DTN News: Boeing, Qatar Airways Launch New 777 Performance Improvement Package

DTN News: Boeing, Qatar Airways Launch New 777 Performance Improvement Package

*Airlines News: Boeing services offering provides airline options to open new routes, improve fuel efficiency, increase payload capabilities

Source: K. V. Seth - DTN News + Boeing

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada  {FARNBOROUGH, United Kingdom)- July 12, 2016: Boeing [NYSE: BA] and Qatar Airways announced today at the 2016 Farnborough International Airshow the launch of a new Performance Improvement Package.

Qatar Airways is the first customer in the world to take advantage of the new modification offering, a reflection of its focus on providing a superior product to its customers.

"Qatar Airways operates one of the world's youngest and most technologically advanced fleets, and we are always seeking ways to grow our operational advantage," said His Excellency Akbar Al Baker, Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive. 

"We appreciate Boeing's continued efforts to improve the value and efficiency of our existing airplanes, allowing us to stand out in the marketplace and keep our fleet at the forefront of global aircraft performance capabilities."

Through design improvements, Boeing's retrofittable Performance Improvement Package allows airlines to open new routes, fly existing routes more efficiently and improve payload capacity and range. Qatar Airways, as the launch customer for the offering, will be upgrading its entire fleet of 53 777s.

"Boeing never stops evaluating means of improving our already highly efficient and reliable aircraft," said Stan Deal, senior vice president, Boeing Commercial Aviation Services. "With our Performance Improvement Package, we're helping our customers obtain even greater performance from the market leading 777 family of aircraft."

Doha-based Qatar Airways is the state-owned flag carrier of Qatar. The airline currently operates a fleet of 34 Boeing 777-300ERs and nine 777-200LRs, in addition to 10 777 Freighters, linking over 150 international destinations across the globe.

Boeing is a leader in providing 24/7 support and service to the global aviation industry. In addition to retrofits and modifications, Boeing offers the industry's largest portfolio of services including aftermarket parts, subscription-based maintenance programs, engineering support, crew training, route planning, digital crew scheduling, advanced data analytics and software to enhance airlines and leasing company operations.

Contact:

Cynthia Reynaud
Boeing Commercial Airplanes Communications
+1 206-661-2632

cynthia.l.reynaud@boeing.com


*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth + Boeing
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 

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DTN News - BOEING NEWS: Few Customers For Boeing 747 Despite Upgrade

Asia News Report: DTN News - BOEING NEWS: Few customers For Boeing 747 Despite Upgrade

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources By Julie Johnsson and Andrea Rothman
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - June 4, 2014: (CHICAGO) — Boeing’s iconic 747 jumbo jet is gliding deeper into its twilight years, with a new Air Force One fleet offering the strongest sales prospect for a passenger model that no longer fits most airlines’ needs.

Even as Boeing talks with Emirates airline about an order for the upgraded 747-8, the carrier played down the chances of a deal because it’s buying 150 Boeing 777X jets. That plane will be bigger and more efficient than the current 777, a twin-engine aircraft so capable that it’s cannibalizing Boeing’s jumbo sales.

Commercial success has proved elusive for the 747-8, the latest update to an almost 50-year-old plane known for its distinctive humpbacked fuselage. While the 747-8 is a lock to win bidding that opens this year to replace the president’s fleet, waning demand for the cargo variant further imperils an assembly line that has slowed to just one or two planes a month.

‘‘Air Force One is it, unless a miracle happens in the airfreight business,’’ said Glen Langdon, president of Langdon Asset Management, a San Francisco firm that has extensive experience selling used 747s and other wide-body freighters.

Discussions with Emirates were disclosed this week by John Wojick, senior vice president for sales and marketing at Chicago-based Boeing’s commercial airplane unit, at the annual meeting of the International Air Transport Association in Doha. Emirates is the world’s largest international airline and it operates a fleet of A380s from rival Airbus Group.

Boeing is fighting to land customers, even using trade-ins of older models to seal deals. Boeing faces a ‘‘material’’ accounting loss if it can’t win sufficient 747 orders to recover the costs of development, according to a company filing. So far, Boeing has tallied just 51 sales for the passenger variant, known as the 747-8I or Intercontinental, since Deutsche Lufthansa AG placed the first order in 2006.

This year’s 747-8 order count: one. It wasn’t always so grim. Pan American World Airways announced a $525 million order for 25 of the first 747s in 1966, effectively launching a program that would go on to produce almost 1,500 planes.

But Boeing outdid itself with the 777-9X, the first twin-engine jet designed to carry a jumbo’s haul of 407 passengers. Meanwhile, a glut of the previous 747 iteration remain parked, and Boeing cut 747 production twice last year, to 18 jets a year, as the backlog dwindled.

‘‘We expect 747-8 sales to increase with the economy, and customers flying the airplane tell us they love its strong performance,’’ Randy Tinseth, a Boeing vice-president for marketing, said in an e-mail. ‘‘That’s why we continue to invest in the 747-8, to make it even better.’’

The 747-8’s likeliest sales are to the Pentagon. The Air Force is planning to upgrade the all-747 presidential aircraft fleet by 2023 and has also begun studying whether to replace the ‘‘Doomsday’’ fleet, four 747-200 jets hardened against nuclear blasts that provide a mobile military command, Charles Gulick, an Air Force spokesman, said in an e-mail.

The White House’s fiscal year 2015 budget proposes spending $1.65 billion over five years to replace its aging Air Force One fleet, which began ferrying President George H.W. Bush in August 1990.

*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources By Julie Johnsson and Andrea Rothman
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
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DTN News - AIRLINES NEWS: Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 Mystery

Asia News Report: DTN News - AIRLINES NEWS: Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 Mystery

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources Fox News
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 10, 2014: Vietnamese aircraft spotted what they suspected was one of the doors belonging to the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 on Sunday, as troubling questions emerged about how two passengers managed to board the Boeing 777 using stolen passports.

The discovery comes as officials consider the possibility that the plane disintegrated mid-flight, a senior source told Reuters.

The state-run Thanh Nien newspaper cited Lt. Gen. Vo Van Tuan, deputy chief of staff of Vietnam's army, as saying searchers in a low-flying plane had spotted an object suspected of being a door from the missing jet. It was found in waters about 56 miles south of Tho Chu island, in the same area where oil slicks were spotted Saturday.

"From this object, hopefully (we) will find the missing plane," Tuan said. Thanh Nien said two ships from the maritime police were heading to the site.

An authority told Reuters that it was too dark to be certain the object was part of the missing plane, and that more aircraft would be dispatched to investigate the site in waters off southern Vietnam in the morning.

Rahman said that the search area has been increased to 50 nautical miles, from 20, and includes 34 aircraft and 40 ships. Aircraft are conducting 12-hour searches, until sundown, while ships are scheduled to continue the search throughout the night.

Meanwhile, Interpol says no country checked its database for information about stolen passports that were used to board the Malaysia Airlines flight that disappeared with 239 people on board Saturday less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, bound for Beijing.

In a sharply worded criticism of shortcomings of national passport controls, the Lyon, France-based international police body said information about the thefts of an Austrian passport in 2012 and an Italian passport last year was entered into its database after they were stolen in Thailand.

Interpol said in a statement it was investigating all other passports used to board the flight and was working to determine the "true identities" of the passengers who used the stolen passports.

"I can confirm that we have the visuals of these two people on CCTV," Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said at a news conference late Sunday, adding that the footage was being examined. "We have intelligence agencies, both local and international, on board."

Hussein declined to give further details, saying it may jeopardize the investigation. Hussein said only two passengers had used stolen passports, and that earlier reports that the identities of two others were under investigation were not true.

European authorities on Saturday confirmed the names and nationalities of the two stolen passports: One was an Italian-issued document bearing the name Luigi Maraldi, the other Austrian under the name Christian Kozel. Police in Thailand said Maraldi's passport was stolen on the island of Phuket last July.

A telephone operator on a China-based KLM hotline on Sunday confirmed to The Associated Press that "Maraldi" and "Kozel" were both booked to leave Beijing on a KLM flight to Amsterdam on March 8. Maraldi was then to fly to Copenhagen, Denmark, on KLM on March 8, and Kozel to Frankfurt, Germany, on March 8.

She said since the pair booked the tickets through China Southern Airlines, she had no information on where they bought them. The ticket purchases reportedly took place almost simultaneously, and the tickets were numbered consecutively, according to the BBC.

A U.S. official told Fox News that a key priority is clarifying the status of the passports, whether they were lost or stolen, and determining through airport security screening and video who got on the flight under those names.

The statements came as officials said finding the wreckage of the flight is “the utmost priority."

“There is still no sign of the aircraft,” Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, director general of the Department of Civil Aviation, said during a news conference in Kuala Lumpur.

The U.S. Navy sent a warship, the USS Pickney, which was conducting training and maritime security operations off the South China Sea, and a surveillance plane. Singapore said it would send a submarine and a plane. China and Vietnam were sending aircraft to help in the search.

It is not uncommon for it to take several days to find the wreckage of an aircraft floating on the ocean. Locating and then recovering the flight data recorders, vital to any investigation, can take months or even years.

When pressed on reports of fake passports used by at least two passengers on board the flight and the possibility of a terrorist attack, Rahman re-stated that the priority is to find the aircraft and that any probe investigating a terror link is independent of the search mission. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has also said it is “too early to make any conclusive remarks.”

Earlier, Malaysia’s air force chief told reporters that military radar indicated that the plane may have turned from its flight route before losing contact.

Rodzali Daud didn't say which direction the plane might have taken when it apparently went off route.

"We are trying to make sense of this," he told a media conference. "The military radar indicated that the aircraft may have made a turn back and in some parts, this was corroborated by civilian radar."

Malaysia Airlines Chief Executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said pilots were supposed to inform the airline and traffic control authorities if the plane does start to return. "From what we have, there was no such distress signal or distress call per se, so we are equally puzzled," he said.

Vietnamese air force planes spotted two large oil slicks late Saturday in the first sign that the aircraft had crashed. The slicks were each between 6 miles and 9 miles long, the Vietnamese government said in a statement.

But there was no confirmation that the slicks were related to the missing plane, but the statement said they were consistent with the kinds that would be produced by the two fuel tanks of a crashed jetliner.

The plane was carrying 227 passengers, including two infants and 12 crew members when it “lost all contact,” with Subang Air Traffic Control at 2:40 a.m., two hours into the flight, the airline said. The plane was expected to land in Beijing at 6:30 a.m. Saturday.

Around the time the plane vanished, the weather was fine and the plane was already at cruising altitude, making its disappearance all the more mysterious.

Just 9 percent of fatal accidents happen when a plane is at cruising altitude, according to a statistical summary of commercial jet accidents done by Boeing. The plane was last inspected 10 days ago and found to be "in proper condition," Ignatius Ong, CEO of Malaysia Airlines subsidiary Firefly airlines, said at a news conference.

The lack of a radio call "suggests something very sudden and very violent happened," said William Waldock, who teaches accident investigation at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Ariz.

The plane "lost all contact and radar signal one minute before it entered Vietnam's air traffic control," Lt. Gen. Vo Van Tuan, deputy chief of staff of the Vietnamese army, said in a statement issued by the government.

U.S. officials said late Saturday that a team of safety experts had been dispatched to Southeast Asia to assist in the investigation. Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board told Fox News that the team, which includes investigators from the agency and technical experts from the Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing, had been sent to the region despite the fact that the plane had not been located due to the lengthy travel time from the U.S. and the team's desire to be in a position to assist local authorities right away. The FBI is also assisting in the search.

Meanwhile, a former intelligence official told Fox News that the information about stolen passports from two adjacent European countries, combined with recent warnings for flights to the United States about the risk of possible shoe bomb attacks, is concerning.

The airline said onboard the plane, there were 152 passengers from China, 38 from Malaysia, seven from Indonesia, six from Australia, five from India and three from the U.S. and others from Indonesia, France, New Zealand, Canada, Ukraine, Russia, Taiwan and the Netherlands.

The U.S. State Department later confirmed in a statement that three Americans were aboard the jetliner.

In the United States, a friend confirmed to the Associated Press that an IBM executive from North Texas named Philip Wood had been aboard the jet. Freescale Semiconductor, a company based in Texas, also confirmed Saturday that 20 of its employees -- 12 from Malaysia and eight from China -- were passengers.

The airline says the plane's pilot is Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, a 53-year-old who has been with the airline for over 30 years. The plane's first officer is Fariq Ab.Hamid, a 27-year-old who joined the airline in 2007. Both are Malaysians.

At Beijing's airport, authorities posted a notice asking relatives and friends of passengers to gather at a hotel about nine miles from the airport to wait for further information, and provided a shuttle bus service.

Malaysia Airlines has 15 Boeing 777-200 jets in its fleet of about 100 planes.

The 777 had not had a fatal crash in its 20-year history until the Asiana Airlines crash in San Francisco in July 2013.

Fox News' Catherine Herridge and Dan Gallo, as well as The Associated Press contributed to this report.

*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources Fox News
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
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DTN News: Aerospace/Defense Headlines - News Dated May 28, 2013

Asia News Report: DTN News: Aerospace/Defense Headlines - News Dated  May 28, 2013

 Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources including latest updates DTN Defense News 

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - May 28, 2013: Comprehensive daily news related to Aerospace/Defense for the world of TODAY.

**DTN News - Special Creative Contribution;

Tuesday May 28, 2013

• Icron Technologies and NET New Electronic Technology GmbH Validate USB3 Vision Interoperability
  2:00 am - Marketwire

Monday May 27, 2013

• EADS to continue to work with Germany on scrapped drone deal
  1:46 pm - Reuters
• Military Radar Systems Market Examined & Forecast by Visiongain in New Report Available at MarketPublishers.com
  12:53 pm - Business Wire
• EuroHawk GmbH, Northrop Grumman and EADS Statement on the Euro Hawk Program
  11:16 am - PR Newswire
• Global Military Radar Systems Market 2013-2023
  11:13 am - PR Newswire
• Atlantis Systems Corp. Appoints Vice-President, Business Development
  8:46 am - Marketwire
• Atlantis Systems Corp. Appoints Vice-President, Business Development
  8:40 am - Marketwire
• Addnode Group Acquires Basepoint Oy and Strengthens Its Position on the Finnish Infrastructure Market
  3:01 am - Business Wire

Saturday May 25, 2013

• Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne Engines Boost Latest Communication Satellite into Orbit
  12:38 am - PR Newswire

Friday May 24, 2013

• ATK Technologies Support Launch of ULA's Delta IV Rocket Carrying WGS-5
  10:44 pm - PR Newswire
• United Launch Alliance Launches Second Successful Mission for U.S. Air Force in Just Nine Days
  9:51 pm - PR Newswire
• Lobbying in American-US Airways deal focuses on small cities
  9:20 pm - Reuters
• Goettl Good Guys and The Sunny Plumber Initiate Veteran Hiring Campaign
  8:38 pm - Business Wire
• Justice Department opposes AMR's $20 million severance for CEO Horton
  4:32 pm - Reuters
• 2013 Memorial Day Message from the Military Order of the Purple Heart National Commander
  4:32 pm - Business Wire
• Memorial Day Flowers Brings Together Thousands Of Volunteers Across The Country To Honor America's Fallen Soldiers
  4:19 pm - PR Newswire
• Art Therapy Effective Tool for U.S. Air Force Veteran in Both Smoking Cessation and Pain Reduction
  3:11 pm - PR Newswire
• DECISIVE ANALYTICS Corporation Employee Owners Issued Patent for Method and Apparatus for Analyzing and Interrelating Data
  2:21 pm - PR Newswire
• MDA to provide operational support to Canada's DND to monitor areas of interest around the world
  2:14 pm - PR Newswire
• FLIR Systems Announces Additions to Executive Management Team
  2:07 pm - Marketwire
• General Dynamics Bath Iron Works Lays Keel of DDG 1001, Second Zumwalt-class Destroyer
  1:30 pm - PR Newswire
• SFT Introduces Critical Semiconductor Design Products for ESD & Electro-Thermal Analysis
  1:29 pm - Marketwire
• Paralyzed Veterans of America Donates $5000 to American Red Cross to Assist Victims of Oklahoma Tornado
  1:20 pm - Business Wire
• AIAA Endorses California Senate’s Space Flight Sales Tax Exemption Act
  1:10 pm - Business Wire
• Research and Markets: Global Commercial Aero Turbofan Engine Market, Supply Chain and Opportunities: 2012-2017
  1:08 pm - Business Wire
• Research and Markets: Global Aerospace Raw Materials Market to Grow to $29,104 Million in 2017 with a CAGR of 4%
  1:06 pm - Business Wire
• Research and Markets: The Global Commercial Aero Engine MRO Market Estimated to Reach $32.1 Billion By 2020
  12:58 pm - Business Wire
• Research and Markets: Global Commercial Aerospace Avionics Market Analysis and Outlook: 2013-2020
  12:50 pm - Business Wire
• Research and Markets: Global Commercial Aerospace Landing Gear and MRO Market Analysis and Opportunities: 2013-2020
  12:25 pm - Business Wire
• Kansas City team wins international awards in NASA Space Apps Challenge
  12:00 pm - PR Newswire
• AirAsia may order 50 more Airbus jets: CEO
  11:20 am - Reuters
• Prudential listed as a Best for Vets Employer by Military Times
  11:20 am - Business Wire
• One million and counting! KUKA Systems unit KTPO produces milestone Jeep® Wrangler JK car body
  11:15 am - PR Newswire
• One million and counting! KUKA Systems unit KTPO produces milestone Jeep® Wrangler JK car body
  11:14 am - CNW Group
• Carlisle Companies to Honor U.S. Marine Corps at NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway
  11:08 am - Business Wire
• Papa John’s Thanks the Troops for Their Service with USO Meal Deal and Pizza Party Celebration
  10:47 am - Business Wire
• TriMas Corporation to Present at KeyBanc Capital Market’s Industrial Automotive & Transportation Conference
  10:00 am - Business Wire
• Bombardier Among Canada's Big Defence and Security Players at CANSEC 2013
  9:34 am - Marketwire
• Bombardier Among Canada's Big Defence and Security Players at CANSEC 2013
  9:00 am - Marketwire
• Audi Begins Program to Match U.S. Military Veterans With Dealership Service Openings
  8:41 am - Marketwire
• Ohio 5th-grader captures 1st place in Raytheon's 'Build it Better' challenge with clever solution to zip through lunch line
  8:30 am - PR Newswire
• Raytheon to upgrade additional Netherlands air bases following successful deployment of first Wind Farm Mitigation kit
  8:00 am - PR Newswire
• Héroux-Devtek reports fiscal 2013 fourth quarter and year-end results
  7:00 am - CNW Group

Thursday May 23, 2013

• Air Comm Corporation (ACC) Acquires Meggitt (Addison)
  11:08 pm - PR Newswire
• Wesco Aircraft Holdings, Inc. Announces Underwriters Exercise of Over-Allotment Option in Offering by The Carlyle Group
  7:10 pm - Business Wire
• Factbox: What does Lockheed's F-35 fighter jet really cost?
  6:54 pm - Reuters
• Northrop Grumman Increases Investment in Australia, Expands Industry Partnerships
  6:20 pm - PR Newswire
• U.S. sees first drop in F-35 costs; other programs steady
  5:38 pm - Reuters
• Wesco Aircraft to Participate in Upcoming KeyBanc Industrial, Automotive & Transportation Conference
  5:33 pm - Business Wire
• Precision Castparts Declares Dividend at Quarterly Board Meeting
  5:31 pm - GlobeNewswire
• Havok’s Latest Simulation Technology Now Integrated with Scalable Display Technologies
  5:08 pm - Business Wire
• Military Robot Market
  4:57 pm - PR Newswire
• The LGL Group, Inc. To Present at 2nd Annual Marcum LLP MicroCap Conference
  4:56 pm - Business Wire
• AlarmForce to Release Second Quarter 2013 Financial Results on June 13, 2013
  4:30 pm - Marketwire
• New PCI Express with Two Optically Isolated Serial Ports
  4:10 pm - Business Wire

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources DTN Defense News
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
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DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: U.S. DoD Awarded Contract To Boeing Co., For U.S. Navy P-8A Multi-Mission Maritime Aircrafts Training System Support

Asia News Report: DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: U.S. DoD Awarded Contract To Boeing Co., For U.S. Navy P-8A Multi-Mission Maritime Aircrafts Training System Support 

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith &  U.S. Department Of Defense No. 278-13 April 29, 2013
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - April 29, 2013: The Boeing Co., Seattle, Wash., is being awarded a $21,459,925 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-09-C-0022) for the upgrade of the Training System Support Center in support of the Low Rate Initial Production Lot III, P-8A Multi-Mission Maritime aircraft.  

This modification also includes the procurement for the tooling and data for the Weapons Tactics Trainer.  Work will be performed in St. Louis, Mo., and is expected to be completed in August 2016.  

Fiscal 2011 Aircraft Procurement Navy and Fiscal 2013 Research, Development, Test & Evaluation, Navy contract funds in the amount of $21,459,925 are being obligated on this award, of which $21,055,883 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.  

The Naval Air System Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. 

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith & U.S. Department Of Defense No. 278-13 April 29, 2013 
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
©COPYRIGHT (C) DTN NEWS DEFENSE-TECHNOLOGY NEWS