Page 23 - World Airnews September 2020 Edition

NEWS NEWS

DASSAULT AVIATION LEADS SILVER SPITFIRE WORLD

BUSINESS JET INDUSTRY TOUR

assault Aviation has taken the top position in two of the wo British pilots landed at RAF Lossiemouth in a 1943 Spi�ire

Dbusiness aviati on industry’s leading gauges of customer T as part of their 27,000 mile expediti on around the world.

satisfaction, the Aviation International News (AIN) and ProPilot Lossie is a military airfield located on the western edge of the

product support surveys. town of Lossiemouth in Moray, north-east Scotland. The location is

The top ranking, after several straight second and third place one of more than 80 that the iconic warbird will land in.

finishes, follows a multi-year effort to establish a level of customer The Silver Spitfire expedition is aimed at promoting the ‘Best of

service second to none in the business jet sector. British’ to showcase the nation’s heritage in engineering excellence

Dassault was voted #1 overall in the AIN survey and led the field in and an aircraft that changed the course of history.

the following categories - parts availability, parts cost, AOG response The Spitfire commemorates a generation of intrepid aviators pre-

and overall aircraft reliability. In the ProPilot survey, Dassault took pared to stand up to oppression and make the ultimate sacrifice in

the #1 spot overall, as well as being placed first in spares availability pursuit of freedom. The two pilots Steve Brooks, 58, from Burford,

and service satisfaction categories. Oxfordshire, and Matt Jones, 45, from Exeter, Devon landed at the

“These survey results attest to the many different steps we military airfield recently battling through heavy thunderstorms
have taken in recent years to improve our global service centre across Scotland.
network, spare parts availability, AOG support and training ser- This marked the first stop of the Mk IX Silver Spitfire - the Lon-

vices. It’s also a direct result of the unwavering commitment to gest Journey expedition.

excellence by our employees,” said Eric Trappier chairman and It also enhanced spares performance and operator support by Brooks was also the first person to fly a helicopter from pole to fitted in the airplane. Watch the registered G-IRTY’s journey by

CEO of Dassault Aviation. opening a new flagship state-of-the-art distribution centre near pole in 2004. Jones said the biggest challenge during the expedi- logging onto https://www.silverspitfire.com/about/flight-tracker/.

“However we realise that retaining industry leadership in product Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris and moving technical personnel tion would be the weather and supplies of aviation fuel (Avgas). The single-seated Mk IX Spitfire is followed by a chase plane for

support is a continuous effort and we will do our utmost to maintain closer to customers and their destinations. Enthusiasts and supporters of the flight will be able to track the safety. Various actors, presenters and F1 driver David Coulthard

and elevate the standard of customer service we have achieved.” These enhancements followed a number of innovative customer five-month journey, which remains the first of its kind in the world, were reportedly in attendance for the departure. The plane fought

The top finish - the first time Dassault has placed first in both the support solutions introduced previously, including FalconResponse live and online through the SpiderTracks Live FlightTracker device in the Second World War, and served on 51 sorties. Q

ProPilot and AIN surveys- also reflects new improvements made - a comprehensive portfolio of AOG support services supported by

over the past twelve months. a pair of dedicated Falcon 900s (Falcon airborne support) available

In the first half of the year, the company expanded its global day and night to transport technicians, parts and tools to return an

Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) network with the acqui- AOG aircraft to service and provide alternate lift to passengers if
sitions of ExecuJet’s global maintenance business, TAG Aviation’s needed.

European maintenance network and RUAG’s MRO operations in Dassault remains the only OEM to offer this type of dedicated

Geneva and Lugano, Switzerland. service. Q
POSSIBLE MORE MAX RATE
NEWS
CUTS

documentation in September and the FAA ning, working through every dimension of
validates and approves the fixes in time this programme,” said Muilenburg A leap forward in safety oversight.

oeing is considering the possibility for an October re-entry into service, the He said that Boeing continues to meet

Bof lowering 737 Max producti on company expects to raise production to with the various regulatory authorities
rates below the already decelerated pace 57 per month by the end of next year. Of every day and that the company under-

of 42 per month if the airplane doesn’t course, either scenario raises implications stands clearly the work needed to return Virtual FDR™ from Spidertracks captures up to 25 position reports every
return to service early in the fourth quar- for members of the supply chain, some of the airplane to service. minute - providing you with an incredibly accurate representation of your
whom have actually benefitted from the

ter and temporarily shu�ng down the extra time the grounding gave them to Muilenburg’s disclosure came as Boeing

production line in Renton, Washington, in address their own production problems. reported that the Max grounding resulted aircraft’s flight path and real-time movements.

the event of a more prolonged grounding, Muilenburg specifically mentioned CFM in a (US) $2.94 billion net loss during the

quarter and a negative cash flow of (US)

reported company CEO Dennis Muilenburg and Spirit Aerosystems, both of which had $600 million. On July 19 the company an-
during the company’s second-quarter fallen behind in their supply of engines and nounced it would take a S4.9 billion charge
earnings recently. fuselage barrels, respectively. associated with customer concessions,

The company projects it will submit a final Muilenburg also acknowledged that a resulting in a (US) $5.6 billion reduction of

package of software upgrades, including scenario in which a return to service occurs revenue and pre-tax earnings in the quar- Experience the difference today. Contact Pieter Cronje to discuss

those needed to satisfy new Federal Aviation in October presents its own set of challeng- ter. Boeing estimates that costs to produce getting started with the world’s most trusted flight watch solution.

Administration requirements not related to es for Boeing, given that the post-certifica- the 737 in the second quarter increased

the manoeuvring characteristics augmenta- tion approval process normally takes sev- by (US) $1.7 billion due to a longer than +27 66 203 6205 | pieter.cronje@spidertracks.com

tion system (MCAS), sometime this month, eral weeks. Still, he insisted the company’s expected reduction in the production rate.

he said. estimate is not an overly optimistic. The company cut rates from 52 to 47 per

If Boeing manages to submit the required “Every day we are doing scenario plan- month in April. Q
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