big impact on Chinese airlines ‘expansion given the relatively small number. ‘ He was just being kind.

Boeing builds its commercial airplanes in Seattle and has outsourced an unprecedented amount of the B787 program — including design and production — to manufacturers around the world. It wrestles with complex product development in terms of technology and program management.

Airbus’ flagship A380 superjumbo was delayed by nearly two years.

In other industries if these delays occured there would be tears before tea time. ‘We’re sorry your daily paper will not be available until next week but we are having trouble with ink.’
Source: China Daily

A pilot shortage is affecting China’s aviation industry, leaving hundreds of new Boeing and Airbus jetliners on order without pilots to fly them.

China will need an average of 2,500 pilots each year for the next two twenty years and it is nowhere near set up to meet the demand.

So foreign pilots are taking command of some Chinese airliners. Aviation Minister Yang Yuanyuan recently declared that the industry is growing ‘too fast.’ He’s cut back daily flights, slowed the launches of start-up airlines and warned that safety must prevail over growth.

China isn’t the only country with a pilot shortage. It is a worldwide problem.

William R. Voss, chief executive of the Flight Safety Foundation said, ‘It’s something that is sneaking up on the industry overall because there have always been pilots in the wings.’

Chinese aviation regulators say the nation will need an additional 9,000 or more pilots by 2010, as national airlines add jetliners at the rate of up to 150 a year.

Gao Hongfeng, the deputy head of the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China said, ‘But speaking truthfully, we only have the capacity to train about 7,000, leaving us short 2,000 pilots. The shortage of pilots has become an important factor constraining civil aviation’s development.’

Pierre Steffen, vice president of customer services for Airbus China said, ‘We’ve had two occasions with two Chinese airlines where sales deals were accompanied by requests for foreign pilots.

China’s Big Three airlines — Air China, China Eastern and China Southern — are working hard to deal with the pilot shortage.

Air China has reserved land to build a training center in Beijing that’s likely to be the biggest in the world, with 30 full flight simulators. That is one in our illustration.

Nearly 20 start-up airlines wait for approval to operate, and a green light may not come soon. One reason: The start-ups don’t have pilots. Pierre Steffen said, ‘Where do they get their pilots? They can only get them from existing local airlines.’
Source: Kansas City.com

Beijing Capital International Airport (BCIA) is expected to become one of the world’s top five busiest airports by the end of next year. This is not a record to boast about.

A record to boast about would be that the airport handles all passengers with style, efficiency and dispatch.

That all flights depart on time. (Airports have no control over the timing of arrivals.)

That there is more than enough seating for people waiting for flights. And the counter staff is polite and efficient.

As this does not at the moment apply to many airports in the world — Hong Kong and Singapore might be exceptions — the numbers handled are simply nothing to boast about.

BCIA said in 2008 the will have been more than 64 million passenger departures and arrivals. It has already handled 50 million passengers this year ranking it among the world’s top 10 busiest airports.

Atlanta and Chicago in the U.S., London in the U.K. and Tokyo of Japan have the world’s busiest airports by both passengers and cargo volumes in past years. That is quantity not quality. China LawBlog reminds us that the late London Jeffrey Barnard wrote of Heathrow: ‘I welcome death for I will not have to pass through Heathrow.’

In Beijing a new terminal building is now under construction, largely in order to meet high demands of air transportation during the Olympic season next year.

With No. 3 Terminal being completed in February 2008, the three terminals of the airport will have a total annual transport capacity of about 82 million passengers.

Besides the terminal construction project, BCIA has invested nearly RMB2 billion (US$266 million) in upgrading its security checks, service counters, luggage systems and information systems.

And now the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC), a regulator oversees China’s air transportation, has announced that it has proposes to build a second international airport in southern suburbs of Beijing.

The second international airport, proposed to begin building in2010 in Daxing District, is expected to alleviate already overheated ground traffic to BCIA and accommodate many more transcontinental flights to China in the years to come.

All of that is the good news. Now a quick reality check from someone who is in a position of some responsibility.

Sun Defu, a senior official with the Civil Aviation Administration for the North China Area, was reported in China Daily saying the airport would need to at least improve the transfer service to attract more international travelers.

Sun Defu said, ‘The airport should rearrange the flight schedule to solve flight connection problems and help transfer passengers save time.’
Source: People’s Daily Online and People’s Daily Online

The English phrase for it is a pig’s breakfast.

As reported in these columns the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) has implemented the Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum (RVSM) standard, increasing the flight lanes in the height between 8,400m to 12,500m from the original 7 to 13. This effectively doubles the airspace available.

It provides airline companies more flight route resources (they will be applying for more routes), but also puts a lot of pressure on airports.

Meanwhile, just as this was coming in to play airspace controls disrupted the travel plans of thousands of air passengers traveling to and from Shanghai.

These were controls which appear to have been applied by the General Administration of Civil Aviation (CAAC).

Li Jingao, an official with CAAC East China Air Traffic Management Bureau based in Shanghai. said, ‘The controls will be removed on Sunday.’ And apparently this is the case.

But why were these new controls applied in the first place and what was the reason?

CAAC East China Air Traffic Management Bureau, operating as if it were still in an earlier era, refused to divulge the reason for the imposition of the controls.

All that is known is that it came at the behest of the PLA which controls these matters. At least 40 flights were delayed at Shanghai’s two airports, Pudong and Hongqiao, on Friday, including flights bound for Hong Kong, Harbin, Dalian and Chongqing.

Li Jingao, said, ‘More flights are departing now to make up for the previous delays and this has increased pressure on the airports that are already operating at full capacity.’

More than 150 flights were delayed in Shanghai and about 7,000 passengers were affected during the first two days of the airspace controls.

Hong Kong’s second-biggest airline, Dragonair (a wholly owned part of the Swire Group which owns Cathay Pacific) is being forced to cancel up to eight flights a day as pilots quit the airline in numbers which are larger than normal.

Six captains resigned within a week earlier this month, and 34 first officers or captains have handed in their notice in the last six months. These resignations are said to be linked to a dispute over rosters and pay.

Pilots says that a year after its $1.5-billion takeover by Cathay Pacific, cancellations by the airline, which flies to routes around China and the region, are running at a rate of two a day.

Pilots claim the resignations have been sparked by ‘bullying and intransigence.’ Anyone who has worked or negotiated with pilots will know that when it comes to ‘bullying and intransigence’ they hold the world crown. Not management, the pilots.

The pilots say management has repeatedly refused to implement rostering agreements to ease the strain on pilots handling a growing volume of flights.

Dragonair, which has around 400 mostly expatriate pilots and operates around 100 flights a day, said in a statement it was being impacted by a worldwide shortage of cockpit personnel.

A spokeswoman said the airline had already hired 57 new pilots this year and planned to hire 10 more before the end of the year and another 50 next year. She said, ‘There are currently more vacancies than there are pilots throughout the industry. Therefore, it is not surprising to see a degree of pilot turnover at Dragonair and many other airlines.’

Which is possibly true. But there is a major reshuffle happening in management at Dragonair.

Richard Hall, general manager of flying at Cathay Pacific Airways, has been appointed general manager of operations at Dragonair. He will replace Tim Watts, who will resume flying duties with Dragonair.

Dennis Leung, scheduling manager for integrated crew management at Cathay Pacific (he has been doing it for twenty years so he has the experience), has been appointed to a new post as manager of ICM at Dragonair, and will be responsible for crew planning, crew rostering and crew control.