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Simple Flying Aviation News Podcast
#290: Lufthansa's Boeing 777X 'Plan B,' Airbus' A220 Win, Southwest Airlines' BWI Collision & More
00:24:41
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A
Hello, my name is Tom Boone.
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And I'm Channing Reid.
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Welcome to a brand new episode of the Simple Flying podcast where we'll give you the lowdown on the latest news from the world of commercial aviation. Here's what we have for you this week.
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Coming up today, Tom will look at Lufthansa's Plan B If the Boeing 777X faces another delay. While I'll look at this week's big win for the Airbus A220.
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I'll look at why sanctions are stopping one new Boeing 787 airline from considering the United States, while Channing looks at a Southwest Airlines collision.
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And finally, Tom will update us on the status of the ex Qatari Air Force One.
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So now you know what's in store. Let's get on with the show. And I wanted to start today by talking about the 777X. And we've covered the 777X a fair amount on this podcast recently and this week there's another layer to add because Lufthansa CEO Carsten Schmore has been speaking as part of the airline's first quarter results presentation and I had the chance to put some questions to him directly. Now, what came out of it was a pretty detailed picture of where Lufthansa's long haul fleet is heading over the next 18 months, including what S4 is calling a Plan B if Boeing slips again. Let's start with the headline. S4 has once again reiterated his confidence that Lufthansa will receive its first 7779 in 2027. Now this is in line with what Boeing confirmed in its own Q1 results last month. That hasn't changed. But what's new is that S4 is now explicitly acknowledging the contingency. Its words were direct for the case that the 777X will have further delays. Of course, we prepared for this. Specifically, the A340 300 will continue flying in 2027, and Lufthans has been careful to maintain higher numbers of the type precisely so that it can absorb a slip without leaving gaps in its long haul network. There's a telling admission the airline has effectively kept some of its older quad jets on standby because it's learned the hard way not to rely on delivery timelines unconditionally. The 340 300, of course, is the shorter bodied sibling of the stretched A340 600, and those two variants are heading in very different directions. The 340300 gets a stay of execution but the 340600 is firmly in its final chapter, swore was unambiguous. The grounding of the A340 600 will be done by October 6th. The airline currently has four remaining examples, so if you've been meaning to fly on that type with Lufthansa, that window is closing fast. Now, the 747400 story is more nuanced, and Spohr's quote here is important because it's actually more definitive than it might first appear. He said that at least temporarily in the winter, two 747400 aircraft will be removed from the fleet and that Lufthansa will decide whether to bring them back in the summer of 2027. But he then added it will be then phased out later. That last part matters. He's not saying they're gone in the winter, but he is saying the end is coming. The 777X arrival, if it goes to plan, is almost certainly what triggers that decision. There's also a broader strategic detail in what SVR said that I think deserves more attention. He mentioned that Lufthansa wants to reduce its widebody sub fleets from 8 to 6. That's a significant simplification for a very complex operation. More aircraft types mean more training programs, more spare parts inventories, more maintenance certifications, more crew qualification silos. And cutting from eight sub fleets to six is a real operational and cost story because it's not just fleet size. S4 framed it as something that helps us enormously on the cost side. And that context sits alongside the wider restructuring the group has been going through in response to elevated fuel prices, which has already seen the closure of Lufthansa City line. The positive frame for all of this is that Lufthansa is receiving 27 long haul aircraft this year. SVHR's description was vivid. A new aircraft almost every week. If you include the shorter hauls, that's a substantial injection of modern capacity, and it gives the airline the flexibility to manage the quadjet drawdown on its own schedule rather than being forced into rushed decisions. The picture that emerges is one of an airline handling a genuinely complex fleet transaction along with a lot of moving parts and doing so with a reasonable degree of pregnancy pragmatism. And this week there's a concrete reason for optimism beyond the words of a CEO on May 7th. So yesterday, as I'm recording this, Boeing's Paine Field facility in Everett announced that WH128, the very first production 7779 designed for Lufthansa took its inaugural test flight three hours airborne, a top speed of 492 knots, a maximum altitude of 39,000ft. It is by any measure a real aircraft now doing real flying. The 777X is the prize and for the first time in a long time, it genuinely feels within reach.
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All right, well, we'll have to wait and see. Hopefully they won't have to implement that Plan B, but I guess it's a good thing that they do have it in place. I want to switch gears and talk about a new win, or a big win rather, for the Airbus A220 series. That is Malaysia's AirAsia placing an order for 150 of the latest generation A220, 300 aircraft. The purchase agreement is the largest single firm order placed for the A220 and propels the program beyond the 1000 firm order milestone, underscoring the aircraft's global market appeal. Now, this contract was announced at a press conference at the Airbus facility in Mirabel. It was attended by several airline officials and Airbus officials, but notably Chief executive officer of AirAsia Group, Tony Fernandez was there and made some interesting comments about their excitement for this new aircraft, as well as pressuring Airbus to potentially make another variant of the A220. I'll get to that in just a moment. But one of the biggest things about this announcement is that AirAsia will become the launch customer of the A220's new cabin configuration, which will accommodate 10 more seats than what it accommodates right now, which is 150seats. So we're looking at a boost to 160. That increase in capacity is made possible by the addition of an extra over wing exit on each side of the aircraft. Now, the A220 complements AirAsia's existing Airbus fleet and will play a role in advancing the group's network and growth. The aircraft will service destinations across the region, freeing up larger aircraft to fly longer routes. Now, Tony Fernandez in a statement said, quote, we have built AirAsia by making bold decisions at the right moment, not the easiest moment. This order reflects our long term discipline and scale of our ambitions. The A220 unlocks new markets and routes and brings us closer to building the world's first true low cost network carrier. He went on to say, our partnership with Airbus spans more than two decades and has been central to everything we've achieved. Today is another milestone in that journey and there are many more to come. Now, Lars Wagner is the CEO of commercial aircraft at Airbus. He also making a statement saying, quote, the A220 will provide an optimal platform for AirAsia, combining low operating costs at the range that will enable the carrier to open new routes across Asia and Beyond. Airbus and AirAsia teams have been working tirelessly to reach this landmark agreement, which is fully aligned with the airline's new network strategy. So, combining the longest range, lowest fuel consumption and widest cabin in its class, the A220 is the most modern airliner in its size category. That's according to Airbus. And it will carry again up to 160 passengers with this new variant that will be delivered to AirAsia. Now, at the end of March, there were a total of 501A 220s delivered to 25 operators worldwide. And so as you can see, this plane definitely has been gaining a lot of traction and popularity among different airlines. And I think for some, you might look at the Boeing's 737 Max 7 that is yet to be certified. Still, it does kind of seem as a big competitor to that aircraft and Boeing. It might even persuade Boeing to really get things going here. We have reported on them potentially certifying this aircraft within this year, next year. But time will tell in terms of that being able to be implemented and really being able to compete to this aircraft, which again is garnering a lot of attraction among a lot of airlines. And AirAsia is very excited for this new order. 150A 220s, that's a really big order. But also being the launch customer of the A200 2300 with an expanded seating configuration. Now I say all of that to say Tony Fernandez, of course the CEO of AirAsia, pushing Airbus to take it a step further and create this so called Airbus A220 500 which would be a stretch of the 300. And of course we know the 100 is the smallest variant and none of this has been confirmed. Airbus has really been kind of somewhat tight lipped about the development of this variant. However, Fernandez really pushing Airbus to move forward and commit to this larger A220 variant. At this press conference I was listening in and he said, quote, we really hope that you will build the 2002500 which is 185seats. That's the aircraft we really want. So Lars, get a move on. We do want that aircraft. He went on to say, and we have committed, if they build that aircraft. So you all can put him under pressure today. If they build that aircraft, AirAsia will buy another 150 of these as well. Very interesting and strong words from Tony Fernandez regarding this plane that again has not been formally announced by Airbus. Who knows? Will this persuade Airbus to fully commit to the 200 2500? We'll have to wait and see.
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For the third segment this week, I want to talk about an airline that doesn't get nearly enough attention in Western aviation media, but is in the middle of a genuinely fascinating fleet transformation and a geopolitical bind that perfectly illustrates how the events we've been covering in recent years are reshaping aviation in ways that go well beyond the obvious. Now, anyone who's listened to podcasts before knows that Air Astana is Kazakhstan's flag carrier, and last November it made history by placing its largest single aircraft order up to 15 Boeing 7879 Dreamliners. The deal was signed at the C5.1 summit and formalized in February of this year. On top of the 15 aircraft Air Astana is purchasing directly, it's also receiving three further 787s via Lessing companies, meaning its total Dreamliner fleet could reach 18 aircraft. To put that into context, right now Air Astana operates just three widebody jets, and all of those are the youngest Boeing 767 300ers. It's not an incremental upgrade, it's a wholesale step change in what the airline can do. I asked CEO Ibrahim Kanliel about the program at the airline's Q1 results this week, and he gave detail on the delivery schedule and it's worth sharing. The first 787 arrives in September of this year. In the months following delivery, Air Astana will run the aircraft on shorter sectors, which is standard practice when an airline is introducing a new widebody type, giving flight crews and cabin teams the chance to build experience on the aircraft before it goes onto the longer, higher stakes routes it was ultimately ordered for. That crew familiarization period will likely extend a little beyond the arrival of the second aircraft, which is expected in the latter part of 2026. The product story is compelling too. The 7879 will represent a significant upgrade on both cabins compared to what Aristana currently offers. Canliel's framing was clear customers are going to notice the difference, and the new aircraft will place the airline in a more competitive position as it looks to grow on medium and longer haul routes. Given that the existing 767 business class offers flatbeds in a 1, 2, 1 configuration, already a reasonable product, the expectation is that the 787 takes things up another level. But here's where the geopolitics Come in and it's the detail I find most interesting about the story. The obvious long haul prize for Aristana, once it has the range and capacity to chase it, is the United States. Kazakhstan has a growing economy, a substantial diaspora and clear commercial logic for a transatlantic connection. The 7879 has the range to get there. The problem is the routing. Flying from Almaty to the US In a straight line takes you directly over Russia. And Air Astana, like virtually every non Russian carrier, cannot overfly Russian airspace. That closure has been in place since 2022 in response to the invasion of Ukraine and it is not going anywhere soon. The workaround routing south and west, adding significant time and fuel is theoretically possible. But Kanliyel was candid about the challenge. His words were the 787 will need to be able to fly via a routing that we are currently not able to operate because of the sanctions. This will need to be resolved before we can start considering a direct operation to the U.S. so the aircraft will arrive. The ambition is there, but the path to the US is blocked by a geopolitical reality that has nothing to do with Aristana and everything to do with a war in Europe that shows no signs of ending. It's a reminder that the Russian airspace closure isn't just an inconvenience for European carriers adding a few hours to their Asia routes. It actively prevents some airlines from operating routes they would otherwise be well placed to launch. For Air Astana, the US Dream is on hold until the world changes and right now there's no clear timeline for that.
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Great news. Looking forward to seeing that aircraft come into service later this year. I did want to talk about some Southwest Airlines jets, a pair of aircraft that clipped each other in Baltimore earlier this week and the incident actually happened. I was getting a lot of people talking about it because it happened in Baltimore. However, it happened at an area that is a non communication zone at the airport, believe it or not. So according to CBS News, passengers on board two Southwest Airlines flights were forced to change planes after the airplanes clipped each other while leaving the gates at Baltimore Thurgood Marshall Airport, according to both the FAA and the airline. During pushback, Southwest Flight 1048 to Hartford, Connecticut and Flight 562 to Houston Hobby Airport backed into each other and caused minor damage to the wingtips. Southwest said the planes were immediately removed from and the carrier said no passengers were injured and an internal review is underway. The FAA is also investigating the incident. In a statement to CBS News, Baltimore Southwest said, quote, safety is Our top priority for both passengers and employees. Now, the air traffic control recordings were captured on live ATC and you can hear the pilot of flight 1048 telling air traffic controllers about the incident. After the collision, the pilot said, quote, hey, ground southwest 1040, we had contact between the two aircraft back here. We're going to need to taxi straight ahead back to Alpha 7. That's referring to the gate. Now, before that communication, the FAA said that the pushback zone was in an area where air traffic controllers typically do not have communication with the crew. Now, it is quite interesting hearing of this because most major airports don't really have no communication zones. There are probably procedures for if the communication is lost. But in terms of an active zone where there isn't any communication, quite interesting. It's actually the first that I've heard of this. Now, the FAA does describe no communication procedures as nordo and they are in place for pilots. Essentially, they would need to squawk 7,600. That's immediately setting the transponder to alert air traffic controllers of a failure of communication. Then there would the VR conditions. If the failure occurs and encounters, then pilots would implement visual flight rules and fly if they are actually in the air, they would need to fly with those visual flight rules and land as soon as possible. Now, there are airports that may not have an active control tower and pilots, of course, are trained on this as well. They would need to essentially report any positions on the common traffic advisory frequency to let others in the area know. So there are procedures in place. You know, the faa, we've reported about it here on simplifying agency has investigated multiple radio transmitter failures, including incidents in Denver and as well as Newark due to aging equipment. But again, in terms of a no communication zone, active zone at an airport, again, very interesting to hear of this. Now, CBS News, Baltimore reportedly was told that navigating the gates at Baltimore airport for pilots and planes takes a bit of geometry. Patience and awareness are needed to safely maneuver planes at the airport. One frequent flyer said that despite air travel coming under scrutiny over the past year for crashes and failed communications really doesn't scare them away from using that mode of transportation. Telling CBS News, quote, it's becoming more frequent and more concerning, but I believe it's the safest way to travel. And so while it does occur, it's so infrequent as to not deter me from wanting to fly. Very interesting here. And again, it's sad that these incidents happen so frequently. I mean, we reported on several ground incidents alone last year. The year before and we're seeing that trend continue. Of course we know that air traffic control staffing has been at an all time low, otherwise known as a crisis here in the US The FA working very hard to hire new air traffic controllers, but of course it takes a lot of time for training. But again, safety is the number one priority and I always look at these incidents as what can we take away? What can we learn from this? How can we avoid another situation like this? So it'll be very interesting to see where the investigation goes with the FAA and if any of our listeners are aware of other non communication zones at airports, let us know. I'd love to look further into that. We've talked about those non visible zones to ATC at airports, but my first time hearing of a non communication zone at a major commercial airport here in
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the U.S. thanks, Channing. Now to close out this week, a story that sits right at the intersection of aviation, geopolitics and depending on your perspective, either pragmatism or controversy. Because the United States is about to get a new Air Force One and it used to belong to the Qatari royal family. Let's rewind briefly. The permanent replacement for the current Air Force One, a program known as the VC25B, has been in development for years and has become one of the most troubled aircraft procurement stories in recent US Government history. I actually think it might have been going on for longer than the 777X drama. Boeing won a fixed price contract back in 2018 to build two new presidential aircraft based on the 747 8. The original entry into service date was 2024. Now today it's 2026 and the government the program isn't even expected to deliver until 2028 at the earliest. The cost overruns run into the billions and the technical complications have been well documented. That delay creates a real problem because the existing Air Force One fleets, the VC25As are aging 747200 based aircraft that have been in presidential service since the late 1980s. They're not going to last indefinitely. So the Pentagon needed a bridge solution. And that bridge solution turned out to be a Boeing 7478 that had spent several years flying missions for the Qatari royal family before Qatar gifted it to the United States last year. Now the decision to accept the aircraft was not without controversy. Accepting a luxury jerk from a foreign government always generates political friction. But the Air Force justified it on the grounds of what they called exceptional operational urgency. And this last week we got confirmation that the conversion program has cleared a major milestone. The aircraft, now officially designated as the bridge VC25B has completed its modification and flight testing phase carried out by contractor Lfree Harris at facilities in Waco and Greenfield, Texas. Testing began on April 17th with a five hour maiden flight and the entire test program was wrapped up in just two weeks. Converting a foreign VIP aircraft into a presidential command center in 12 months is by any measure a remarkable pace. Now, what exactly was done to the aircraft during that conversion obviously isn't being disclosed in detail. What we do know is that it's now heading into the paint shop and this is where the story takes an extra layer of interest. Now we all know the current Air Force One livery is the iconic light blue and white design that's defined the US Presidential fleet since it was introduced during the Kennedy administration. That's been the face of American power in the skies for over 60 years, and it's about to change. President Trump has long pursued his own livery vision for Air Force One, a darker, bolder design featuring navy blue across the belly and engines, a gold cheat line, an American flag on the tail and a stars and bars military roundel near the rear. The design faced early criticism, including concerns that the dark colors could cause thermal heating issues for the aircraft's systems. L Free Harris addressed those concerns by using heat reflective paint and a lighter shade in key areas, along with tweaks to the aircraft's environmental systems. The design was officially confirmed as the new standard for the US Presidential fleet in February of this year. Interestingly, the X Qatari jet won't actually be the first aircraft to wear it. A C32 Air Force 2 was recently spotted in the new scheme. Beyond the Bridge aircraft, there are other moving parts in the broader Air Force One program worth knowing about. Boeing has also finalized a $400 million deal for two former Lufthansa 7478 aircraft. One will serve as a crew training platform and the other a source of spare parts to support the primary VC25B fleet. So even as Boeing struggles with the core program, the support infrastructure around it is quietly being assembled. The bridge VC25B is expected to enter service this summer. When it does, it'll mark the end of over six decades of the Kennedy era livery and the debut of a very different looking Air Force One.
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Alright, looking forward to seeing it in the air. And that's going to do it for today's podcast. We hope you enjoyed it. We welcome any feedback that you might have. Editorial@simpleflying.com for more great content, you can
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visit our website@simpleflying.com or find us on social media. Simply search for Simple Flying.
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And if you enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a rating on your favorite podcast player. Thanks for listening.
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Bye.