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• 

  August 5, 2021

  StartAéro 360 | Brève de l'actualité du 02 août

  Brèvesde l'industrie aérospatiale – 2août2021 ADS Group/Commercial aircraft orders and deliveries, first half of 2021(26 juillet) Aircraft orders and deliveries in the first half of 2021 showed a mixed picture. Total orders were placed for 764 aircraft, 292 of them in June.However, most of those placed in June were simply changes in aircraft type. 453 aircraft were delivered, down from more than 600 in2019. The order backlog increased modestly to 12,866 aircraft. Single-aisle aircraft accountedfor 88 per cent of orders as domestic travel continuesto drive the slow traffic recovery. Industrie Aérospatiale Airbus (29 juillet) Airbus a enregistréun bénéfice net de 2,2 milliards d'euros au premier semestre à la faveur d'importantes livraisons d'avions comparées à l'an passé, ce qui conduit l'avionneur à revoir nettement à la hausse ses prévisions pour l'année.Airbus a livré 297 appareils entre janvier et juin (196 même période en 2020). Le chiffre d'affaires s'établità 24,6 milliards d'euros(+30%).Airbus prévoit de livrer 600 avions en 2021 ; le carnet de commandes au 30 juin est de6925 avions dont 5666 de la famille A320. Safran (29 juillet)Le groupe Safran a enregistré un bénéfice net de 674 millions d'euros sur les six premiers mois de l'année. Son chiffre d'affaires s'est établi à 6,9 milliards d'euros, en baisse de 21,6% par rapport au premier semestre 2020. Safran considère que les cycles de vols du moteur LEAP équipant les Airbus A320neo et Boeing 737 MAX étaient revenus mi-juillet à leur niveau de 2019 alors qu'ils n'étaient qu'à 56% fin avril. De plus, l'utilisation des moteurs CFM56 progresse également mais reste en retrait de 35% parrapport à 2019. Au final, Safran table sur une « accélération significative de l'activité au second semestre ». Safran Cabin (29 juillet) Safran Cabin reportsa significant increase in both sales and orders. This compares with a very depressed first half of 2021 in which revenues declined by almost 40%, to €646 million versus the same period in 2020, itself impacted by the pandemic and the Boeing 737 MAX grounding. BoeingB737 MAX(28juillet)Boeing has delivered more than 130 MAXs since Decemberand airlines have returned more than 190 to service. Boeing is currently producing 737sat a rate of approximately 16 per month and expectsto increase this to 31 per month byearly 2022. Boeing financials (28 juillet)Boeing announced a $567 million profit in the second quarter of 2021, its first quarterly profit since the second half of 2019. However, the commercial aircraft business lost $472 million, although an improvementon a loss of $2.8 billion a year earlier. This was on revenues of $6 billion, up from $1.6 billion in the same period of 2020. Boeing as a whole generated $17 billion in revenue during the second quarter, up 44% from $11.8 billion in the same period of 2020. Airbus A350 freighter (28 juillet)The Airbus Board of Directors has approved the launch of an A350 freighter derivative. It will be a “light hybrid” of current models but based predominantly on the A350-1000. Its maximum payload will be more than 90 metric tons and service entry is planned for 2025. Airbus says that it is “getting “closer every day” to securing launch customers. General Dynamics aerospace results (28 juillet)Revenues of General Dynamics' aerospace businesses in the first half of 2021 were 18% down from 2020, to $1.6 billion. However, the $195 million profit was 23% more than in 2020. Gulfstream delivered 21 aircraft including 18 large-cabin and three mid-cabin during the three months ended 30 June, down from 32 in 2020. However orders have been strong and Gulfstream expects to deliver 32 aircraft in the third quarter and 37 in the fourth.General Dynamics characterized the G700 certification program as “difficult”. “Much remains to be accomplished, particularly concerning thecertification of the Rolls-Royce (Pearl 700) engine”. Britten-Norman (28 juillet)Britten-Norman has acquired a fleet of BN2T-4S Islander aircraft which hadpreviously served in the UK militaryunder the designation Defender 4000 (D4K).The aircraft, which are the higher capacity, longer endurance version of the turboprop Islander, will undergo major refurbishment and be returnedto the civil aircraft register for export sale. GE Aviation (27 juillet)GE Aviation took orders for 555 commercial engines in the second quarter, up from 74 in the same period last year. This included 438 CFM International Leap-family engines, up from just 24 in the same period of 2020. The company delivered 383 new commercial aviation engines in the second quarter, including 211 Leaps versus 362 and 178 respectively in 2020. GE Aviation expects a year-on-year production rate increase in the third quarter, but has not disclosed expected future rates, saying it is “assessing rate readiness across [the] supply chain”. Drones-Advanced Air Mobility Samad Aerospace (27 juillet)Cranfield based Samad Aerospace has completed hover tests for its second prototype eVTOL eStarling aircraft. Designed for intercity transport, the eStarling aircraft will combine VTOL capability with the speed and range of a business jet. With a semi blended wing body (BWB) design and powered by sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), the eStarling will be the fastest (300 mph) hybrid electric eVTOLaircraft in the world with the longest range(800 miles). Joby Aero(27juillet)The full-sized, electric-powered prototype of the eVTOL developed byJoby Aerohasflown 150 nm on a single charge. The missionwas flown near the Joby Electric Flight Base at Big Sur, CA. Spatial Inmarsat (29 juillet)Inmarsat has announced plans for “ORCHESTRA”, a communications network that will combine existing geosynchronous (GEO) satellites with low earth orbit satellites (LEO) and terrestrial 5G into an integrated, high-performance solution. The initialfive-yearinvestment isexpected to be in the order of $100m. Future plans include a LEO constellation of 150-175 satellites. Composite launcher fuel tanks (28 juillet)Under ESA's Future Launchers Preparatory Program,MT Aerospace has demonstrated a novel design of a small-scale tank made of a carbon-fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) that is both leak-proof with liquid hydrogenand compatible with liquid oxygen, without the use of a metal liner. A CFRP tank is much lighter than metal, requires fewer parts and is faster and cheaperto manufacture. Traditionally,storage of cryogenic propellants requires tanks with metallic liners to make them leak-proof, with or without a composite overwrap. Canadarm3 program (27 juillet)The government of Canada has awarded MDA a $35.3 million contract covering the preliminary and detailed design of the robotic interfaces (Phases B and C), of the GERI (Gateway External Robotics Interfaces) project. MDA has completed Phase A, the system definition phase. NASA(25juillet)La NASA vient d'attribuer à SpaceX un contrat de 178 millions de dollars pour une mission vers Europa, l'une des lunes de Jupiter, avec le lanceur Falcon Heavy. SpaceX profite notamment des retards et des dépassements de coûts du lanceur super-lourd de la NASA, le SLS, développé par Boeing, Lockheed Martin et Northrop Grumman. Le décollage est prévu en octobre 2024. Ariane Group (23 juillet)L'agence spatiale européenne a choisi Ariane Group comme maître d'œuvre d'Astris, l'étage additionnel pour Ariane 6. Propulsé par le moteur ré-allumable Berta à ergols stockables de très haute performance, ce « kick stage » doit effectuer sa première mission en 2024. Astris sera développé en Allemagne pour un montant de 90 millions d'euros. InnovationITPS (29 juillet) The International Test Pilots School (ITPS) of London, ON is offering course materialsvia distance learning. Practical demonstrations are delivered using the cloud-based NeoVuplatform to provide 360 ̊ immersive videos of flight test technique demonstrations. Viewable with VR headsets or other displays, the videos feature demonstration sorties flown by ITPS instructors .Universal Hydrogen (28 juillet)Universal Hydrogen has signed LOIs with Icelandair Group, Air Nostrum and Ravn Alaska to retrofit 15 ATR 72 and De Havilland Canada Dash 8 regional turboprops with hydrogen fuel-cell propulsion systems. The LOIs encompass replacement of the existing P&WC turboprops and fuel tanks with a pair of two-megawatt (MW) Magnix electric motors, and a fuel cell compatible with Universal Hydrogen's modular hydrogen fuel storage tanks. United Engine Corporation (27 juillet)La Russie lance son programme de R&D sur l'hydrogène et c'est le motoriste United Engine Corporation qui a été désigné pour mener les travaux. « Nous envisageons deux technologies de base : la combustion directe de l'hydrogène en tant que carburant dans desturboréacteurs modifiés et la transformation électrochimique de ce même carburant en énergie électrique à l'aide de piles à combustible » a déclaré Youri Chmotine, PDG de United Engine Corporation.

• 

  April 1, 2020

  HOW COVID-19 IS AFFECTING CANADA'S DEFENCE AND AEROSPACE INDUSTRY

  COVID-19 is the most disruptive event to hit the world's economy and nations since World War II, and the end is nowhere in sight. So how will the mix of business shutdowns, self-isolation, and plummeting government tax revenues (further depleted by COVID-19 relief spending) affect the Canadian defence industry? At this early stage, it is impossible to provide a definitive answer. That said, the companies and experts contacted by CDR provided some insights into the problem; based on their best assessments of what is going on. EXPECT DELAYS IN PROCUREMENT DECISIONS COVID-19 is bad news for Canada's defence procurement process. It has already resulted in delays to current projects, such as Irving Shipyards closing down work on the Canadian Surface Combatant in mid-March. It could also delay ongoing procurements such as the Future Fighter Capability Project, which is due to receive proposals from Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, and Saab by June 30, 2020. “In a situation like this, the key decisions are put off in government,” said Alan Williams, (During his 33 years in the federal civil service, Williams was Assistant Deputy Minister, Supply Operations Service in Public Works and Government Services Canada for five years; followed by fives years as DND's Assistant Deputy Minister of Materiel.) “Now you can do a lot of the paperwork associated with the procurement; including reviews and evaluations. But until things get back to normal, the key decisions will be put off.” AIRBUS HELICOPTERS REMAINS OPEN Canadian Airbus Helicopter operators can count on getting service during the COVID-19 shutdown. The reason: “Airbus Helicopters Canada qualifies as an essential workplace in the Province of Ontario,” said Dwayne Charette, the company's President/COO. “This allows us to continue to support our customers operating their helicopters to save lives, protect people and maintain critical infrastructure both in Canada and around the world. Our customers, including law enforcement agencies, militaries, emergency air medical service operators, and utility companies, are all relying on us to ensure they can continue to perform their critical missions and we have a responsibility to support them.” (In maintaining operations, Airbus is following approved COVID-19 infection-prevention procedures.) When it comes to Airbus Defence and Space Canada's contracts with the Canadian Armed Forces for CC-295 fixed-wing search and rescue (FWSAR) aircraft, “We are closely monitoring the situation and are in close contact with our customers,” said company President Simon Jacques. “We will review the situation once operations resume.” (Airbus delivered the first of 16 CC-295s to the RCAF in January 2020.) Airbus is also looking into producing critical medical equipment, in line with the federal government's plea to industry. MV ASTERIX READY TO HELP, DAVIE STILL RUNNING The Canadian Armed Forces are primed and ready to help with COVID-19 relief across Canada. So is Federal Fleet Services, which owns and operates the MV Asterix supply ship on behalf of the Royal Canadian Navy. At the moment, it is sitting crewed and ready for action in Halifax. “When we first designed the MV Asterix, we did a lot to ensure that it was ready for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief,” said Alex Vicefield, chairman and CEO of Inocea Group; the parent company for Federal Fleet Services and Davie Shipbuilding. This is why the MV Asterix has an operating theatre, Intensive Care Unit, and other medical facilities onboard; ready to sail to whatever accessible port the federal government sends it to. “The Asterix is ready to serve as a scaled-down hospital ship; if it were needed for that,” said Vicefield. The ship's hospital even has its own separate HVAC system that would keep the air breathed by COVID-19 patients separate from the rest of the air circulating throughout the ship. Meanwhile, Davie Shipbuilding is continuing to convert three Swedish oil and gas icebreakers to serve with the Canadian Coast Guard. “We're not going to stop this project, obviously, because those are important national security assets for Canada,” said Vicefield. He explained the need to boost Canada's icebreaking capacity without delay in terms COVID-19's possible impact on US food exports to Canada. If this year's US crop yields are slashed due to pandemic deaths and social isolation, “the potential for that food supply to stop coming over the border would make Canada more reliant on foreign ships coming from Europe and so on,” Vicefield told CDR. “So the need for icebreakers is even more pressing.” TERRANOVA PITCHES IN Before COVID-19 hit, Terranova Defense Solutions was focussed on providing drones for air, land, and water applications; including its remotely-controlled Dolphin One water rescue drone. Now that COVID-19 is here, the company intends to answer Ottawa's call for help by adding much-needed medical supplies to its product roster. “Terranova Defense Solutions has already engaged with other companies to global source medical supplies for Canada,” said company President/Founder James Castle. “We are currently waiting for a response from the Canadian government to the next steps and we are prepared to help Canada in whatever way we can for no profit to best serve our Canadian family.” Thanks to its mainstream drone business, Terranova Defense Solutions already has procurement relationships with international partners. “These groups have been working with us as one united front -- helping Canadians through our Call to Arms against COVID-19 – to help us in sourcing new Europe CE and US FDA Certified medical supplies and ventilators for those in need,” said Castle. This said, “Finding transportation and funding to purchase and ship these items has been a challenge.” Looking ahead, “The main challenge facing us at this time is the uncertainty of what the landscape will look like following the pandemic,” Castle told CDR. “We believe that, while there will be negative impacts to the industry, there are and will be opportunities for companies that provide fresh and innovative solutions to the country going forward.” CAE TAKES TOUGH STEPS As detailed in a March 23, 2020 webcast to investors, CAE sees COVID-19 as “a crisis of unprecedented speed and magnitude,” said Marc Parent, CAE's President and Chief Executive Officer. To manage its way through the pandemic's economic impact, CAE farsightedly formed a crisis committee in January 2020. As of March 23rd, “we're taking immediate steps to preserve cash by cutting capital expenditures and reducing operating expenses, including temporary layoffs and salary cuts across the board,” Parent said. In response to a CDR question about the impact of COVID-19 on CAE's defence projects, Parent noted that the company's defence training programs are service level agreements with government clients. This means that payments associated with these defence agreements are not reliant upon actual usage by clients, which is the case with CAE's civil aviation training programs. “We're providing critical services here too, and the US government has recently articulated the absolute necessity of this activity,” said Parent. This said, some US bases have restricted access to their facilities; specifically by imposing 14-day quarantine pre-entry requirements on people from 100 miles outside of these installations. “Anything and everything that has to do with the movement and cooperation of people is more challenging in this environment,” Parent said. “So we've been impacted in terms of getting orders fulfilled, just because of that; getting access to the people, meeting face-to-face ... As well, the general preoccupation with the crisis clearly has an impact on the speed of the procurement processes.” The only good news for CAE in the COVID-19 crisis is that “we have approximately a $4 billion backlog in defence, which provides us with a good source of diversification and visibility,” said Parent. “Longer term, we don't see an obvious structural impact on defence. But I think we can anticipate some short-term friction as we move through this period.” AFTER CANCELLING CANSEC, CADSI TAKES UPBEAT APPROACH COVID-19 is proving to be difficult for the Canadian Association for Defence and Security Industries (CADSI); most notably because it has cancelled plans to stage the CANSEC 2020 global defence and security trade show in Ottawa May 27-28, 2020. The bad news was announced on March 31, 2020, during CADSI's Annual General Meeting (which, due to COVID-19, was held as a teleconference.) “As you can imagine, the decision was not made lightly,” said CADSI President and CEO Christyn Cianafarani. The reason CADSI took so long to cancel this year's CANSEC – compared to other COVID-19 related event cancellations – is because “it has a $10 million impact on the local Ottawa economy,” she explained. “We took the time necessary to explore every possible option with the City of Ottawa, our partners, contractors and suppliers to mitigate the losses to our community, in order to secure the long-term viability of CANSEC.” Despite the loss of CANSEC 2020, Cianafarani is taking an upbeat approach to the pandemic, by focussing on the good things her members are doing for Canada. “Throughout this crisis, the Canadian defence and security sectors have stepped up to support where help is most needed,” Cianafarani told CDR. “Companies from coast-to-coast have refocused their attention to produce in-demand equipment like N95 masks, gloves, testing kits, shelters and ventilators needed to protect health care workers, patients, and the public. With the rise in online activity, cyber defence and security companies have offered free cyber protection services to hospitals, medical supply chains and other essential service providers.” “These are just some examples,” she continued. “At the Association level, we are working hard to ensure companies facing hardships and challenges are connected to the government programs best placed to help them get through these exceptional economic times.” AIAC SEEKS ‘ESSENTIAL SERVICE' STATUS In an emergency like the COVID-19 pandemic, access to aviation is vital. This is why the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada (AIAC) – in association with AIAC member companies and regional aerospace industry associations – “has been calling for action from the Prime Minister and Premiers to designate the aerospace, defence and space sectors an essential service in all of Canada's provinces and territories,” said AIAC President and CEO Jim Quick. “Canada's aerospace industry is doing vital work -- providing products, services and solutions for a variety of purposes including emergency medical services and the transportation of vital medical equipment, domestic and international transportation, firefighting, search and rescue, telecommunications, border and maritime patrol and security, law enforcement, and military operations and support -- and it needs a consistent approach across the country. Not surprisingly, the global shutdown is seriously affecting AIAC member companies. To help them weather the storm, “we've been actively reaching out to our members, letting them know we are here to assist in any way we can during this crisis,” said Quick. To achieve this the AIAC is sending out a daily ‘News You Can Use' COVID-19 update that outlines the latest aerospace industry related news and announcements. The association has also launched a specialized 'COVID-19 Updates and Resources' website page for the latest on government resources on stimulus, subsidies, webinars and more; plus holding briefings with federal cabinet members. As well, “Aerospace is responding to the government's call for retooling to convert operations to deliver on needed supplies such as ventilators, masks and other essential supplies and equipment,” Quick told CDR. CDAI POLLS SHOWS SOLID SUPPORT FOR CAF INTERVENTION 88% of Canadians believe that the Canadian Armed Forces have a role to play in supporting civilian authorities manage and mitigate the COVID-19 outbreak, according to a survey conducted by the Conference of Defence Associations Institute (CDAI) and Ipsos Canada. Based on a March 20-23, 2020 online survey of 2,000 Canadians aged 18+, the poll foreshadowed Ottawa's decision to publicly commit the CAF to COVID-19 relief on March 30, 2020. Among the CDAI/Ipsos Canada poll findings: 65% supported the CAF helping to deliver medical and other supplies to service providers and the Canadian public; 64% were okay with the CAF supporting Canadian law enforcement agencies; 58% supported the continued use of CFB Trenton to quarantine at-risk or infected travellers/evacuees; 54% wants the CAF to help with evacuating and medical transporting infected Canadians. "I am not surprised by these survey results,” said LGen (Ret'd) Guy Thibault, CDAI Chair and former Vice-Chief of Defence Staff. “Time and again Canadians have seen the outstanding professionalism and critical contributions of the men and women of the Canadian Forces in humanitarian missions and natural disaster relief operations abroad and at home. There is no more important mission for the Forces than protecting Canadians in times of great need, and they are a highly respected and trusted national institution.” http://www.canadiandefencereview.com/Featured_content?blog/168

• 

  August 2, 2021

  Star Alliance, NEC and SITA sign teaming agreement, paving the way to expand touchless journeys across member airlines

  Frequent flyer program customers of Star Alliance member airlines will soon be able to use their biometric identity across any participating airline at any participating airport following a new agreement between the world's largest airline alliance, NEC Corporation and SITA. The agreement announced today is aimed at accelerating the availability of biometric self-service touchpoints across Star Alliance's member airlines while delivering a faster, touchless airport experience. Connecting to SITA‘s Smart Path solution, the Star Alliance biometrics platform will be able to use SITA's shared airport infrastructure already available in more than 460 airports. Together with SITA and NEC's global presence, multiple biometric projects can be delivered in parallel, speeding up the availability of biometric passenger processing to Star Alliance's member airlines globally. This will be vital in enabling Star Alliance to deploy biometrics faster. A further advantage is the NEC I:Delight platform – which allows passengers who have opted to use the service to be identified quickly and with a high degree of accuracy, even on the move – can be easily integrated with SITA Smart Path. The I:Delight platform is also able to recognize passengers even when wearing a mask, an increasingly important feature for travel during the current pandemic. The platform is already in use by Star Alliance member airlines at several airports in Europe. Uniquely, passengers using Star Alliance's biometrics platform enroll only once. Passengers then can pass through biometrically enabled touchpoints across multiple member airlines and participating airports using just their face as their boarding pass. This speeds up the passage through the airport while making each step completely touchless, supporting important health and hygiene safety measures in times of COVID-19 and delivering on Star Alliance's vision of a seamless customer experience. Jeffrey Goh, CEO, Star Alliance, said: “This agreement is instrumental in bringing further scale to our biometrics service, with the inherent benefits of speed and meeting customer expectations for a more touchless and hygienically safer experience across all of our member airlines. Biometrics is a key element of that experience and our strategy of leading the way in digitalizing the passenger journey.” Barbara Dalibard, CEO, SITA, said: “Together with NEC, SITA is pleased to be supporting Star Alliance in bringing the full benefits of biometric identity to their member airlines. Passengers have long welcomed the advantages of control and speed automation brings to the passenger journey; a trend that has been accelerated by COVID-19. With this agreement the benefits of biometric identity will be extended from a single airline or journey to a vast network of airlines. That is truly unique and demonstrates the benefits digital identity can bring to the passenger.” Masakazu Yamashina, Executive Vice President, NEC Corporation said: "NEC is honored to join this three party partnership with Star Alliance and SITA. While the impact of COVID-19 continues, we are pleased to lead the creation of seamless and touchless travel. NEC is committed to providing a safe and comfortable customer experience through our NEC I:Delight identity management solution."