Airbus’ first BelugaXL enters service

• Gennette Cordova
• January 13, 2020
• Aircraft, Capacity & Demand, Editorial, Equipment, News, Production Freighters

Airbus’ first BelugaXL freighter (1853) entered service on Jan.9, as expected, two months after receiving European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Type Certification.   The OEM stated that another five will be operational by 2023 to replace the fleet of its predecessor, the BelugaST. Airbus’ second BelugaXL (1824) has already been assembled, while the third unit (1930) is currently in production. The entire Beluga fleet is operated by Airbus […]

EGAT takes step back from conversions

• Jeff Lee
• January 7, 2020
• Aircraft, Conversions, Equipment, Exclusive, News, Strategy, Widebody Conversions

Evergreen Aviation Technologies (EGAT) will be backing away from freighter conversions in 2020. The company confirmed to Cargo Facts that it isn’t scheduled to carry out any 767-300 passenger-to-freighter conversions at its Taipei (TPE) facility this year, as MRO capacity has been committed to maintenance and interior retrofits for its airline customers. This leaves the […]

Top narrowbody freighter developments of 2019

• Jeff Lee
• January 6, 2020
• Aircraft, Carriers, Conversions, Equipment, News, Widebody Conversions

Last Friday, we looked at significant developments concerning widebody freighters in 2019. We continue today with narrowbodies, starting with the 737. The grounding of the 737 MAX, which began in March 2019, continued through the end of the year and resulted in Boeing deciding to put production on hold as hundreds of frames sit in […]

FedEx accelerates MD-10-10F retirement, receives final production 767F for 2019

• Jeff Lee
• December 24, 2019
• Aircraft, Carriers, Express, News, Production Freighters, Strategy

FedEx will speed up the withdrawal of its MD-10-10F fleet, with nine more aircraft to be retired over the next six months, as the company took delivery of its fifteenth 767-300F (63113) this calendar year [FAT 005268]. Apart from unit 63113, which is the 20th and final production 767-300F delivered by Boeing in 2019, FedEx […]

Boeing ousts CEO Dennis Muilenburg over 737 MAX crisis

• Bloomberg News
• December 23, 2019
• Bloomberg, Equipment

(Bloomberg) — Dennis Muilenburg was ousted as chief executive officer of Boeing Co., a once-unthinkable turning point for a U.S. industrial champion engulfed in turmoil after two deadly crashes of its top-selling 737 MAX jetliner. David Calhoun, a General Electric Co. veteran who had served as chairman since October, will replace Muilenburg as CEO and […]

DHL hands over third converted 767-300F to Kalitta

• Jeff Lee
• December 20, 2019
• Aircraft, Carriers, Conversions, Freighter Aircraft Transactions, News, Strategy, Widebody Conversions

DHL Express has taken redelivery of a 767-300BDSF (27686, ex-Royal Air Maroc) and subsequently handed it over to U.S.-based Kalitta Air to be operated on a CMI basis [FATs 005264-005265]. The 767 was ferried to Mexico City (MEX) in March 2019 to be inducted for conversion into freighter configuration by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) at the Mexicana MRO Services facility. […]

Bain invests in Atlas’ leasing business to launch cargo JV

• Charles Kauffman and Jeff Lee
• December 18, 2019
• Aircraft, Conversions, News, Production Freighters, Strategy

Titan Aviation Holdings, the leasing subsidiary of Atlas Air Worldwide, and Bain Capital Credit today announced plans to establish a joint venture to develop a freighter aircraft leasing portfolio with a valuation of approximately $1 billion. Both companies will provide equity capital, with Bain and Titan initially contributing $360 million and $40 million, respectively. Long-term, […]

Boeing pauses 737 MAX production in effort to slow cash burn

• Bloomberg News
• December 16, 2019
• Aircraft, Bloomberg, Equipment

(Bloomberg) –Boeing Co. will halt production of the grounded 737 MAX in January, a move that will deepen the crisis engulfing the planemaker, complicate its eventual recovery and ripple through the U.S. economy. Employees at the Seattle-area factory where the MAX is built will continue 737-related work or be temporarily reassigned to other programs, the […]