Two Democratic US lawmakers said Thursday the FAA overruled agency technical specialists on two Boeing Co safety issues involving the 737 MAX and the 787 Dreamliner jets that they said could be “potentially catastrophic.” The issues involve the 737 MAX rudder cable and lightning protection for fuel tanks on the 787 Dreamliner. Representative Peter DeFazio, who chairs the House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and Representative Rick Larsen, who chairs the aviation subcommittee, said in a letter to FAA Administrator Steve Dickson that FAA management ultimately overruled the technical specialists after Boeing objected. That action raises “questions about how the agency weighs the validity of safety issues raised by its own experts compared to objections raised by the aircraft manufacturers the FAA is supposed to oversee,” the lawmakers said in the letter. The lawmakers, who have been probing two deadly 737 MAX crashes, demanded a list of detailed answers from the FAA by Nov. 21. A Boeing spokesman said the manufacturer is aware of both issues and “confident that each was properly considered and addressed by Boeing, thoroughly reviewed with and approved by the FAA, and handled in full compliance with the processes governing review and disposition of such issues.” An FAA spokesman said the agency would respond directly to the lawmakers.<br/>
general
Airbus had 415 airplane orders in October, including its largest ever from a single airline, extending a wide lead over Boeing, which has been hit by the grounding of its 737 MAX. The European planemaker also announced on Thursday deals including 12 orders for its A330neo passenger jet from an unidentified buyer. The Airbus deals, including a record order for 300 aircraft from India’s IndiGo announced last week, brought the January-October total to 718 aircraft or a net 542 after cancellations. Boeing has reported 170 orders through end-September, the latest period for which data is available, or a net total of 54 after cancellations. After an accounting adjustment representing jets ordered in previous years but now thought unlikely to be delivered, Boeing’s net total sank to a negative 84 airplanes. Airbus, which last week cut its annual delivery target by 2-3% to 860 aircraft, said it had delivered 648 aircraft in the first 10 months of 2019.<br/>
Airbus is seeking a new permanent leader of a $50b supply chain as Klaus Richter, chief procurement officer, steps down from his post at the Franco-German-led company to “pursue other professional challenges,” industry sources said. The former BMW supply chain leader, who was credited with introducing carmaking strategies at Europe’s largest aerospace group, will be replaced on an interim basis by the company’s operational head in China, Francois Mery, staff have been told. Airbus declined to comment. Richter, who was said by industry sources to have uneasy relations with then helicopters boss Guillaume Faury after his procurement remit expanded to the whole group with his appointment to the executive committee in 2014, had seen his duties gradually reduced since Faury became CEO in April. His post was excluded from the executive committee in April, marking a retreat from previous company efforts to emulate the status given to procurement issues at some global car firms.<br/>
Dubai International, the world’s busiest airport for international travellers, reported a 2.4% fall in Q3 passenger traffic on Thursday. The airport, home to airlines Emirates and flydubai, said it handled 23.2m passengers in the three months to Sept. 30. That compares with roughly 22.6m in the same period a year ago. In the first nine months of this year, 64.5m passengers travelled through the airport, 4.5% fewer than the same period last year. Operator Dubai Airports blamed the year-to-date decline on a 45-day closure of a runway between May and April, and the global grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX jet since March. Both Emirates and flydubai have reported lower passenger traffic so far this year. The amount of cargo handled fell 5.9% in Q3 to 636,575 tonnes, while the year-to-date figure dropped 4.1% to 1.9m tonnes.<br/>
The headwinds facing Rolls-Royce are intensifying after the aero-engine maker revealed another blow to profits and cash from its troubled Trent 1000 engine, and admitted that returns from the programme would suffer for several years to come. The FTSE 100 company on Thursday announced an extra GBP800m hit to cash as a result of the turbine blade problems on the engine powering Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, taking the total expected cash cost between 2017 and 2023 to GBP2.4b. There was also a GBP1.4b exceptional charge to cover the cost of compensating customers and producing more spare engines, which will leave this year’s profits at the lower end of expectations. Warren East, CE, whose battle to drive profitability at the 113-year-old company has been hampered since 2017 by the Trent 1000 troubles, said he believed that the latest announcement would draw a line under the problems, which have left dozens of Dreamliners grounded around the world. “We have been prudent in our assessment,” he said. “We are reallocating funds so we can deliver certainty to customers.” Airlines have become increasingly frustrated by the group’s handling of the crisis in the Trent 1000 family, where turbine blades are degrading quicker than expected, which has forced aircraft to be grounded. Rolls-Royce has not had enough maintenance capacity or sufficient spare engines to ensure repairs can be carried out quickly, forcing airlines to adjust schedules for absent aircraft. “It is significantly harming our business,” said one airline customer. “We made the investment in the aircraft and its engines in order to get extra revenue, which we are not getting.” Story has more details.<br/>