This week
flightglobal.com 26 January-1 February 2016 | Flight International | 11
First officer flight-
hours law ‘distorts’
market for pilots
air transport p 12B
ombardier has stepped up
production of the CS
airliner as crews from launch
operator Swiss Interational Air
Lines start flight training in
Mirabel, Canada.
The first CS100 for delivery to
Swiss in the second quarter is
now “structurally complete”,
Bombardier says. The carrier’s
route-proving aircraft will fly to
Europe in “the coming weeks”,
the manufacturer adds.
Bombardier resumed final as-
sembly operations in the CSeries
plant in Mirabel last August after
a year-long hiatus caused by de-
lays to the flight-test programme.
The factory is now building up
production to increase output
over the next five years. Bombar-
dier expects to deliver 255-
CSeries aircraft through to 2020.
“It’s truly a spectacular sight to
see the CSeries final assembly
line fully stacked with produc-
tion aircraft in various stages of
assembly,” says Bombardier
Commercial Aircraft president
Fred Cromer.
Although Swiss flightcrews
have already started instruction,
Bombardier is still working with
Transport Canada to validate the
training syllabus for the CS100.
C
anadian investigators have
revealed that a Virgin Atlan-
tic Boeing 747-400 crew declared
an urgency call to secure a lower
altitude after receiving a warning
over low fuel temperature during
a transatlantic service.
The aircraft (G-VGAL) had
been operating from Las Vegas to
London Gatwick on 19 January,
according to an occurrence re-
cord filed with Transport Canada.
While over the mid-Atlantic
Ocean its crew requested a
descent from 36,000ft after a
low-temperature fuel warning
was triggered.The aircraft’s flightplan origi-
nally included a cruise level of
35,000ft, but air traffic control
had instructed the higher climb.
Controllers approved the de-
scent to 35,000ft but subsequently
advised that, owing to traffic, fur-
ther descent could only be permit-
ted by declaring an emergency.
The crew declared a ‘pan pan’ ur-
gency call and reduced altitude to
33,000ft and then 31,000ft.
Transport Canada originally in-
dicated that the aircraft had also
offset 15nm (28km) to the right of
its track. It continued to Gatwick
without further problems. ■fleet Edward russEll washington dc
Delta chief is fan of Gtf’s ‘innovation’delta air Lines is taking a “serious
look” at the Bombardier cseries,
says chief executive Richard
anderson, citing the fuel savings
offered by the narrowbody’s geared-
fan engines.
“at the right price it’s quite a com-
petitive airplane given the engine
technology,” he said during a full-
year earnings call on 19 January.
the comments follow a viewing of
the Pratt & whitney Pw 1500 g-
powered cs100 and a meeting with
Bombardier commercial aircraft pres-
ident Fred cromer in december 2015
when the aircraft visited delta’s head-
quarters at atlanta hartsfield-
Jackson international airport.“the geared turbofan engine is
the biggest innovation since the
[Boeing] 787,” anderson adds, refer-
ring to the use of advanced compos-
ites on the dreamliner.
whether delta actually orders the
cseries is another question. in
2014 anderson praised the Boeing
787-9 during delta’s campaign to
find a replacement for its 767-
300ER and 747-400 fleets.
however, it ultimately ordered airbus
a350-900s due to what many ana-
lysts think were more attractive de-
livery positions and better pricing.
delta has previously acquired
used aircraft to fulfil its 100-seat
aircraft requirements. ■The Virgin atlantic service was flying from las Vegas to Gatwick
airteamimagescold fuel affected Virgin atlantic 747 over atlantic
inciDent
proGramme sTEphEn TrImBlE washington dc
cSeries gearing up for service entry
airframer increases production of narrowbody as flightcrews from launch customer swiss prepare for route-proving effort
The crews must be trained in
time to launch a route-proving ef-
fort in Europe ahead of entry into
service. The airline programme
adds to the North American route-
proving phase of Bombardier’s
certification programme, which
was completed in December after
the CS100 visited 35 cities.
“We are also doing something
unique to ensure that Swiss’s
crews will be ready at delivery
and EIS,” says Rob Dewar,
Bombardier vice-president and
general manager for the CSeries
programme. “The flight crews,
once trained, will operate the
CS100 route-proving aircraft
alongside Bombardier’s own
flightcrews from Swiss’s main
base of operations.” ■BombardierTwinjet visited 35 cities during the north american route-proving phase of its certification testing