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Tag: Boeing

  • Boeing to plead guilty to fraud for violating deal over 737 Max crashes

    Boeing to plead guilty to fraud for violating deal over 737 Max crashes

    Boeing Co. agreed to plead guilty to criminal conspiracy in connection with two fatal crashes of its 737 Max jetliner, an agreement that disgraces the storied US planemaker as a felon but avoids a bruising courtroom confrontation as it tries to rebound from multiple crises.

    Under the agreement in principle with US prosecutors, Boeing faces a criminal fine of as much as $487.2 million, the maximum allowed by law, though the actual amount will be determined by a judge, according to the Justice Department. As part of the agreement filed late Sunday in a Texas court, the DOJ has asked the judge to credit Boeing for the prior fine it paid, which would bring the new penalty down to $243.6 million if approved.

    The company will install a corporate monitor and be required to spend at least $455 million to bolster its compliance and safety programmes over the next three years as part of the deal, which requires court approval. It would also be subject to a period of court-supervised probation. The US government and Boeing are still finalizing the pact and expect to file the final plea agreement by 19 July.

    The guilty plea marks a low point in the company’s century-long history after years of turmoil sparked by two crashes of its 737 Max aircraft in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people. The agreement also has the potential to complicate Boeing’s interaction with the government as a major defense contractor and builder of the presidential aircraft, though the company is likely to seek a waiver or turnaround that allows it to keep doing business in those areas.

    On the other hand, the deal stands to spare Boeing from the distraction of a criminal trial at a time when its finances are in disarray and its leadership is in limbo. The US company has been in crisis mode throughout the past six months after a near-catastrophic accident, which set of the chain reaction leading to the company’s guilty plea.

    Breach of deferred-prosecution agreement

    The Justice Department determined in May that Boeing breached a 2021 deferred-prosecution agreement tied to the crashes that was struck in the waning days of the Trump Administration. That followed the blowout of a fuselage panel on a 737 Max 9 on 5 January, just days before the deal was set to expire.

    The DOJ later concluded Boeing failed to meet a requirement of that deal to implement an effective compliance programme to prevent and detect violations of US fraud laws.

    As a result of the fuselage mishap, Boeing’s executive suite has been thrown into turmoil as its board searches for a new chief executive officer. The company’s finances are also showing the strain of a slowdown in production in the aftermath of the January accident, as it works to bolster quality and retrain workers under close supervision by the US Federal Aviation Administration.

    The company has said it would probably burn through about $8 billion in cash during the first half of 2024.

    In a brief statement, Boeing confirmed it had reached an agreement in principle on terms of a resolution with the Justice Department, subject to approval of specific terms. The planemaker in June had told prosecutors that it disagreed with the finding that it had violated the earlier deal.

    As part of the 2021 deal, Boeing paid a criminal fine of $243.6 million and admitted to deceiving the FAA about an obscure flight control system linked to the crashes. The company also pledged to improve its internal safety controls. In return, the government would withdraw a criminal charge against the company after three years.

    Families “extremely disappointed”

    The latest agreement was bitterly criticized by families of the crash victims, who were not consulted before it was unveiled. The families quickly filed a notice to object to the latest agreement, as well. As part of the new plea deal, Boeing’s board of directors will meet with the relatives of the crash victims — a request previously made by the families.

    “We are extremely disappointed that DOJ is moving forward with this wholly inadequate plea deal despite the families’ strong opposition to its terms,” Erin Applebaum, a partner at Kreindler & Kreindler LLP who represents families of the crash victims, said in an emailed statement.

    “While we’re encouraged that Boeing will not be able to choose its own monitor, the deal is still nothing more than a slap on the wrist and will do nothing to effectuate meaningful change within the company,” she said.

    The agreement also stipulates that the government will select and oversee the corporate monitor, addressing a concern the families had raised about the monitor being entirely independent.

    Boeing also faces investigations by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Congress and a Seattle-area grand jury into the events that led to the accident in January aboard an Alaska Airlines plane.

    The case is US v. Boeing, 21-cr-005, US District Court, Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth).

    Bloomberg

  • Boeing sees $8.7tr growth in aerospace defence market

    A strong commercial aviation industry, stable defence spending and the need to service all platforms throughout their lifecycle are driving a growing aerospace and defence market, Boeing Market Outlook (BMO) has shown.

    The outlook estimated aerospace and defence market at $8.7 trillion over the next decade, up from $8.1 trillion a year ago.

    The Outlook included  a $3.1 trillion projected demand for commercial airplanes through 2028 as operators replace older jets with more capable and fuel-efficient models, and expand their fleets to accommodate the steady rise in air travel across emerging and established markets.

    The BMO also projected  a $2.5 trillion defence and space opportunities during the next decade as governments modernise military platforms and systems, pursue new technologies and capabilities and accelerate exploration from sea to space.

    The projected spending – spanning military aircraft, autonomous systems, satellites, spacecraft and other products – continues to be global in nature with 40 per cent of expenditures expected to originate outside the United States (U.S.).

    Supporting the defence, space and commercial platforms, the Outlook suggested that with lifecycle solutions will fuel a services market valued at $3.1 trillion through 2028.

    “Aerospace and defence continues to be a healthy and growing industry over the long term, boosted by strong fundamentals across the commercial, defence and services sectors and demand that is geographically-diverse and more balanced between replacement and growth than ever before,”  Boeing Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Enterprise Performance & Strategy,  Greg Smith said.

    Boeing also unveiled its 2019 Commercial Market Outlook (CMO), a longer-term forecast that delved  deeper into the market for commercial airplanes and services.

    The newest CMO showed that  growing passenger volumes and increasing airplane retirements will drive the need for 44,040 new jets, valued at $6.8 trillion over the next two decades and up  by three per cent from a year ago.

    The global commercial airplane fleet will also sustain the need for aviation services valued at $9.1 trillion, leading to a total commercial market opportunity of $16 trillion through 2038.

    Boeing Commercial Marketing Vice President Randy Tinseth, said: “Time and again, commercial aviation has shown itself to be extremely resilient.”

  • Boeing sued over Ethiopian Airlines crash

    Boeing Corporation has been sued on behalf of a passenger killed in last month’s 737 Max plane crash in Ethiopia and orders for the troubled aircraft wavered in Asia, deepening the planemaker’s legal and financial woes.

    Chicago-based Boeing is under intense scrutiny after two crashes since October killed 346 people.

    As the company finalises a software upgrade for the grounded 737 Max, it’s fighting to hang onto some customers whose confidence in the best-selling jet has been shaken. Boeing is also facing a criminal probe into how the plane was originally approved to fly.

    The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the estate of Ethiopian Airlines passenger Jackson Musoni of Rwanda, claims the 737 Max 8 isn’t safely designed. The complaint follows earlier suits against the company over an October crash in Indonesia involving the same model. A Boeing spokeswoman declined to comment on Thursday’s complaint in a federal court in Chicago.

    “The subject accident occurred because, among other things, Boeing defectively designed a new flight control system for the Boeing 737 Max 8 that automatically and erroneously pushes the aircraft’s nose down, and because Boeing failed to warn of the defect,” according to the complaint.

    Flag-carrier airline Garuda Indonesia said it’s going ahead with plans to cancel a $4.8 billion order for 49 Max 8s. Still, Garuda is sticking with Boeing and has asked the manufacturer for different aircraft. In Vietnam, Bamboo Airways agreed to buy as many as 26 narrow-body jets from Airbus SE, just a month after saying it was considering ordering as many as 25 Boeing 737 Max planes.

    Kenya Airways Is Talking to Airbus, But Hasn’t Discarded Boeing

    Boeing is preparing to submit final paperwork to U.S. regulators for a software upgrade for an anti-stall countermeasure on the 737 Max that investigators said in a preliminary report repeatedly pushed the nose down on the Max operated by Lion Air. In that case, the jet went into a dive prior to crashing into the Java Sea in October.

    Authorities are probing whether the system was a factor in the March 10 crash of the Ethiopian Airlines jet, which regulators said behaved similarly to the earlier downed plane.

  • Boeing working on single pilot aircraft

    PLANE maker Boeing is working on technology that would remove the need for two pilots in the cockpits of its passenger jets.

    Boeing said  the aircraft could be operational by the late 2030s.

    The new technology will save airlines billions of dollars paid to second pilots that are in the cockpit of global airlines.

    Besides, saving global carriers huge sums, the technology will address the global shortage of pilots affecting some parts of the world, including Middle East counties and China.

    The world’s largest airline manufacturer revealed how the doubling of the global commercial airplane fleet, record-high air travel demand, and a tight labor market are all contributing to a massive shortage of pilots in the near-term.

    The biggest demand will come from the Asia-Pacific region — which is looking to add 261,000 more pilots — followed by North America, which is looking for 206,000 pilots over the next the next 20 years.

    The number of airline passengers is expected to triple over the next 20 years, according to a study by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) last year.

    China is the fastest growing market; the United States is the second. IATA forecasts that the North American region will grow by 2.3 per cent yearly and in 2036 will carry a total of 1.2 billion passengers, an additional 452 million passengers per year.

    Investigations reveal that there are more than 10,000 Boeing commercial jetliners in service, flying passengers and freight more efficiently than competing models in the market. More than 5,700 Boeing airplanes are currently on order.

    Existing European aviation rules state that passenger planes with more than 19 seats must have a minimum of two pilots in the cockpit.

    But Steve Nordlund, a vice president at Boeing, said autonomous technology that would allow for a reduction in on-board crew was being developed at a “good speed”.

    He said Boeing “believes in autonomous flight and self-piloted aircraft” and the firm’s commercial aircraft division was “working on those technologies today”.

    “I don’t think you’ll see a pilotless aircraft of a 737 in the near future,” he said.

    “But what you may see is more automation and aiding in the cockpit, maybe a change in the crew number up in the cockpit.”

    He suggested cargo jets could be the first to trial the technology but that it made “business sense” to pursue a reduction in the number of on-board crew on passenger planes, too.

    “A combination of safety, economics and technology all have to converge, and I think we are starting to see that.”

    It would also address a chronic shortage of pilots which analysts have said could reach more than 200,000 over the next decade.

    But while planes have become increasingly automated in recent decades, with autopilot routinely used throughout all phases of a flight, the prospect of fewer crew members may still prove to be a hard sell – both to passengers and regulators.

    After a Germanwings pilot flew an A320 plane into the French Alps in March 2015, killing all 150 people on board, Europe’s aviation safety authority, EASA, imposed a rule that two crew members should be in the cockpit at all times. It meant that if a pilot needed to step out of the cockpit, to use the toilet for example, a member of the cabin crew had to step in.

    EASA relaxed the requirement last year, saying it was up to airlines to ensure their aircraft were safe.

    Sully Sullenberger, the retired US Airways pilot who saved the lives of 155 people when he landed an A320 on New York’s Hudson River after both engines suffered a bird strike, has previously spoken out against moves towards single-pilot aircraft.

    After the US Federal Aviation Administration asked Congress for money to research single-pilot commercial airliners, he said: “Having only one pilot in any commercial aircraft flies in the face of evidence and logic.

    “Every safety protocol we have is predicated on having two pilots work seamlessly together as an expert team cross-checking and backing each other up.”

    Mr Nordlund, who heads the firm’s innovation arm, Boeing NeXt, insisted single-pilot crews would only be deployed if there was appetite for it from airlines.

    He said developments would be driven by the “comfort levels of the consumer”, suggesting passenger concerns about safety – whether well-founded or not – could delay the roll-out of autonomous technology.

  • Air Peace orders 10 737 MAX planes from Boeing 

    Air Peace has signed an agreement with  Boeing Corporation  for the acquisition of 10 brand new 737 MAX 8 aircraft, making history as the first airline in West Africa to add the equipment to its fleet.

    Air Peace operates Boeing 737s and Embraer 145s on its domestic and regional routes. The airline, which recently added Boeing 777s to its fleet, is planing to launch its international flight operations.

    Speaking at the agreement signing ceremony at the residence of US Consul General in Lagos, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer Mr Allen Onyema said the airline was more positioned to lift Nigeria’s economy, create jobs and transform air travel.

    “We are excited to add the 737 MAX to our fleet as we expand our network to offer more destinations and serve more passengers,” said Onyema.

    He added: “The fuel efficiency and superior operating economics of the 737 MAX will ensure that the aircraft will play a major role in growing our business in the years to come.”

    He commended Boeing, the governments of Nigeria and the United States (U.S.)  as well as Fidelity Bank for their roles in assisting the airline to achieve the feat.

    Boeing Commercial Airplanes Sales Director Mr. Larry Tolliver praised Air Peace for the feat.

    The new aircraft, he assured, would drastically cut the airline’s cost of operations.

    The U.S. Consul-General in Lagos, Mr John Bray, assured Air Peace of the support of his country’s government.

    The Managing Director of Fidelity Bank, Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo, for his part, praised Onyema for his integrity and hard work.

    He said Fidelity Bank supported airline because of its financial discipline and sound business model

    The 737 MAX 8 is part of a family of airplanes that offer 130 to 230 seats and the ability to fly up to 3,850 nautical miles (7,130 kilometers). With improvements such as the CFM International LEAP-1B engine and Advanced Technology winglets, the 737 MAX will help Air Peace save more than 20 per cent on fuel costs compared to its current single-aisle airplanes.

    The MAX 8, in particular, offers airlines 13 more seats than its closest competitor, seven per cent lower costs for each of those seats, and 300 miles more range.

    “Africa is a growing market for commercial airplanes and we are proud that airlines like Air Peace are selecting Boeing aircraft to be part of that growth,” said Marty Bentrott, Boeing Sales vice president for Middle East, Turkey, Russia, Central Asia & Africa. “This order reflects the strong demand that we are seeing for the 737 MAX as airlines choose the airplane’s superior performance and reliability.”

    The 737 MAX is the fastest-selling airplane in Boeing history, accumulating more than 4,700 orders from 102 customers worldwide.

  • Boeing to deliver 41,030 new aircraft

    Boeing has revised upwards its market forecast for aircraft deliveries over the next 20 years, with the rise of low-cost carriers (LCC) and emerging markets fuelling demand for passenger travel and cargo volumes.

    The Boeing Current Market Outlook (CMO) for 2017-2036 said 41,030 aircraft would be delivered over the next two decades, with 57 per cent to be used for growth and the remainder as replacement of older airframes.

    The forecast represented $6.05 trillion worth of aircraft at list prices.

    The forecast is contained in the manufacturer’s 2017-2036 CMOpresented at the Paris Airshow.

    It is an increase of 3.6 per cent from 39,620 new aircraft deliveries predicted in the 2016-2035 CMO published a year ago.

    Boeing Commercial Airplanes Vice President, Marketing Randy Tinseth said passenger traffic was expected to grow 4.7 per cent a year for the next 20 years.’’

    “The market is especially hungry for single-aisle airplanes as more people start traveling by air,” Tinseth said in a statement.

     

     

    There was an upward revision for the single-aisle (90-230 seats) market, with 29,530 new aircraft expected to be delivered over the next 20 years, up 4.9 per cent from 28,140 in the 2016-2035 CMO.

    “These new airplanes will continue to stimulate growth for low-cost carriers and will provide required replacements for older, less-efficient airplanes,” the 2017-2036 CMO said.

    The report noted the LCC “business model’s success for short-haul routes is evident in the current aviation market”.

    Further, the rapid expansion of LCCs in Asia had been a key contributor to the overall growth in the short-haul market since the early 2000s, the report said. In some home markets the penetration rate for LCCs had risen to more than 50 per cent amid double-digit percentage growth rates over the past decade.

    “While established network carriers continue responding to aggressive competition posed by the low-cost business models, our current backlog and forecast project that LCCs will penetrate further into the short-haul market and increase regional connectivity,” the report said.

  • ‘Why Boeing is addressing education , infrastructure gap’

    ‘Why Boeing is addressing education , infrastructure gap’

    Aircraft manufacturer Boeing Corporation has said it is interested in closing Nigeria’s knowledge and aerospace infrastructure gap to save the sector from imminent dearth of personnel.

    The Corporation is worried that driving the growth of aviation in Nigeria, the sector needs qualified and certified personnel, who will man both infrastructure and  equipment, including aircraft.

    Nigeria is experiencing ageing work force in critical areas of airworthiness personnel, flight dispatchers, pilots, flight engineers and other key personnel.

    A source hinted that Boeing planned   with Aviation and Aerospace Development Foundation  (AADF)  and Springfountain Limited to train aircraft technicians.

    The training, the source hinted, will form part of the capacity building assistance for Nigeria.

    Confirming the development,  Director of AADF, Kayode Ariwodola, said the training was part of the global intervention to assist Nigerian aviation sector.

    He said the corporation was committed to the project as one of the ways of addressing the quality of aviation education in Nigeria .

    He said: ”There  is need to review the status of the aviation education infrastructure in Nigeria and the adequacy of the existing training infrastructure, the equipment to produce Nigerians that can compete in the global aviation industry.”

    Speaking in an interview, director, Springfountain  Limited, Tokunbo Fagbemi, said Boeing was interested in training Nigerian professionals to address gap in personnel.

    She said Boeing in its 2016 Pilot and Technical Outlook  identified inadequate personnel for the sector.

    The Boeing  industry forecast for personnel demand projected that 617,000 new commercial airline pilots, 679,000 new maintenance technicians and 814,000 new cabin crew would be needed to fly and maintain the world fleet over the next 20 years.

    Meeting this demand, Fagbemi said, requires innovative solutions focussed on educational outreach and career pipeline programmes.

    She said: ”To inspire the next generation of pilots, technicians, and cabin crew, new technologies, devices and training methods will be needed to meet a wide range of learning styles.

    “The growing diversity of aviation personnel will also require instructors to have cross-cultural and cross-generational skills to engage tomorrow’s workforce.”

    Fagbemi said although, Asia Pacific remains the region with the highest overall demand, there has been a significant increase in the expected number of skilled resources required in other parts of the world.

    “New market opportunities, such as the opening of Cuba for the North American market and increased intra-Europe travel for the European market, have strengthened demand,” she said.

    According to information from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority ( NCAA) website, Nigeria has 25 airports , 30 airlines with 590 pilots.

    The website reads: ”The country has more than 25 airports, 30 airlines, 590 pilots, 19 flight engineers, 258 air traffic controllers (ATC), 677 aircraft maintenance engineers, 1,103 cabin crew and four aircraft dispatchers.”

    Experts say Nigeria should work out an ageing work force programme for pilots, flight engineers , dispatchers and other professionals.

  • Global aviation ‘ll need 1.5m pilots, technicians by 2035

    •Boeing, Emirates Flight Training Academy sign deal

    Boeing, the aircraft manufacturing giant, has predicted that nearly 1.5 million new pilots and new technicians would be needed in the next 20 years.

    Boeing made the forecast during  its 2016 Pilot and Technician Outlook.

    In its seventh year, the outlook is a respected industry study, which forecasts the 20-year demand for crews to support the world’s growing commercial airplane fleet.

    Boeing forecasts that between 2016 and 2035, the commercial aviation industry will require approximately 617, 000 new pilots, 679, 000 maintenance technicians and 814,000 cabin crew.

    The 2016 outlook shows a growth of 10.5 per cent for pilots over the 2015 outlook and 11.3 per cent for maintenance technicians.

    Boeing said new pilot demand would be driven by new airplane deliveries and fleet mix, while new technician demand would be primarily driven by fleet growth.

    According to the Vice President, Boeing Flight Services, Sherry Carbary, “The Pilot and Technician Outlook have become a resource for the industry to determine demand for successful airline operations. Cabin crew is an integral part of operating an airline, and while Boeing does not train cabin crew like pilots and technicians, we believe the industry can use these numbers for planning purposes.”

    According to the airplane manufacturing company the outlook represents a global requirement for about 31,000 new pilots, 35,000 new technicians and 40,000 cabin crew annually.

    Projected demand for new pilots, technicians and cabin crew by global region for the next 20 years is approximately.

    According to Boeing, the world would need nearly 1.5 million pilots and technicians and a breakdown of the figure region by region showed that Asia Pacific has the highest forecast with 248,000 pilots and 268,000 new technicians, followed by Europe with 104,000 pilots and 118,000 new technicians and North America with 112,000 pilots and 127,000 new technicians.

    Boeing also predicted 51,000 pilots and 50,000 new technicians Latin America, Middle East 58,000 pilots and 66,000 NT, Africa 22,000 NP and 24, 000 NT while Russia / CIS will require 22,000 NP and 26,000 NT by 2035.

    Meanwhile, Emirates Flight Training Academy, the new world class flight training facility developed by Emirates airline to respond to the industry’s growing need for pilots, has signed an agreement with Boeing under which both organisations will collaborate on a comprehensive training curriculum and software infrastructure to support academy operations.

    Emirates Flight Training Academy, under construction at Al Maktoum International Airport- Dubai World Central (DWC) and scheduled to open in October 2016, will combine best practices in education with state-of-the-art learning technologies and cutting edge training aircraft. Under the agreement with Boeing, Emirates Flight Training Academy will receive an integrated software system, based on the Peters Software system acquired by Boeing, for managing cadet learning and training flight operations, and an enhanced curriculum customised for Emirates. Cadets will learn with highly interactive digital content delivered in purpose-designed classrooms and on personal tablets.

    “Our programme is designed to produce career-ready pilots. Exceeding regulatory requirements, the curriculum will, for instance, see cadets complete at least 1,100 hours of ground and 315 hours of flight training using a competency-focused approach.

    We are leveraging Boeing’s expertise in airline pilot training to identify opportunities to enhance the Academy’s curriculum,” said Captain Alan Stealey, Principal, Emirates Flight Training Academy.

  • FUTA student for Boeing internship

    Oladunni Ogunnubi, a final year student of Transport Management Technology, Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA), Ondo State, has been selected by The Boeing Company, manufacturers of Boeing range of Aircrafts, to participate in its 2016 Internship programme in the United States of America.

    Ogunnubi, who will spend between six and 12 months at the Company’s headquarters in Seattle, Washington was selected because of her good grades and sterling performance during the online interview with the firm’s Selection Board.

    During the internship, selected students will be exposed to the field of transport engineering and management in the Boeing Aircraft Industry under designated managers.

    In addition to transport cost, Boeing will provide Ogunnubi and other interns from Kenya, Ethiopia, Jamaica, Togo, Trinidad and Morocco with hourly stipends.

    FUTA Vice Chancellor, Prof Adebiyi Daramola, said Ogunnubi’s selection testifies to the quality of training offered by the institution. He congratulated Ogunnubi and the Head of Department of Transport Management Technology, Dr Kolawole Gbadamosi for the feat.

  • Emirates, Boeing finalise order for 150 777X aircraft

    UNITED States plane maker Boeing and Emirates Airline have finalised a deal for 150 new 777X mini-jumbo jets.

    The deal, worth $56billion (£33billion) at list prices, was agreed at the Dubai Airshow in November.

    The agreement includes a provision for Emirates to increase its order by a further 50 aircraft.

    Boeing plans to start producing 777X planes in 2017, and has set itself a target of 2020 to deliver the first aircraft.

    “With the order for 150 777Xs, Emirates now has 208 Boeing 777s pending delivery, creating and securing jobs across the supply chain,” said Emirates president Sir Tim Clark.

    “The 777X will offer us operational flexibility in terms of range, more passenger capacity and fuel efficiency, and we look forward to inducting them into our fleet from 2010.”