Delayed 737 MAX deliveries for Ryanair cuts into 737-800 conversion feedstock

Ryanair Holdings revised the number of 737 MAX aircraft it expects to be operating in its fleet by Summer 2020 from fifty-eight to just thirty, the company announced today concurrently with the release of its Q1 FY2020 earnings, ended 30 June. Along with MAX deliveries, the carrier had planned to gradually retire some of the […]

• Charles Kauffman
• July 29, 2019

Boeing freighters continue to sell well amidst 737 MAX and 777X challenges

Boeing sold more freighters than passenger aircraft during the second quarter of 2019, according to the manufacturer’s Q2 results, with orders from FedEx for six 767-300Fs [FATs 005050-005056]. By contrast, Boeing only logged unidentified orders for four 737 MAX aircraft and one 787-9 from Air Lease Corporation. Although Boeing said that development and testing of a […]

• Jeff Lee
• July 25, 2019

IAI aims for 737-800BDSF STC by next month

Israel Aerospace Industries’ (IAI) Aviation Group is nearing the end of testing for its 737-800BDSF program and expects to receive the supplemental type certificate (STC) by the end of August 2019, the company tells Cargo Facts. Certification had previously been anticipated for May or June this year. Test flights with the first 737-800 to be […]

• Jeff Lee
• July 23, 2019

No direct impact on 737 NG conversions expected from latest Boeing bulletin

Earlier this week, Boeing was alerted to “potential nonconformance” issues for a batch of slat tracks produced by a third-party supplier and previously installed on at least 41 but potentially hundreds of  737 MAX and 737 NG aircraft. Boeing has since confirmed to Cargo Facts that no freighter-converted aircraft or candidates for feedstock conversion are […]

• Charles Kauffman
• June 4, 2019

SpiceJet plans to triple 737 NG freighter fleet, build hub in Northeast India

India-based SpiceJet is challenging the conventional wisdom that freighters don’t make sense in the fleet of a low-cost carrier. The airline plans to grow its freighter fleet to six 737 NGs over the next twelve months – up significantly from the two freighters in SpiceXpress livery that exist today, according to a statement in SpiceJet’s […]

• Charles Kauffman
• May 29, 2019

The narrowbody freighter fleet part I: 737 NG freighters take off

Today we begin a three-part analysis of the worldwide fleet of narrowbody jet freighters with a look at the overall composition of the fleet – how many of the different types are in operation by which carriers. Later this week, in part II, we will look at active and emerging conversion programs for the narrowbody […]

• Caryn Livingston
• April 3, 2019

As 737 NG conversions get off the ground, will MAX groundings limit feedstock?

Early 2019 has seen passenger-to-freighter conversion programs launched years earlier for 737 NG aircraft finally complete conversions and receive certifications. First, in February, Aeronautical Engineers, Inc., received STC certification for its 737-800SF, which was redelivered this month to Ethiopian Airlines, on lease from GECAS. Israel-based Bedek Aviation Group also commenced test flights for its 737-800BDSF […]

• Caryn Livingston
• March 27, 2019

Bedek expects STC for its 737-800BDSF program by June

Earlier this month, Israel-based Bedek Aviation Group commenced flight tests for its first freighter-converted 737-800BDSF (30498, ex-Transaero). Tests are being completed near Tel Aviv, where the former passenger aircraft was converted to freighter configuration. Although the partial shutdown of the U.S. Federal Government delayed flight tests, Bedek tells Cargo Facts that it is expecting the […]

• Charles Kauffman
• March 26, 2019