THIS WEEK
8 | Flight International | 10-16 December 2019 flightglobal.comS
pirit AeroSystems has assem-
bled its first Boeing 767
forward fuselage, marking a
milestone for a company that has
previously produced only sec-
tions of the structure.
Wichita, Kansas-based Spirit
unveiled what it calls its first “in-
tegrated 767 forward fuselage” on
3 December.
Spirit has long made the four
smaller sections – cab, lower lob
and two side panels – that com-
pose the 767’s forward fuselage.
The company has previously
shipped those sections via rail to
Boeing’s final assembly site in
Everett, Washington, where they
are integrated into a single,
larger structure called fuselage
“section 41”.
Now Spirit is taking this as-
sembly task from Boeing, com-
pleting the work in Wichita. The
supplier also makes the 787’s full
section 41, although it does so
from a single piece of composite
material, the company says.
Boeing says the change will
improve efficiency as it increases
767 production. The airframer’s
line for the widebody currently
runs at a rate of 2.5 aircraft per
month, but Boeing intends to
boost this to three aircraft month-
ly in 2020. Spirit says it is already
producing 767 forward fuselages
to meet this increased rate.“In order to build more air-
planes to meet our customers’
needs, we have to be more effi-
cient,” Boeing tells FlightGlobal.
“We are working closely with
Spirit to build and assemble sec-
tion 41 in one location to achieve
improved quality and efficiency.”
The additional work will dou-
ble the amount of labour Spirit
devotes to 767 fuselages, and ne-
cessitated construction of an ad-
ditional manufacturing facility.
Work on that site started in Octo-
ber, the company says.
Because 767 forward fuselages
are too large for delivery by rail,
Spirit will instead ship them to
Everett in the same way as for the
787: aboard 747 Dreamlifter cargo
aircraft. Its first such transfer was
due to happen on 4 December.The 767, now in its 37th year
of production, has experienced a
renaissance of late, with solid de-
mand from cargo airlines for its
freighter model, and from the US
Air Force (USAF) for conversion
into KC-46A tankers.
Boeing holds outstanding or-
ders for 101 767s, according to
Cirium fleets data: roughly three
years of production. Its backlog in-
cludes aircraft for FedEx Express,
UPS Airlines and the USAF.
Additionally, Boeing is consid-
ering developing a re-engined
767, primarily for the cargo mar-
ket, dubbed the 767-XF. Such an
aircraft, which could use GE Avia-
tion GEnx powerplants, could
provide the airframer a lower-cost
alternative to its proposed New
Mid-market Airplane. ■E
urope’s safety regulator is
drawing operators’ attention to
the possibility that items improp-
erly approved by US firm Xtra
Aerospace may be installed on
European-registered aircraft.
Xtra Aerospace’s certificate
was revoked by the US Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA)
after a crucial angle-of-attack sen-
sor was found to be improperly
calibrated before it was fitted to
the Lion Air Boeing 737 Max 8
that crashed in October 2018.
An Indonesian inquiry found
that “inadequacy” of FAA over-
sight allowed Florida-based Xtra
to carry out incorrect mainte-
nance work.
In a 2 December bulletin, the
European Union Aviation Safety
Agency (EASA) says Xtra was
found to have systemically ap-
proved certain items for return to
service without those items being
included on its capabilities list.
The FAA discovered that Xtra
did so without self-evaluation to
determine properly whether it
had the appropriate and equiva-
lent test equipment or tooling.
While EASA has stopped short
of issuing an airworthiness direc-
tive on the matter, it says aircraft
operators, maintenance organisa-
tions and parts suppliers should
inspect their fleets and invento-
ries for any items approved for
return-to-service by Xtra. ■PROGRAMMEAtlas going strong after a decade
Ten years after the A400M tactical transport’s first flight, Airbus
Defence & Space is approaching the midway point of its contracted
business for the 37t payload-capacity airlifter. Prior to the 10th
anniversary of MSN1 getting airborne on 11 December 2009, the
company had delivered a combined 85 Atlas aircraft to the air
forces of France, Germany, Spain, Turkey and the UK, plus lone
export operator Malaysia. This leaves 89 in production or on order
for the European nations, plus Belgium and Luxembourg.
See Feature P
Airbus
SAFETY
DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW
LONDONXtra Aerospace
parts should be
checked: EASA
PRODUCTION JON HEMMERDINGER BOSTONSpirit builds up Boeing work
with 767’s forward fuselage
Aerostructures manufacturer takes over assembly task to improve ‘quality and efficiency’
There is solid demand from cargo airlines for type’s freighter model
AirTeamImages