Is the A350 XWB cabin interior designed for women or for men?

 

Men and women have different habits in airplanes.

The airlines indicate that, in general, women prefer seats next to the window. Among frequent travelers of US Airways that have declared their preference in this regard, men prefer the aisle in an almost 2-to-1 ratio, advises the airline.

Meanwhile, aisle-seats are preferred by men. But while he wants the shade up, she likes the window seat with the shade pulled down.

 

More gender differences in flying; women usually carry a bag while men a small suitcase. Women huddle in the seat and avoid contact, while men extend elbows and legs and sometimes invade the space of their neighbors.

Women and men have different habits when it comes to getting on a plane. It is an area that is capturing the attention of airlines at a time in which more women thicken rows of frequent travelers.

Several airlines, as Delta Air Lines and US Airways say that between 54% and 56% of its clients are male. However, the difference is stabilizing. Virgin America points out that in recent years, 52% of its passengers have been male and 48% female.
British Airways transports more women than men, according to a spokesman. In the case of American Airlines, the men represent 55% of the members of its frequent flier program, but under 30 years old, women now outnumber men in that same age.

When talking about entertainment, there are also differences; airlines with systems of entertainment, such as Virgin America, indicate that women prefer to watch movies and men are more likely to tune in live news and sports programs.

A study on the meal preferences of travelers, Delta found that women are more inclined to salads and tapas (small dishes).The airline now evaluates changes in the menu.

Blankets tend to be more used by women than by men, also say the airlines.

 

Men remember what type of plane they’re flying on at first sight, while women couldn’t care less.

Generalization into which you can fit or not. But airlines should take into account. As hotels are doing, for instance, knowing that women prefer to read the ebook/ipad on bed while men seated (in a chair or in the bathroom).

Based on article “He Carries On, She Likes to Check” published in The Wall Street Journal.

 

 

Latécoère Group: French tier1´s diversified participation in the A350 XWB

Latécoère, the French tier 1 which employs 4,175 people in 9 countries, is involved in the A350 XWB Program in 3 fields:

• Aerostructures (59% of total revenue): Nose Fairing.

 

As a supplier of Aerolia, the Nose fairing is a metallic (aluminium) assembly manufactured at Gimont plant, 50km from Toulouse. There is a plant with 20 years of background (last 20/Dec/2012 was celebrated the anniversary of the facility) where there are 180 people working in manufacturing and assembly of fuselage sections for Boeing, Dassault and Airbus.  

Nose fairing assembly at Gimont

• Interconnexion systems (27% of total revenue): LATelec is the company within the group who manages the manufacturing of onboard wiring, electrical harnesses and avionics bays.

Fuselage final assy line by LATecis

 

Electrical harnesses for wings - each A350 XWB wing assembly includes 40 electrical harnesses that means more than 3,000 electrical connexions, with 21 km of wiring- is the main workpackage of LATelec. Many functional tests and design activities has been achieved by development teams that were split among three sites: Toulouse in France, Filton in England and Bremen in Germany. Assembly and testing were carried out at LATelec’s factory in Liposthey, in the Bordeaux region.

LATelec also manufactures onboard avionic racks as well as cockpit control panels (CCP) for the  A350 XWB.

• Engineering and Services (14% of total revenue): LATecis is the company with capabilities of design, stress analysis and definition of industrial products that for A350 XWB has designed, manufactured and set-up important tooling and assembly lines: the fuselage final assembly line in the FAL-Toulouse, the assembly line of the wingbox, the automatic engine assembly line and the Iron Bird assembly line.

wingbox assembly line by LATecis

 automatic engine assembly line by LATecis

 

Iron bird assembly line by LATecis

 

 

Airbus intervention plan: from monitoring to the rescue of suppliers, through the support.

In a report published in The Manufacturer, the different types of intervention by Airbus are explained by Mr. Günter Butschek Airbus COO.

While operational support is common, it’s unusual for Airbus to provide financial support to suppliers. Most of Airbus suppliers are tier one companies of a critical mass “The base assumption is that our suppliers are in a stable financial condition,” says Mr Butschek.

But Airbus does not take this entirely for granted.“Financial capability gets intensely discussed and monitored, by a kind of ‘watch tower’. We monitor whatever financial information is accessible and available to us, so we get an early warning in case a supplier might experience some financial issues or get into financial trouble.”

If this happens Butschek says a case-by-case decision is made as to what extent Airbus will support the supplier. “There are plenty of opportunities before it comes to the worst,” he states.

 

But far more suppliers have struggled to comfortably keep pace with the rate increase, than have had financial issues.

“We carefully monitor the performance of the suppliers. We perform regular audits to gain a deep understanding of what are the weaknesses and strengths –and what is our contribution to the problem? Butschek says.

Having analysed the specific supplier situation, Airbus sets up a comprehensive set of actions where the ‘problem suppliers’ issues have the most commonality.

 “We always hold the supplier accountable but we offer our support and we even make our support mandatory if required” Günter Butschek

 

 

Based on the article “Airbus UK: Demand and supply” published in “The manufacturer”

U.K.'s aerospace industry, as other countries´ industries, identifies one of the biggest challenges to face immediately; lack of skills and interest in engineering in young students.

The U.K. coalition government sees the manufacturing sector—and the aerospace industry in particular—as a means of lifting the country out of the economic doldrums and onto a path to growth.

Since Prime Minister David Cameron took office in 2010, he has been an advocate for the aerospace and defense industry, lobbying India, UAE and other countries. Other UK Government activities to support aerospace sector (and indirectly the A350 XWB program) are, for example, the Aerospace Growth Partnership program launched in 2011 -£120 million ($193.5 million) pumped into the sector in a bid to help U.K. companies win new contracts overseas-,  regional development funds that provide loans and grants to nascent businesses and the creation of 24 Enterprise Zones throughout the country -several  located near airports such as Manchester and Cornwall- in a bid to expand the aerospace industry into these areas. The government is also attempting to shore up the aerospace sector in the face of the threat from rapidly emerging economies such as Brazil, Russia, India and China.

click in the image to watch TV summary of last weeks visit of David Cameron to Airbus-UK

But…. Aerospace sector grapples with erosion of technology, engineering and math training.

Industry leaders are concerned that a lack of skills and perhaps more critically, interest in engineering from the up-and-coming generation of workers could starve the U.K. of aerospace growth at a time when industry is finally getting government support it needs.

Sustaining the skills and technologies required to maintain the country's position in the international aerospace market is daunting. The number of British students studying engineering has fallen significantly in recent years, with many reportedly opting for degrees in economics, media or the arts. Although universities here report record numbers of students attending engineering courses, the majority of the enrollees is from outside the U.K. and often takes their newly honed skills home with them. Indeed, many U.K. students who have studied engineering have gravitated to the financial and banking sectors because the salary and rewards were greater than those generally found in their initial area of expertise.

Tom Williams, executive vice president of programs at Airbus points to a series of apprenticeships being run out of Airbus's Filton facilities in Bristol. Despite being oversubscribed, several openings were not filled because candidates did not have the right skill sets. “We did not want to drop our standards,” says Williams, adding that many applicants simply did not have the requisite mathematical skills to carry out routine activities. “It is a long-term concern, and the damage is already done by the time the students get to secondary school.”

Williams also notes the stark differences in research and technology funding between governments, claiming that for every £1 ($1.61) spent by the U.K., France was spending €10 ($13) and Germany around €15.

Not only more money, but greater cooperation between industry and academia is needed, in order to create better opportunities in international markets. Young students should be dreaming to work in Aerospace, “the zenith of advanced manufacturing, sustaining highly skilled engineers, delivering economic value from exports, and flowing out cutting-edge technologies to other sectors”. And not only in UK but in other countries.

Based on article “Skills Shortage” published in Aviation week

Singapore Airlines doubles the number of A350-900 with an order for additional 20 aircraft

Singapore Airlines (SIA) has firmed up an order for 20 A350-900 and 5 A380. The deal was completed in 2012 and follows an agreement in October 2012.

The new A350 XWB order sees Singapore Airlines double its backlog for the all-new aircraft to 40. The A350-900s will be used by the airline on both medium and long haul routes.

“This second repeat order from one of the largest A380 operators today is a great endorsement” said John Leahy, Chief Operating Officer, Customers, Airbus. “We’re also delighted that Singapore Airlines are demonstrating equal confidence in the A350. With both these aircraft, Singapore Airlines will have the most modern, most comfortable and most efficient fleet the market can offer.”

The A350 XWB gathered 582 orders from 34 customers.

Aeroflot, with orders for 22 A350 XWBs, is raising customer satisfaction

Aeroflot has the objective to be among the top 5 European carriers and the top 20 global carriers by 2025.

They have maintained leading positions in the services they provide; the latest IATA [International Air Transport Association] ratings put Aeroflot in first place for business class in Europe, and in second place in economy class. In the SkyTeam alliance Russian airline was first in economy class and kept their place in business class, and, for the first time ever, they were in first place for on-ground service too.

Aeroflot has evaluated their loyalty index. They were the first civil aviation company to do so in 2010. The passenger loyalty index, known as the NPS, showed that Aeroflot has had an increase of 8 percent. This is a substantial increase because every one percent in growth represents an added $15 million to the company’s revenue.

On a second run on 2011, around ten thousand passengers were asked if they would recommend Aeroflot to relatives and friends, and 52% said they would –double the number that would do the same for Lufthansa, British Airways or Air France.

Vitaly Saveliev Aeroflot CEO has also arranged for his flight attendants to be trained by Mil-Com Aerospace Training Center in Singapore, to the standards of Singapore Airlines, universally accepted to be the benchmark for customer service in the consumer aviation industry.

“The planes we buy are not cheap, and Aeroflot therefore cannot be a cheap airline. Aeroflot will stay in the premium segment niche.” said Mr. Saveliev Aeroflot CEO.  

Aeroflot operates one of Europe’s youngest air fleet that consists of 120 aircraft. Aeroflot is located in Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow

Currently Aeroflot is the airline with more A350-800 in the orderbook (with US Airways); they have orders for 18 A350-800 and 4 A350-900 (that could be update during 2013) and another 22 Boeing 787-8 plus 16 777-300ER

Aeroflot has also maintained high catering standards and, according to the results for Dec/2010, they were 3rd in the world for the quality of food they provide.

Aeroflot has set for 2^nd year a new record in passenger traffic, with more than 15 million passengers for the year.

The seat occupancy rate was up by almost 3% percent over the first three quarters of 2012 compared to the same period last year. In 2012 they had a seat occupancy rate of 79%. A one-percent increase in seat occupancy boosts their revenue by around 2 billion rubles.

Next step for Aeroflot is to establish in 2013 a national low-cost airline. Russia has to modify the Air Code in coming months to allow them to hire non-resident pilots.

Turkish ailerons for the A350 XWB

Turkish Aerospace Industries, Inc. (TAI) is the center of technology in design, development, manufacturing, integration of aerospace systems, modernization and after sales support in Turkey. Located in Ankara, Turkey, TAI's modern aircraft facilities are furnished with high technology machinery and equipment that provide extensive manufacturing capabilities. TAI has a total of 4.000 highly motivated employees, 1.500 of whom are engineers.

For the Ailerons of the A350 XWB, TAI has a Design&Build contract with Airbus.

The first Turkish design ailerons produced by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) have already been installed in the MSN001 at Toulouse Final Assembly Line.

“Ailerons are vital components of an aircraft and TAI will continue to try to win other business packages with Airbus”, TUSAŞ Chairman Yalçın Kaya said, adding that it is an important step for TAI, which aims to become one of the world’s largest aviation design centers, to be able to design and manufacture them.

 

TAI has become a major contractor, winning the confidence of international aeronautics firms, said Murad Bayar, Turkey’s Defense Industries Undersecretary, in his speech at the event of the first set delivery.

“God willing, we will see our own planes manufactured by TAI. We expect to hit our targets this year,” Bayar said.

 

Based on the article “Airbus gets ailerons designed in Turkey” published in The Hurriyet Daily News