Boeing and Airbus are the major players in the aircraft manufacturing community. Both have produced a number of aircraft models in recent years. Below are some very simple profiles of some of the more recent aircraft.
B787- Long range, mid-size, wide body and seats 210-290 passengers. It is currently in service. The big thing that separated this one from its predecessors is its fuel efficiency. Boeing claims it used 20% less fuel than other aircraft. It is also the first major airliner to utilize composite materials for most of its construction. Read more about the Boeing 787 on their website.
A380- Long range, double deck, wide body and seats 525-853. It is currently in service. It is a large aircraft and has more floor space than the 747. It was designed to break the monopoly Boeing had on the large aircraft market. Read more here.
B747-8- Long range, wide body, and seats 467-581 passengers. It was originally supposed to start deliver in October 2011 but was delayed. As a result of this delay, aircraft should begin delivery in 2012. It is the newest generation of the B747 family and is designed to fit a need in the community for an aircraft tat seats in the 400-500 range. Read more here.
A350-Long range, wide body, and will seat 270-350 passengers. It is currently in development. It is modeled after the A330. It is expected to be more fuel efficient than the B787 and enter service in 2014. Read more here.
Based on the current aircraft in the market and the status of the industry, It is my opinion that Boeing will take the lead in commercial jet manufacturing. I believe the industry is moving toward more frequent fights carrying fewer passengers. Boeing has a fuel efficient aircraft already on the market (not 2 years away) and has really targeted their production to smaller more efficient jets.
Comac is another manufacturer currently trying to make their debut in China. They are currently developing an aircraft due in 2016 called the C919. I do not think Comac will ever be a direct competitor with Boeing and Airbus. A big part of the aviation community is the public perception. Products coming from China do not have the best track record when it comes to safety. Also, When it comes right down to it, the aircraft currently produced and in development seat fewer aircraft than those produced by Airbus and Boeing.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Pilot Fatigue
On December 21st, 2011 the FAA issues a new rule regarding pilot fatigue. There are a number of changes that will require a great deal of restructuring to be put into place (to read the highlights read here). Out of the major requirements listed I believe the new flight duty period restrictions will increase safety the most.
The previous regulation did not include time on reserve as part of the duty requirements. Reserve duty typically requires a crew member to be ready for a trip in a moment's notice. This means a person could be on reserve duty and go about their day like normal, be up for 16 hours, be getting ready for bed and then get a call after they have been up all day. Once they receive this call, their duty day then starts, meaning they could be facing another 9-14 hours of work before they have a chance to sleep. I believe this aspect will increase safety significantly as the average adult needs 7-9 hours of sleep to be operating at the safest level. In addition, shortened amounts of sleep have been linked to increased risk of car accidents, increased health problems and decreased attention span (learn more here).
While this has the potential to increase safety drastically, the financial impact of this legislation will be significant as more crew members will need to be cycled through the on call schedule and additional managers will be need to be hired to track the total number of hours a crew member had been on call/flying and take into account the duration of the trip that needs to occur.
This rule does not apply to cargo carriers at this time as a financial analysis has shown that it would be financially impossible to implement these requirements. I believe that there needs to be some sort of fatigue relation put into place for cargo carriers, but they cannot be as strict as these. In my opinion, limiting the number of hours an employee can be on call would be a great place to start. I also believe another good place to start would be for the FAA to require cargo companies to write a fatigue mitigation policy into their operating procedures.
The previous regulation did not include time on reserve as part of the duty requirements. Reserve duty typically requires a crew member to be ready for a trip in a moment's notice. This means a person could be on reserve duty and go about their day like normal, be up for 16 hours, be getting ready for bed and then get a call after they have been up all day. Once they receive this call, their duty day then starts, meaning they could be facing another 9-14 hours of work before they have a chance to sleep. I believe this aspect will increase safety significantly as the average adult needs 7-9 hours of sleep to be operating at the safest level. In addition, shortened amounts of sleep have been linked to increased risk of car accidents, increased health problems and decreased attention span (learn more here).
While this has the potential to increase safety drastically, the financial impact of this legislation will be significant as more crew members will need to be cycled through the on call schedule and additional managers will be need to be hired to track the total number of hours a crew member had been on call/flying and take into account the duration of the trip that needs to occur.
This rule does not apply to cargo carriers at this time as a financial analysis has shown that it would be financially impossible to implement these requirements. I believe that there needs to be some sort of fatigue relation put into place for cargo carriers, but they cannot be as strict as these. In my opinion, limiting the number of hours an employee can be on call would be a great place to start. I also believe another good place to start would be for the FAA to require cargo companies to write a fatigue mitigation policy into their operating procedures.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
First Post!
Hello everyone! Here is a little bit about my background. I have been fascinated with airplanes ever since I was very small and one of my favorite parts about going to visit my grandparents was getting to go to the airport. When I began to look at colleges I was excited to see an aviation program.
I started college as an aviation flight technology major. During my first semester I noticed that as much as I love flying, I am really more interested in the operations and management side of aviation operations. I officially switched to being an aviation management technology major beginning my sophomore year.
I am still deciding where in the aviation field I would like to end up. I find air traffic control to be very fascinating and am hoping to enter that field in the fairly near future. Another aspect of the industry I am interested in is human resources and program coordinating.
Recently I have been interested in a few topics. The Nextgen implementation process has been an interest of mine as it will greatly impact air traffic control operations. Another topic I have been following is the American Eagle financial problems.
I started college as an aviation flight technology major. During my first semester I noticed that as much as I love flying, I am really more interested in the operations and management side of aviation operations. I officially switched to being an aviation management technology major beginning my sophomore year.
I am still deciding where in the aviation field I would like to end up. I find air traffic control to be very fascinating and am hoping to enter that field in the fairly near future. Another aspect of the industry I am interested in is human resources and program coordinating.
Recently I have been interested in a few topics. The Nextgen implementation process has been an interest of mine as it will greatly impact air traffic control operations. Another topic I have been following is the American Eagle financial problems.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)