This week’s top air transport stories include the U.S. Senate confirmation of Michael Whitaker as the new FAA Administrator and the first uncrewed eVTOL prototype air taxi made its first untethered hover flight.
The U.S. Senate confirmed Michael Whitaker as the next head of the FAA after the agency had an 18-month gap without a permanent administrator. Whitaker will serve a five-year term that ends in 2028 and become the FAA’s first permanent administrator—and 19th overall—since Steve Dickson resigned in March 2022.
Archer Aviation conducted the first uncrewed test flight of its Midnight electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) air taxi. The non-conforming first prototype made an untethered hover flight Oct. 24. Santa Clara, California-based Archer plans to follow this first aircraft with six flying conforming prototypes to support “for credit” FAA certification testing. Crewed testing of the Midnight is scheduled to get under way in 2024.
In airline news, Qatar Airways Group CEO Akbar Al Baker announced he will leave his position by Nov. 5. Badr Mohammed Al-Meer, COO at Doha Hamad International Airport, is expected to succeed Al Baker as CEO.
Five new airlines moved closer to entering the Thai air transport market in 2024 after the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) issued them with Air Operating Licenses (AOL). Really Cool Airlines, P80 Air, Pattaya Airways, Siam Seaplane and Landarch Airlines, which are all offering different types of services, have received their AOL. This allows them to pursue the Air Operator Certificate (AOC) they need to launch services.
Lufthansa’s newest operating unit City Airlines will begin flying in summer 2024 with Airbus A319s. While operations will start with the smallest member of the A320 family, Lufthansa Group is evaluating newer aircraft types of comparable size, for example the Airbus A220 or Embraer 195-E2, which could be flown by City Airlines in future.
Qantas withdrew its application to extend its joint business agreement (JBA) with partner China Eastern Airlines, following opposition to the proposal from Australia’s competition watchdog.
Turkish Airlines agreed to lease 34 aircraft from Dublin-based AerCap Holdings, covering three Boeing 787-9s, 25 737-8s, and lease extensions on six used Airbus A330-200s. The new aircraft are scheduled to begin delivery in 2024 through 2026.
Swedish carrier Braathens Regional Airlines’ (BRA) initiated a court-led financial reorganization, similar to the U.S. Chapter 11 proceedings, as a result of the slowdown in domestic travel recovery due to rising costs ranging from airport charges, fuel prices and interest rates.
EasyJet completed a fuel- and noise-reducing retrofit program, which means Airbus’s Descent Profile Optimization (DPO) technology is now in place across its fleet, while compatible newer aircraft are equipped with Continuous Descent Approach (CDA) technology. The fleetwide retrofit will enable the UK-based LCC to make a permanent fuel savings of up to 88,600 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, based on its 2024 forecasts.
Vietnam’s Bamboo Airways signaled that it will be shedding its Boeing 787 fleet and dropping its long-haul flights as its restructuring journey continues. Long-haul routes to Frankfurt, London, Melbourne and Sydney have been removed from the booking section of Bamboo’s website. The carrier’s only international destinations now are Bangkok, Seoul, Taiwan's capital Taipei and Tokyo.
Cebu Pacific confirmed it is formally launching a campaign to order more than 100 narrowbody aircraft, which will allow the carrier to meet its ambitious fleet growth goals. The Philippine LCC said it will issue a request for proposals (RFP) to Airbus and Boeing for 100-150 aircraft.
Uzbekistan’s all-turboprop startup Silk Avia will come under the control of government-owned Uzbekistan Airways by mid-November.
In manufacturer news, Boeing is close to getting FAA certification approval on the 737-7s and the go-ahead to start formal flight testing of the 737-10—steps that could see deliveries of the last two 737 MAX variants start in early 2024 and early 2025, respectively.
Pratt and Whitney said its PW1000G-family inspection program is stabilizing and will soon include engines that power the Airbus A220 and Embraer E2, but the company’s analysis confirms the number of unscheduled shop visits on these variants will be low.
RTX is confident about financial concerns over its ongoing geared turbofan (GTF) engine problems as the company unveiled relatively expected financial results for Q3, as well as an accelerated $10 billion stock buyback plan for shareholders’ benefit. The buyback and quarterly results were also accompanied by improved financial guidance for the full-year 2023 results.
General Electric (GE) had a strong third quarter (Q3) as net income jumped to $258 million from $88 million a year ago, with adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of 82 cents well ahead of the FactSet consensus of 56 cents. Revenue rose almost 20% to $17.4 billion, also well ahead of the FactSet consensus of $15.5 billion. Given the solid third-quarter results, GE raised its full-year guidance and now expects adjusted EPS of $2.55 to $2.65, up from July guidance of $2.10 to $2.30.
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