Daily Archives: Feb. 13, 2012

Report: Pentagon’s budget request restructures Boeing’s tanker contract; reduces number of P-8As

Feb. 13, 20123:08 p.m.

The Pentagon’s budget request includes a plan to restructure the Air Force’s contract for aerial refueling tankers with Boeing, according to a Reuters report.

The plan would save $1.3 billion in fiscal 2013 and $2.4 billion through fiscal 2017, it said.

Documents from the Pentagon said the change would “reflect the developmental and production plans associated with the newly awarded contract,” Reuters said.

Boeing won the contract, valued at $30 billion, to build 179 tankers to replace the Air Force’s aging fleet last February.

The budget also includes a plan to buy 10 fewer P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance planes from Boeing for the U.S. Navy, Reuters said.

The P-8A is based on a 737 commercial airliner. Spirit AeroSystems builds the plane’s fuselage and other structures.

“Due to changing priorities within the department and funding constraints, the department deemed that it was a manageable risk to reduce P-8A procurement by 10 aircraft from fiscal 2013 to fiscal 2017,” the Pentagon’s comptroller told Reuters.

The Navy had planned to buy 21 P-8As in 2015 and 30 in 2016.

The Navy is replacing its aging P-3 Orion fleet with the new planes. It plans to start using them operationally in 2013.

 

By Molly McMillin | Filed under aircraft manufacturers, Boeing | Comments Off

Unions divided over FAA funding bill

Feb. 13, 20121:40 p.m.

Labor unions are divided in their opposition to a bill funding the Federal Aviation Administration because of a provision that changes union election rules, according to a report in The Hill.

Opponents fear it endangers their ability to organize.

In a compromise, the Railway Labor Act was changed so that a percentage of a company’s work force needed to vote for holding a union election changes from 35 percent to 50 percent, the report said.

Some unions worry about another FAA shutdown and support the bill. Some remain neutral, while others are campaigning for President Obama to veto it.

Obama has until Friday to sign the bill.

 

By Molly McMillin | Filed under aviation industry | Comments Off

Boeing’s 737 MAX begins final phase of wind tunnel testing

Feb. 13, 201210:44 a.m.

Boeing is making progress on the development of its 737 MAX, an upgraded version of its popular 737 Next-Generation single-aisle airplane.

The final phase of wind tunnel testing, a key milestone, begins this week, the company said.

“Wind tunnel testing is on the critical design path of the program,” Michael Teal, chief project engineer and deputy program manager, said in a statement. “Based on previous work in the wind tunnel, we are confident this final phase of testing will substantiate our predictions of the aerodynamic performance of the airplane.”

Testing will be done at a facility in Farnborough, England, called QinetiQ, and at Boeing’s Transonic Wind Tunnel in Seattle.

The plane will receive new engines. Modifications will be done to the plane’s aft fuselage, struts and nacelles.

Testing will be completed mid-year, with first deliveries slated in early 2017.

Boeing has taken more than 1,000 orders and commitments from 15 customers for the plane.

By Molly McMillin | Filed under aircraft manufacturers, Boeing | Comments Off