About six months ago we spoke with an entrepreneur with an idea. You can watch him discuss it here.
Today the idea takes off, so to speak. Wade Eyerly, CEO and Founder of SurfAir took time to speak with us while commuting in California, the new base for the start-up airline. The business model is unusual – it is subscription based. They are limiting their base to 500 people as a start and, as of this interview, 20% of those slots were sold out.
This sounds like a great idea. Play
The airline scorecard is out again with the annual report from DOT on airline performance metrics – on-time flights, baggage handling, passenger bumping and customer complaints. On all of the metrics, the US airlines did slightly better in 2011 than 2010 across the board, but only marginally so. Performance seems to have settled in at a rate most passengers believe to be somewhat lower than it should be. Continue reading
The reported dispute between Air France-KLM and Rolls-Royce over the engines for their long-awaited A350 order comes down to Rolls’ insistence that it perform the maintenance on the engines and Air France’s desire to not only do its own maintenance but to also be free to in-source work for other airlines. Continue reading
We believe an area that deserves more aerospace attention is biofuels. Airlines need these fuels because they can reduce fossil fuel price volatility. Biofuels can be sourced in many places in the world. Places subject to much less political unrest than where oil comes from. A growing biofuel supply is necessary not so much for the positive Eco-impact as for jet-fuel price stability. Continue reading
Another industry pioneer has left us. Gordon Autry, Founder and CEO of Rocky Mountain Airways, passed away Saturday March 10, 2012 at his home on the Lazy-A Ranch, near Montrose Colorado.
Here you can hear him (in March 2010) describe what it was like building the airline before deregulation and other insights like launching the de Havilland Dash 7. Play
The ongoing kerfuffle over the EU’s ETS is now starting to hurt in places the EU seems to have overlooked – in its own backyard. Below is a comment just released by Airbus. Could it be the only people who comprehend that commercial aviation is a global system exist within the industry? Hurt or hamper one part, and the whole system suffers. The sooner ICAO gets involved the better.
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Stop ETS trade conflict
Airbus and eight industry partners call upon Governments of France, Germany, the UK and Spain
In joint letters Airbus, Air Berlin, Air France, British Airways, Iberia, Lufthansa, MTU Aero Engines, Safran and Virgin Atlantic have called upon Prime Ministers David Cameron (UK), Francois Fillon (F), Angela Merkel (GE) and Mariano Rajoy (Sp) to take action and stop an escalating trade conflict with China and other countries opposing the European Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
In their letters, the nine CEOs confirm that as a response to European ETS, aviation related businesses are now faced with real concrete action with serious consequences on the European aviation business.
In many of the countries opposed to ETS, countermeasures and restrictions on European airlines are in preparation, such as special taxes and even traffic rights limitations. In China, approval for US$12 billion worth of Airbus orders has been suspended. Airbus estimates that this will jeopardise more than 1,000 Airbus jobs in Europe and at least another 1,000 in the supply chain.
The nine CEOs fully expect the list of suspensions, cancellations and punitive actions to grow as other important markets continue to oppose ETS. They see the situation as becoming intolerable for the European aviation industry. “A situation that Europe can ill-afford in the current economic climate.”
The CEOs therefore urgently request consultations at the level of the EU Council and, most importantly, with the States taking this retaliatory trade action. “The aim must be to find a compromise solution and to have these punitive trade measures stopped before it is too late.”
“We have always believed that only a global solution would be adequate to resolve the problem of global aviation emissions. This solution can only be found in ICAO, which has recently appointed a high level dedicated group to propose a global framework for international aviation emissions by the end of this year,” the CEOs claimed in their letter.
The CEOs reminded the governments that the aviation industry has always supported the need to increase the sustainability of worldwide aviation by reducing its environmental impact. Furthermore, aviation supports market based measures as one important means of achieving this goal. “As such, our industry remains in supporter of global Emissions Trading Schemes (ETS) applied to aviation.”
The CEOs urge the Prime Ministers to use their influence in the ICAO Council to find an acceptable solution within as short a time frame as possible and offer industry’s support in providing resources to make this possible.
The CEOs are:
Airbus: Tom Enders
Air Berlin: Hartmut Mehdorn
Air France: Alexandre de Juniac
British Airways: Keith Williams
Iberia: Antonio Vazquez
Lufthansa: Christoph Franz
MTU Aero Engines: Egon W. Behle
Safran: Jean-Paul Herteman
Virgin Atlantic: Steve Ridgway
Bombardier announced today that Warsaw-base Eurolot ordered eight Q400s plus 12 options. Based on list price for the Q400 the firm order contract is valued at $246 million. The contract value would increase to $625 million when all 12 options are converted to firm orders.
The news caps a good week for Bombardier. They are enmeshed in a tough battle for a crucial turboprop order (with ATR) from WestJet. Both OEMs are doing custom painted airplanes for the competition in Calgary. There is no picture of the custom painted ATR yet. There is a good summary of the state of the competition here.
WestJet is doing the right thing in terms of having the two fight for the order. ATR wants to win the deal because a Canadian win for them would be a blow to Bombardier. On the other hand, Bombardier needs to win this deal just as much. The home team card is no longer as compelling as it once was. This will be a tough battle. At least Bombardier has the Eurolot win under its belt going into the Calgary Turboprop Rodeo.
Much of the industry attention is focused on airplanes over 150 seats – after all that is where the big orders are. But data on the regional market – less than 100 seats – shows interesting patterns. Rather than focus on total range, take a look at how airliners really get used. Using the US DoT T-100 data (2011 thru August) we see the following.
Among the turboprops the Embraer Brasilia did the longest flights and the segment clearly tops out at 200 miles. 
SkyWest accounted for 93% the E120 data and does much of this flying in the western part of the US where segments tend to be longer. The DHC8 flights are influenced by Piedmont (US Airways) accounting for 59%. These flights are typically feeder traffic into Philadelphia and as one would expect in the northeast, short routes.
The data suggests that OEMs should focus on this market because it is defined and has prospects – a lightweight turboprop with appropriate range is what airlines are going to look for as they update their fleets. SkyWest being the key re-fleet customer to watch.
Among the next group, with ranges between 300 miles and 600 miles we see a more 
complex display. This is a part of the market that is likely to be the most disrupted because the smaller jets are not economically effective at current fuel prices. The smaller group is below the thin white line – the 50-seat market threatened by the high speed turboprop and high fuel prices.
Note that the Q400, a high speed turboprop is in the hunt. Looking at the Air Time numbers you can see that a high speed turboprop is competitive. The amount of additional time required to serve a route with a turboprop is small compared to a jet – and at 40% lower fuel burn this is compelling and the tradeoff is attractive.
In terms of the larger regional jets it should be noted they are now flying segments that compares with those flown by 717s and 737 Classics. Therefore we see this segment as moving in two directions – regional jets growing larger and the high speed turboprop taking over from the smaller regional jets. Airlines with fleets with “horses for courses” (like Lufthansa) rather than standardizing on fewer types might be doing the smart thing.
Travelers hate them – fees for everything. Change your mind? That will be $50 please. Got bags? A fee. Spirit even charges for carry on bags. Is there no end to the nickle and diming? The short answer is no. Continue reading
[UPDATE - The table and blog updated]
Besides seeing its neo sales continue to grow – perhaps not as fast this year as last – Airbus created a race for the two engine firms. The stakes are huge. Both CFM and P&W need to build and maintain momentum. Continue reading