Bombardier Q 400

A stretch version of [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]'s Q400 turboprop remains of "high interest" to existing and potential customers, a top programme official says.

The 90-seat aircraft - dubbed the Q400X - "is going to be a very versatile airplane", Gordon Pratt, Bombardier's Q400 programme director told ATI in a recent interview.

"In terms of seat mile costs, it has the potential to be a tremendous airplane," he says.

Bombardier has not yet formally launched the Q400X programme, but management previously said it is eyeing possible introduction of the type in the 2013-14 timeframe.

Generally, Bombardier sees a "steady and increasing market" for turboprops going forward, including in the United
States, says Pratt.

Between early 2000 and December 2009, the Canadian airframer delivered 65 standard Q400s to US operators, including to Alaska Air Group subsidiary Horizon, Pinnacle Airlines subsidiary Colgan and Frontier Airlines.

While the 11 Q400s operated by former Frontier unit, and now Republic Airways subsidiary, Lynx Aviation are being culled from Republic's fleet, Bombardier "clearly believes there is a role for the Q400 in North America", says Pratt.

He points out that the Q400 "enters services that were either previously flown by jets or are still flown by jets and are being supplemented by turboprops at different times of the day".

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QantasLink grounds five Q400s for main-gear checks

Australian flag-carrier Qantas has grounded five [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Q400 turboprops over concerns centred on the type's main landing-gear.
The aircraft are all operated by the airline's regional division, QantasLink, which has 21 of the type. It also ordered another seven last month.
Qantas says it has "temporarily removed" the five aircraft from service after inspecting specific undercarriage components. It has not detailed the nature of the problem.
The decision follows "incidents" experienced by an overseas operator of Q400 aircraft, says the airline, although it has not identified the carrier involved.
"Our approach to this issue, which requires the replacement of a main landing-gear fitting component, is consistent with Qantas' proactive, conservative and safety-first approach to every part of its operations," says chief executive Alan Joyce.
Qantas says it has also held discussions with Bombardier regarding the situation. It is unclear whether broader action, through an airworthiness directive, will be required.
"The issue is not an immediate flight-safety concern but does need to be rectified before each aircraft can return to service," says Joyce, adding that the work will take about a week for each airframe.
Sixteen other Q400 aircraft in the QantasLink fleet are unaffected. But the airline is nevertheless having to drop some of its services between Sydney and Canberra as a result of the withdrawal of regional capacity.
"Everything is being done to minimise any impact on [passengers]," says Joyce.
Bombardier has previously had to deal with concerns over the Q400's main landing-gear, notably following three separate landing accidents involving [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] aircraft three years ago - a situation which prompted the carrier to axe its entire Q400 fleet

A landing gear issue that led Australia's QantasLink to ground about one-quarter of its Bombardier Q400 fleet and spurred a service bulletin from the airframer has not affected Seattle-based Horizon Air, which flies Q400s.
Horizon inspected all of its aircraft when it first got word of the issue, spokeswoman Jen Boyer said Monday. "Only 20 of our 40 aircraft even fall under it, and we've not found an issue that requires us to do any maintenance."
Bombardier issued the service bulletin to check the engine nacelles attached to the landing gear for cracks or corrosion after an unidentified airline found a fault in that area earlier this year, according to [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], which said about 260 of the 300 Q400s in service worldwide required inspections and about 4 percent of the airplanes inspected so far required fixes.
Aviation Week [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] on QantasLink's status.

86% Of Q400 Fleet Needs To Be Grounded

About 86% of the Bombardier Q400 world fleet needs to be temporarily grounded for inspections due to a potential problem with a component near the landing gear.
“A detailed visual inspection and conductivity test is requested on approximately 222 Q400s,” says a Bombardier spokesman. Ascend Online fleet data shows there are 258 Q400s in the world.
The Bombardier spokesman says the aircraft-maker has issued a service bulletin to Q400 operators.
This problem “has nothing to do with landing gear extension and retraction; it’s a structural attachment in the rear nacelle,” he says. News reports say some Q400 operators have found corrosion or cracks in a fitting attached to the nacelle.
Qantas Airways has announced that it has temporarily grounded five Q400s over this issue that are operated by its regional QantasLink. The regional operates 21 of the aircraft.

Bombardier: 60% of Q400 inspections completed, less than 4% require repairs

Bombardier said 60% of 222 Q400s it has directed airlines to inspect have been examined, adding that less than 4% of the inspected aircraft have required repairs.
It confirmed the temporary grounding of five Qantas Q400s is related to the inspections ([Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]). Bombardier spokesperson John Arnone told ATW that the inspections, first recommended in an April service bulletin, are aimed at finding signs of "stress and corrosion" in a structural component of the nacelle that could lead to cracking.
He said a Q400 operator earlier this year discovered a crack in a nacelle fitting and notified Bombardier, leading to the inspection directive. The operator's name was not released by the manufacturer, but QF said it inspected its 21 Q400s after Flybe raised concerns about undercarriage fittings on its Q400s.
Arnone denied the issue is related to the landing gear problems that led to the retirement of 27 SAS Q400s in 2007. "This particular component has nothing to do with the extension or retraction of Q400 landing gear," he explained. "It is merely a component in the nacelle."
Bombardier expects Transport Canada to issue a directive related to the inspections "soon," Arnone said. He noted that Qantas took its aircraft out of service as "a precaution" rather than because of an immediate safety of flight issue. He said replacement parts "have arrived or are in route" to the Australian carrier.

Bombardier sees demand for higher-density Q400s

Bombardier is expecting to see increased demand for higher-density [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], although there appears to be little movement on a Q400X stretched derivative years after it was first mooted.
"With the Q400, we're starting to see customers going to higher densities," said Bombardier European sales vice-president Steven Aliment, speaking during a media briefing at the European Regions Airline Association general assembly in Barcelona.
"[Portuguese carrier] SATA has gone for 80 seats, giving them incredible economics for their jet replacement. I think we'll see more Q400 operators pushing their Q400 seat counts up," he says.
While plans for a stretched version of the Q400 appear stagnant, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft president Gary Scott insists the airframer remains committed to the Q400X concept: "Definitely a larger Q400 is in our future, it is just the matter of timing which is still to be determined. I think there is too much interest from our customers for us not to do it."

Contrat de près d'un milliard pour Bombardier

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SpiceJet, transporteur indien, prévoit acheter jusqu'à 30 appareils Q400 de Bombardier. La livraison de ces avions fabriqués à Toronto est prévue pour le deuxième trimestre de 2011.
L'achat de 30 appareils porterait la valeur de la commande à près de un milliard de dollars.
Le conseil d'administration a approuvé cette décision qui a été transmise aux autorités de la Bourse de Mumbai.
Les Q400 s'ajouteront aux Boeing 737 de l'entreprise spécialisée dans le transport régional indien.
Bombardier qui n'a pas confirmé cette information a déclaré à la Presse canadienne que des négociations étaient en cours. Des avions régionaux CRJ ont déjà trouvé preneur en Inde, mais l'arrivée de Q400 dans ce marché serait une percée pour Bombardier.

Flybe aeroplane wheel comes off in Exeter take-off

3 March 2011

A Flybe plane was forced to make an emergency landing at Exeter Airport after a wheel fell off.
The Flybe Bombardier Q400 took off from Exeter International Airport bound for Newcastle at 1225 GMT with 39 passengers and four crew on board.
A wheel detached shortly after take-off, forcing the plane to circle for about 90 minutes before landing.
No-one was injured, and the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch is investigating.
A Flybe spokesman said: "The Q400 aircraft was operating a flight from Exeter to Newcastle with 39 passengers and four crew on board when, on retraction, one of the wheels detached itself on to the runway.
"The aircraft landed safely without further incident; all passengers left the aircraft as normal by means of the aircraft steps.
"The safety of its passengers and crew is Flybe's number one priority.
"Flybe operates the world's largest fleet of Q400 with 58 aircraft with an average age of 4.1 years that safely operate over 100,000 flights a year."
Passengers were put on a later flight which landed safely at Newcastle

Canadian airline Porter Airlines has placed firm orders for two Bombardier Q400 turboprop aircraft, an order valued at about USD$61 million, the two companies said on Tuesday.
The transaction is the conversion of two of six Porter options on the planes announced previously by Bombardier.
The two new orders are for Q400 NextGen aircraft, which are the 70- to 80-seat short-haul planes that Porter has chosen for the regional flights it operates from Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, the airline's hub.

The two aircraft will increase the total number of Q400 and Q400 NextGen aircraft ordered by Porter to 26. Twenty of these are already in service.
Porter did not say how it planned to finance the aircraft.
Porter, which began operations in 2006, is Canada's third largest scheduled airline and has become a favourite among business travellers because of its universal business class service and because its hub airport is close to Toronto's financial district.

Bombardier Stock Sinks On Regional Jet Outlook
September 1, 2011

Bombardier sketched a gloomy outlook for its regional jet business as a weaker global economy sapped demand, causing its shares to sink despite strong profit numbers.

The world's number three commercial plane maker burned through cash at a much higher rate than the market had expected in the second quarter as aircraft orders, and the accompanying customer deposits that top up Bombardier's cash flow, dried up.

Bombardier said it might have to curb production of its CRJ fleet of regional commercial aircraft if orders do not pick up. It may make an announcement on output cuts later in the year. This follows a small cut to its Q400 turboprop output last quarter.

"It is at the point now that the backlogs are extremely, extremely thin, where you start questioning the forward outlook," said PI Financial analyst Chris Murray.

"I was actually somewhat surprised that they maintained their production line rate."

Bombardier's shares fell back on Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Analysts said the slide might be exaggerated as the stock jumped 5 percent on Tuesday ahead of the results.

The stock initially opened more than 2 percent higher, lifted by a higher-than-expected second-quarter net profit of USD$211 million.

But the rally fizzled as the market digested the fact that Montreal-based Bombardier drew USD$1.07 billion from free cash flow in the quarter, nearly double the rate of a year earlier.

The company also said it expects economic uncertainty in the United States and Europe -- traditionally its biggest and strongest markets -- to keep a lid on customer deposits on commercial aircraft for the rest of the fiscal year.

"We had anticipated that the regional market would pick up faster. It has not happened. There is still a lot of uncertainty in the marketplace," Guy Hachey, president and chief operating officer of Bombardier's aerospace unit said.

He was concerned that Bombardier would "most likely" have to make production cuts on its CRJ regional jets, Hachey said.

It may also be tough to meet its forecast of delivering 90 commercial aircraft this year although the company was working hard to drum up business in emerging markets -- regions it had not targeted strongly before.

However, its business jet unit was performing well and was on track to deliver or beat the 150 deliveries it has forecast for 2011, Hachey said.

C-SERIES ON TRACK

Hachey said Bombardier expects a steady flow of orders in the months to come for its new C-Series jet, the company's biggest aircraft yet. It will compete head-on with the smaller suite of aircraft manufactured by industry leaders Airbus and Boeing.

He said interest in the 110- to 135-seater has not abated even though Boeing announced plans to outfit its smaller, competing aircraft with a new engine.

The USD$3 billion C-Series jet suffered a blow last week with the surprise announcement that Gary Scott, the head of the plane maker's commercial plane division, would retire in October for personal reasons.

The C-Series has 133 firm orders on its books but orders have been sporadic, raising concerns about customer appetite.

RESULTS BETTER THAN EXPECTED

Lower-than-normal taxes and strong train division sales lifted Bombardier's second-quarter profit. Revenue rose 17 percent to USD$4.74 billion.

Revenue at the aerospace division, which manufactures business, commercial and amphibious aircraft, increased 11 percent to USD$2.1 billion.

Bombardier's combined plane and train order backlog rose to USD$56.9 billion at the end of July from the USD$55.1 billion on April 30.

(Reuters)

US FAA mandates Q400 wire checks

A final airworthiness directive (AD) to be issued by the US Federal Aviation Administration on 31 January targets wiring issues that could potentially cause the failure of ice protection systems on the Bombardier Q400.

Within 400 flight hours or 60 days of the mid-February activation date of the AD, US operators of Q400s will be required to inspect certain alternating current (AC) power wire bundles for damage, making repairs if needed, and segregating the wire bundle into two separate bundles with Teflon tubing.

The FAA said the AD, initially issued by Transport Canada on 20 December, was prompted by multiple reports of the loss of certain alternating current (AC) systems and the tripping of associated circuit breakers. The failure was caused by burned AC power wire bundles, the FAA said.

"All AC systems and AC generators could be affected by damage to this AC power wire bundle resulting in the loss of ice protection systems for the angle of attack vanes, pitot probes, engine inlets or windshields," said the FAA in the AD. "In icing conditions, the loss of the ice protection systems could affect continued safe flight."

The FAA accelerated the activation time for the inspections from the 600 flight hours and 90 days as mandated by Transport Canada in December.

"In developing an appropriate compliance time for this AD, we considered the degree of urgency associated with addressing the unsafe condition, the upcoming inclement weather conditions, and the maximum interval of time allowable for all affected airplanes to continue to operate without compromising safety," the agency said.