Denver-based startup Boom Supersonic has won a $10m investment from Japan Airlines in its push to build a supersonic passenger aircraft it claims will be faster, quieter and more affordable to fly than the Concorde. Boom has 76 pre-orders for a 55-seat plane that it says will be able to slash the flight time from New York to London in just three hours and fifteen minutes. The firm has said its jetliner, expected to enter service by the mid 2020s, will fly at speeds of Mach 2.2, 10 percent faster than the British-French joint-venture Concorde, which popularized supersonic jet travel in the 1970s. JAL has the option to purchase up to 20 Boom aircraft and will assist efforts to hone the aircraft’s design and passenger experience, the companies said Tuesday. It is the first commercial airline to back the venture with investment. Virgin Atlantic is among airlines to have placed pre-orders with Boom, 14 years after the final flight of the Concorde, to date the world’s fastest passenger airplane. Industry figures are still debating whether regular supersonic flights, banned over the US in 1973 by the FAA, are feasible around modern cities due to the shock waves from the sonic booms the planes create. Boom says its aircraft, priced at $200m, will produce a sonic boom at least 30 times quieter than the Concorde, which was also dogged by high operating costs and fuel consumption and low capacity utilization. Boom estimates that fares for its aircraft would be 75% lower than the Concorde and comparable to current business class tickets, due to better fuel efficiency.<br/>
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Boeing is focusing on tweaks it may be able to make to the 777-8 to meet Qantas’s requirement for an aircraft that can fly nonstop from Australia’s east coast to Europe. Boeing’s VP and GM of the 777X programme Eric Lindblad says the 777-8 is the right platform for the Australian carrier, but admits that the manufacturer will have to tweak it to meet the expectation of carrying a full passenger load on nonstop services from Sydney to London and New York. “Today we have more work to do to make that the right airplane to do that given the Qantas requirements. We also believe that it’s pretty dang close,” he said. Boeing’s 777X chief project engineer Michael Teal added that it is looking at ways to achieve additional range from the -8, which is nominally set at 8,700m based on a 352-tonne maximum take-off weight. “If you look at the exact airplane that we have on paper today - which is not a firm configuration - it falls short of all of their desires, but exceeds many of their desires,” he said. Qantas threw down the gauntlet to Airbus and Boeing in August asking them for an aircraft that would be able to operate nonstop from Australia’s east coast to Europe and the US west coast with a full passenger load.<br/>
Cathay Pacific Airways hired McKinsey consultants earlier this year to advise on a transformation plan, drawing on turnarounds at regional rivals such as Qantas and Japan Airlines. Battered by competition from Chinese and Middle East airlines and hobbled by missteps in fuel hedging, Cathay in January completed a strategic review, and later announced its biggest job cuts in almost two decades. Following McKinsey's subsequent input - which has not been previously reported - Greg Hughes, Cathay's Chief Operations and Service Delivery Officer, said more than 740 initiatives had so far been identified to cut costs, boost productivity and improve customer service - including easier access to higher 'frequent flyer' status, more economy-class seats on Boeing 777 airliners, and on-demand dining for business-class fliers. Hughes said McKinsey's involvement ended after its consultants helped structure the three-year transformation programme, which is being carried out by Cathay Pacific staff and aims for HK$4b of savings from lowering costs and boosting productivity. "We have always wanted our transformation programme to be something that our people own and can deliver upon," he said. But, as Cathay chases a return to profitability, it looks set to continue a practice that some current and former employees say may be the biggest obstacle to a real change of culture: the airline's unusual executive rotation system. Under this system, so-called "house staff" at unlisted British conglomerate John Swire & Sons Ltd - which owns a majority stake in Hong Kong-listed Swire Pacific, which, in turn, owns 45 percent of Cathay - rotate positions at group companies every few years. Story goes into more details.<br/>
American Airlines CEO Doug Parker is investing more than $1b to mend tattered labor relations at the world’s largest carrier. A recent spat with pilots is prompting some analysts to question whether he’s getting his money’s worth. The aviators’ union warned last week that more than 15,000 flights were at risk of being scrubbed during the busy holiday season after a scheduling snag left many trips without crews. American promised extra pay for pilots willing to fly. As customer angst about potential cancellations mounted, the company further sweetened its offer before finally reaching a union staffing deal. The high-profile dispute underscored the lingering challenge for Parker as he seeks to reverse years of labor tensions at the world’s largest airline. Earlier this year, American paid out a profit-sharing plan after Parker reversed his earlier opposition. He also approved unusual mid-contract pay increases to pilots and flight attendants, spooking shareholders worried about rising costs. “Management refers to it as an investment, that they need to invest in their employees,” said Joe DeNardi, a Stifel Financial Corp. analyst. “Investors are struggling to see what the return on that investment is going to be, or where it’s going to show up.” American’s Dec. 1 deal with the union will cover about 1,500 flights and will increase wage costs by about $10m this quarter, said Jamie Baker, an analyst at JPMorgan. <br/>