JAL CFO: “We ordered the A350 because Airbus was just «the better choice»”.

After Airbus won a tense battle against Boeing for the business of Japan's 2nd largest airline last year, the firm's chief financial officer told CNBC Airbus was just "better."

Japan Airlines announced its first jet order for Airbus in October for 31 A350 aircraft worth $9.5 billion, breaking into an aviation market which had been dominated by rival Boeing.

"We needed a successor to our largest aircraft, the 777. When we compared what both Boeing and Airbus had to offer, Airbus was better," managing executive officer of finance & accounting Norikazu Saito told CNBC. "It may have been a disappointment to Boeing, but they of course understand that business is business."

Saito told CNBC that the biggest payoff from working with Airbus would be increased economic efficiency, although there would be some complications with owning two different brands of aircraft.

"Pilots need to have different licenses; you need to have spare parts for both manufacturers. But even taking all those things into account, Airbus was the better choice," he said.

JAL faced some negative publicity earlier in the year when it temporarily grounded one of its Boeing 787 Dreamliners at Tokyo's Narita International Airport in mid-January, after white smoke was spotted outside the plane and a battery cell showed clear signs of leaking.

Saito told CNBC the incident was still under investigation. "Fortunately, compared to last year - when the batteries heated up so much that it was virtually impossible to look inside them - this time the batteries are intact. That allows us to conduct a very detailed investigation," he told CNBC.

Based on the article “Japan Airlines CFO: Airbus was just 'better'” published in CNBC

ATK American supplier ramps-up the manufacturing rate

ATK employees marked a milestone in manufacturing of composite parts and they celebrated the fabrication of the 20,000th composite part for the Airbus A350 XWB Program.

Rep. Rob Bishop and executive director of the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development Spencer Eccles were on hand at the ATK´s Aircraft Commercial Center of Excellence (ACCE) facility in Clearfield, Utah to honor the company and its employees.

ATK supplies stringers and frames to Aerolia and Premium Aerotec for A350-900 and last January/2014 ATK extended the contract for composite stringers and frames manufacturing on the A350-1000 model. 

Based on the article “ATK assembles 20,000th Airbus composite part“ published in Deseret News

A350 batteries manufacturing process. Video

Saft is the French supplier in charge of the manufacturing of batteries for the A350 XWB. In this video, there are shown the differences between traditional nickel-cadmium batteries and next-generation lithium-ion.

Click the picture to watch the video

Currently the lithium-ion batteries are more present in military aviation but their use is being generalized with replacement of certain hydraulic functions by electrical functions on the new aircraft requiring more energy on board.

The Airbus A350 is going to be certified with nickel-cadmium batteries and in 2015 it will be re-certified with lighter lithium-ion batteries.

Based on the article “Nickel-cadmium, lithium-ion : dans le secret des batteries pour l'aéronautique” published in Aeronews

A350 delivery to Qatar before end of 2014; "Can't say if it's one or two" said Enders

Airbus executives confirmed again last week that the first A350 would be delivered before the end of the year to Qatar Airways, although they didn't nail down the time frame more precisely.

"The current plan is to deliver the first aircraft before the end of the year," Enders told a dozen reporters at a breakfast meeting. "Can't say if it's one or two."

The test program with 4 planes is running "at very high speed," with the 4th plane used to train pilots. The anticipated 5th version will be the production representative and will fly from May, Enders said.

"We are in really high gear over the certification preparation, which we should have in the fall," Enders said.

Based on the article “Airbus plans to deliver A350 by end of year” published in USA Today

Delta considering the A350 instead of 777X for 50 aircraft order.

Delta Air Lines plans to issue a request for proposals (RFP) for new longhaul aircraft that will replace all of the airline’s Boeing 747-400s and a significant part of the 767-300ER fleets.

The RFP –estimated on 50 aircraft- will go out before the end of the month and Delta could decide before the end of the year.

The carrier plans to look at four options: The Airbus A350-900 and -1000, all 3 models of the Boeing 787, the current versions of the A330 and a re-engined A330.

Delta is not looking at the 777X. “We don’t want experimental airplanes,” says Anderson. “We are not interested in it.”

Delta has a history of caution when it comes to new aircraft types and its fleet strategy differs compared to many other carriers in that it tends to keep aircraft longer. In spite of the traditional caution, Anderson believes Delta now has “good visibility” about the A350 and 787, enough to make a decision at this stage. “Both are pretty well down the road now,” Anderson says and points out that Delta can draw upon operational experience by its partner carriers Aeromexico and Virgin Atlantic on the 787 side.

The airline is showing a strong interest in the proposed Airbus A330NEO; “I hope Airbus do offer an A330NEO,” Delta CEO Richard Anderson said in Atlanta. “There is a huge need for a small widebody. We really need Airbus to step up and re-engine.”

Based on the article “Delta To Issue Major Widebody RFP For 747/767 Replacements” published in Aviation Week

Aer Lingus will have a mix of A350-900 and -900Regionals

Aer Lingus has defined what now looks like the final version of its long-haul fleet strategy. The airline plans to take delivery of a mix of Airbus A350-900s and -900 regionals between 2018 and 2020, which represents a delay of up to 3 years compared to earlier scenarios.

The carrier’s widebody planning has undergone several iterations. At some stage, Aer Lingus had ordered a mix of A330s and A350s before switching to the new model entirely.

In an earlier agreement, Aer Lingus and Airbus had settled on initial A350 deliveries in 2015. But CEO Christoph Mueller said the two sides have spent months to negotiate a new schedule, which now sees the first aircraft arriving 3 years later. The airline’s order is for 9 A350-900s.

Mueller did not elaborate on why the changes were made. However, Airbus is keen to accommodate the needs of larger customers as soon as possible, whereas Aer Lingus has a relatively young fleet of A330s. Mueller has also said in the past that the A350 range capabilities are more than what the airline needs, therefore the interest in at least an A350 regional subfleet. Most of its North American destinations are on the East Coast, but the airline is adding new services to Toronto and San Francisco in the summer.

Based on the article “Aer Lingus defines future long-haul fleet, launches cost-cutting measures” published in ATW

MSN5 will be used for route proving program flying from Doha after Type Certification

A350 MSN5 prototype will have fully-furnished cabins as the MSN2 that is currently flying. The test team will concentrate on MSN5 for analysis and specific range testing.

“MSN5 will be the first Batch2 airplane built with production-standard engines, and we will fly a 2 to 3 month test campaign on that airplane which is mandatory to certificate everything related to Batch2 modifications and the engines” said Fernando Alonso, Airbus senior VP Flight and Integrations Tests.

This aircraft will also be used for the route-proving program to be flown in conjunction with Qatar Airways from its Doha base, due to begin in the summer.

Based on the article “Airbus hails mature A350” published in Flight International.