A350 XWB European workshare versus EADS government participation

Spain has reduced its stake in EADS to 4.2% from 5.41%, as part of a deal with France and Germany to simplify the ownership structure of Europe's largest aerospace group.

EADS, in which France, Germany and Spain hold stakes, is in the midst of a transformation to a diversified group subject to less state intervention, and aims to have 72% of its capital floating freely on stock markets by next year, compared with less than 50% in December/2012.

The company's shareholders approved sweeping reforms on 27/March that weaken the influence of European governments and allow the aerospace giant to pursue its global ambitions unfettered.

They notably dissolved a complicated shareholders pact that gave EADS's 3 founding states -France, Germany and Spain- veto rights on strategic decisions and rights to nominate board members.

The European workshare in the A350 XWB program can be watched in this picture;

Spain has the smallest workshare on the A350 - about 10%- against the 38% of France, 34% of Germany and 18% of the UK.

Until the A350 XWB program, France and Germany had allocated 37,5% each of Airbus projects in a system once dictated by ownership levels when Airbus started as a consortium 40 years ago.

Allocating Airbus workshare is a country to country competition, not a free market.  With the new shareholder distribution in EADS, European governments´ influence will be lower for next programs.

 

EADS was created in 2000 from a merger of DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG in Germany, Aérospatiale Matra in France, and CASA in Spain. The Group is the best practical example of a truly successful European company today and it includes:

Airbus; manufacturer of commercial & military aircraft, with Airbus Military for tanker, transport and mission aircraft

Astrium; space programmes and systems

Cassidian; solutions for armed forces and civil security

Eurocopter; civil and military helicopters.

EADS is also the major partner in the Eurofighter consortium and a stakeholder in the missile systems provider MBDA.

Based on the article “Spain reduces stake in EADS to 4.2%” published in Agence France-Presse

Only 5 days of training to qualify A380 crew for the A350 XWB

The A350 XWB features a common flight deck and virtually identical flying qualities with those of the A320, A330, A340 and A380 Families. Airlines benefit from significant savings through reduced training requirements and a common pool of pilots.

Airlines around the world are benefiting daily from Airbus’ unique commonality, which results from the company’s pioneering use of fly-by-wire technology, along with its application of standardised cockpit layouts and operational procedures.

15 of Airbus’ aircraft models feature similar flight decks and handling characteristics. This commonality across the Airbus product line enables the multi-qualification of pilots and reduced pilot training times, while bringing significant savings through streamlined operational procedures.

With Airbus’ Cross Crew Qualification concept, fly-by-wire qualified pilots are positioned for an easy transition among A350 Family, the A320, A330 and A380 families through straightforward and rapid differential training – rather than full type rating training. For instance, transition training from A380 Family to the A350 is only 5 days, compared to a full course A350 training duration of around 50 days.

A mixed-fleet approach with benefits for everyone

Building on Airbus’ operational commonality, a pilot can be current on more than one fly-by-wire aircraft type simultaneously, and regularly transition from very-long to medium-haul flights.

For airlines, the increase in revenue hours flown due to reduced standby results in significant productivity increases. Airlines could interchange differently-sized aircraft on short notice without crew-scheduling difficulties, allowing them to better match aircraft capacity to passenger demand.

Such streamlining results in lower training costs for airlines and considerably increased crew productivity, with annual savings in training and payroll costs of up to $300,000 for each new Airbus aircraft added to the fleet. It is also more economical for an airline to recruit new pilots who are already Airbus-qualified; for pilots, this benefit provides greater mobility and better prospects for employment.

Women at the Top: Saint-Eloi and Illescas centers of excellence for A350 XWB are managed by two experienced women

Marie-Laure Roux  was the first plant-manager in Airbus when she was nominated in 2011 as Head of the Saint-Eloi factory in Toulouse.

"Since then, another woman was appointed to the head of the factory of Illescas in Spain and has therefore joined me the club of Factory-Directors" said Roux.

Marie-Laure Roux Head of Saint-Eloi site

And these two sites are both top technological showcase factories involved in A350 XWB Program; not only manufacturing plants but centers of excellence.

The site of Saint-Eloi was elected best factory of France in 2011. Located in the heart of the District of the Minims, the factory is a global centre of excellence for Airbus. The specialty:Pylon manufacturing for the whole Airbus family, including the A350 XWB pylon.

 

 

The A350 XWB complements the launch of the A320 NEO. "My task is to ensure the ramp up of the production rates, deliver on time and in quality to the assembly lines and launch the NEO. And as we do not have too much space in Saint-Éloi, we must constantly challenge us" she explains.

  

The optimization of space is indeed paramount. After the creation of a mobile production line which saves valuable time in the production cycle, Marie-Laure Roux must do all the Airbus programmes flows.

Teresa Busto Head of Illescas site

Teresa Busto is from 1st of January 2013 the new Head of Illescas site in Spain. She was from 2008 until 2012 the head of  manufacturing engineering of composite materials and metal parts, leading a transnational team with offices in Nante, Stade, Getafe, Saint Eloy and Illescas. She joined CASA in 1987, will be the first woman to direct an Airbus plant in Spain. 

Illescas is Airbus’ Centre of Excellence for composite materials in Spain. In this site, and additionally to other critical parts for A320, A340 and A380, it is manufactured for the A350 XWB the biggest carbon fibre part ever produced in civil aviation; the wing lower cover, that measures approximately 32 metres long by six meters wide.

Based on the article “Marie-Laure Roux, la dame de Saint-Eloi” published in La Depeche

Trent XWB is the largest engine produced by Rolls-Royce, larger than the A380´s Trent900. A real-time digital X-ray system is used to improve the efficiency.

The engine is the largest yet produced by the UK manufacturer, with a 3m fan diameter.  Although the Trent XWB's fan is only 51mm larger in diameter than that of the A380's Trent 900, Trent XWB chief engineer Chris Young pointed out that the smaller fan hub of the new engine means that each blade is 76mm longer and has 50% more surface area. "This is the biggest blade we've done by quite some amount," said Trent XWB programme director Chris Cholerton.

As part of the Trent XWB development effort, R-R has invested in what is thought to be the most powerful, real-time digital X-ray system in western Europe, which has enabled it to measure turbine blade tip movement relative to seal positions and identify oppportunities to boost efficiency.

Previously, using film-based X-ray systems "we used to get four images in a day and take a long time to analyse them", says Young. "Now, we get 4,000 images in the same time, which we can run into a film and instantly be able to look at the data.

 

A major focus for the Trent XWB programme is achieving production readiness, given the required fast ramp-up of the build rate.

Based on the article “R-R prepares to ramp up Trent XWB production” published in Flight Global

Airbus starts working with the A350 XWB Configurator, a new tool that provides to the airlines the 3D scenarios for customization based on a catalog of modular solutions.

Airbus has introduced a central configuration tool for the A350 XWB program called “A350 XWB Configurator” that has been developed by Berlin engineering software provider PACE and is based on the latest version of their flagship product Pacelab Cabin 7.

The tool supports Airbus sales, marketing and customer engineering teams in creating airline-specific cabin layouts and aircraft configurations and presenting them in fully rendered 3D, with realistic representations of the selected materials and ambient lighting scenarios.

The A350 XWB Configurator ties in with Airbus's new customization concept of offering aircraft buyers an extensive catalog of modular solutions to achieve a significant reduction of lead times. Key assets in this respect are the software's intuitive, highly visual user interface, which facilitates the selection of suitable packages from the catalog; complex compatibility rules, which ensure that only valid configurations are considered; and real-time visualization, which makes it easier for the customer to examine the currently selected options.

"As the client-facing side of our customization concept, the A350 XWB Configurator is an important sales and communication tool, which provides all the information airlines need to make a smart purchasing decision," explains Francois Caudron, Airbus Head of A350 Customer & Business Development. "PACE has a proven track record with our company and we welcome their contribution to the A350 XWB customer experience."

"We are very proud to have received this vote of confidence from Airbus. We consider their choice a strong validation of our leadership in the cabin configuration domain and of the long-standing relationship between our companies," says PACE managing partner Alexander Schneegans.

PACE also works with many airlines –Emirates, Etihad, Lufthansa CityLine, Swiss, Air Berlin- as well as with main manufacturers like Bombardier, Boeing, Embraer, COMAC, Eurocopter, GE Aviation, Rolls-Royce, Superjet and Sukhoi.

Based on the article “PACE Delivers Airbus A350 XWB Configurator” published in Blommberg

Boeing patent application considers battery pods on the wing

Based on a review of Boeing patent applications in the blog “Things with Wings” of the Aviation Week Magazine, there are some intriguing insights into possible future airliners.

One of the most ‘exciting’ concept described is what at first glance looks like a return to the Boeing 707 days, with a similar sized 4 engined jet. 

US patent office drawing of Boeing battery pod concept

However the outer ‘engines’ are actually battery pods for a hybrid electric-liquid fuel low carbon emission airliner.

With this configuration, in the event of a battery incident -like those that grounded the 787s- the battery pods will be ejectable. “Hopefully not over inhabited areas.”

Based on the article “Boeing patent for 4 engined jet not” published in Plane Talking blog

British Airways could order up to 25 A350-1000 in Le Bourget

IAG could as soon as this week place an order for the new Airbus A350 long-range jetliner for its British Airways unit, according to two people familiar with the talks.

If completed, the deal would be a win for Airbus over rival Boeing which is trying to sell IAG on a proposed update of its 777 model, the 777X.

British Airways has a large fleet of 777s. It currently doesn't fly any Airbus long-range jetliners but is due soon to receive its first Airbus A380 superjumbo.

IAG's talks with Airbus focus on the A350-1000 model according to the people familiar with the talks. The order could also include a smaller, longer-range version, the A350-900, one of these people said.

The exact number of planes in the order and its value are still under negotiation, these people said. Some A350 could also replace old A340s from Iberia. Le Bourget - Paris Air Show in June could be the best date to announce the order.

  

If IAG orders the A350 for British Airways, the carrier could still order 777Xs, said one of the people familiar with the carrier's plans. But another person said that if IAG orders A350s, it wouldn't receive preferential terms on Boeing orders.

Early buyers of a new jetliner model, known as launch customers, generally receive preferential terms and big discounts, potentially exceeding 50% off catalog prices.

IAG was created in 2011 by the merger of British Airways with Spain's Iberia. Iberia's fleet is all Airbus planes. British Airways' European fleet is all Airbus models.

Based on the article “IAG in Talks to Order Airbus A350 Jets for British Airways” published in The Wall Street Journal