Fleet
Norwegian Picks up Former Flyr 737s
- Southwest exercised options for 10 Boeing 737-7s in January. The Dallas-based carrier’s additional 737 Max commitments bring its total firm orders to 427 aircraft, split between 192 -7s and 235 -8s, with deliveries through 2030. Southwest is contractually scheduled to take delivery of 136 Maxes this year. However, with certification of the 737-7 still pending, it expects to take roughly 100 aircraft.
- Norwegian Air hasn’t wasted anytime taking advantage of Flyr‘s collapse. Last week, the discounter unveiled a deal with Air Lease Corp. for six former Flyr Boeing 737-8s. All of the aircraft would be delivered to Norwegian by “summer” — whether that is the IATA summer schedule that begins at end-March, or the official start of summer in June is unclear.
- Good news in the development of hydrogen fuel-cell powertrain technology. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has authorized Universal Hydrogen to begin test flights of its fuel cell technology on a Dash 8-300 testbed, following successful taxi tests in Moses Lake, Wash. No date yet for the first test flight but, if all goes well, Universal Hydrogen aims to deliver the first commercial aircraft, an ATR 72-600, with its low-emission fuel-cell technology to airlines by 2025. It is worth noting that Universal Hydrogen had aimed to begin test flights by the end of last year.
- Speaking of zero-emission aircraft, Air New Zealand has added Airbus, ATR, Embraer, Heart Aerospace, and Universal Hydrogen to the list of companies working to develop a zero-emissions replacement for its 50-seat Dash 8-300 fleet. The airline previously engaged Beta, Cranfield Aerospace, Eviation, and VoltAero on electric, hybrid-electric, and hydrogen fuel cell technology. The airline plans to begin revenue flights with a commercial demonstrator by 2026, and begin replacing its Dash 8s from 2030.
- Spirit AeroSystems (no relation to Spirit Airlines) used its fourth-quarter earnings call to provide more detail on the industry’s much-discussed production woes. It recounted the many frustrations of 2022, including Inflation, labor pressures, high levels of worker attrition, and increased training for new hires. “These challenges have resulted in higher-than-anticipated costs and disruptions in our factories,” the company said. The problem is far from over, with supply chain bottlenecks and heavy training time still ongoing. A critical supplier to both Boeing and Airbus, Wichita-based Spirit aims to produce shipsets for 650-680 A320s this year, along with 420 737 Maxes, 80 A220s, 60 A350s, and 40-45 787s. “I would say though that the supply chain situation is under better control than we were last year. There are still challenges, but it’s definitely improving.”