unimaginative2
Senior Member
European plane probe rattles investors
BRENT JANG
Globe and Mail Update
October 29, 2007 at 10:03 PM EDT
Bombardier Inc.'s Q400 crisis deepened Monday, when the aircraft maker learned it will face questions from Europe's aviation regulator about the turboprop's airworthiness after yet another crash landing that has raised concerns about future orders.
The European Aviation Safety Agency, based in Cologne, Germany, said it will examine ways to ensure passenger safety during an “immediate crisis meeting†with Bombardier and Transport Canada this week, on the heels of Scandinavian Airlines System's (SAS) decision to permanently ground its fleet of 27 Q400s.
Amid worries about the embattled Q400 project, Bombardier shares tumbled as much as 8.7 per cent Monday morning.
“It would be a rare measure for our agency to ground commercial aircraft because that indeed would indicate that there was a fundamental design failure,†agency spokesman Daniel Holtgen said in an interview from Cologne.
Including SAS's now-grounded fleet, Europe accounts for nearly half of the 165 Q400 turboprops that have been delivered worldwide since the model was introduced seven years ago, with SAS as the launch customer.
“Grounding aircraft is among the potential measures within an airworthiness directive, but it would be the last resort,†Mr. Holtgen said.
Bombardier spokesman John Arnone said the firm doesn't have any indication that a directive will be issued overseas, in the wake of SAS's third crash-landing in seven weeks.
Bombardier “will take the appropriate actions,†if necessary, Mr. Arnone said.
On Sunday, Stockholm-based SAS's board of directors decided to drop its 27 Q400s from service, one day after one's right landing gear failed to deploy properly, forcing the plane to slide on its belly on arrival on the Copenhagen runway.
British-based Flybe has 33 Q400s, Austrian Arrows of Innsbruck has 10, Germany's Augsburg Airways has five and Luxembourg's Luxair has two, with one plane on order.
There are another 135 orders globally on Bombardier's books, and for now at least, those contracts aren't being placed in jeopardy, said Benoit Poirier, an analyst with Desjardins Securities.
Other observers said SAS may be saddled with roughly $64-million in unexpected costs related to scrapping Q400s from its schedule, and the airline may sue Bombardier in a move that could damage the Q400 brand and hurt future orders.
Bombardier's Downsview plant in Toronto does the final assembly of the $27-million turboprop, with landing gear supplied by Goodrich Corp. C of Charlotte, N.C.
Mr. Holtgen said the European agency is looking forward to discussing the Q400, which is based on the Dash 8 model, with Bombardier and Transport Canada. “We're calling the people responsible. Something has to be done, and it has to be done together,†he said.
Transport Canada spokeswoman Lucie Vignola said Ottawa is co-operating with the Europeans.
“The aircraft has a solid safety record. We're confident that everything is safe,†she said.
Ms. Vignola said the SAS crash landing on Saturday hasn't changed Transport Canada's mind about the Q400, nor altered its views on Porter Airlines Inc., which has four of the planes in its fleet, with six more to be delivered next year.
NDP MP Olivia Chow, whose riding includes Porter's home base at Toronto City Centre Airport, is urging federal Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon to launch an independent safety investigation into the turboprops.
In a letter to Ms. Chow last Tuesday, Mr. Cannon offered assurances that Porter's Q400s are safe and reliable.
The Conservative cabinet minister said Porter has experienced two landing-gear problems since it launched service a year ago, “but Transport Canada conducted follow-ups and found that the air operator had taken appropriate steps to document and address those safety issues in accordance with its safety management system.â€
Porter president Robert Deluce reiterated that he's committed to using Q400s, as the regional carrier expands into the United States, starting with flights to New Jersey by next March.
Mr. Deluce stressed that privately owned Porter's turboprops are much newer than the planes that SAS had trouble with recently.
All four of Porter's Q400s are less than 14 months old. Hydro-Québec has two Q400s registered with aviation authorities – one is five years old and the other dates back to February, 2006, according to aircraft records.
Another 15 Q400s are registered in Canada under Bombardier's name.
Bombardier shares closed down 3.4 per cent Monday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
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I'm sure this is just a series of flukes. If it's landing gear, it might have more to do with the components supplier. Perception is everything, though, and airlines will definitely now be thinking twice about buying Dash 8s. Oh, and trust Olivia Chow to take a swipe at thousands of good local manufacturing jobs.
BRENT JANG
Globe and Mail Update
October 29, 2007 at 10:03 PM EDT
Bombardier Inc.'s Q400 crisis deepened Monday, when the aircraft maker learned it will face questions from Europe's aviation regulator about the turboprop's airworthiness after yet another crash landing that has raised concerns about future orders.
The European Aviation Safety Agency, based in Cologne, Germany, said it will examine ways to ensure passenger safety during an “immediate crisis meeting†with Bombardier and Transport Canada this week, on the heels of Scandinavian Airlines System's (SAS) decision to permanently ground its fleet of 27 Q400s.
Amid worries about the embattled Q400 project, Bombardier shares tumbled as much as 8.7 per cent Monday morning.
“It would be a rare measure for our agency to ground commercial aircraft because that indeed would indicate that there was a fundamental design failure,†agency spokesman Daniel Holtgen said in an interview from Cologne.
Including SAS's now-grounded fleet, Europe accounts for nearly half of the 165 Q400 turboprops that have been delivered worldwide since the model was introduced seven years ago, with SAS as the launch customer.
“Grounding aircraft is among the potential measures within an airworthiness directive, but it would be the last resort,†Mr. Holtgen said.
Bombardier spokesman John Arnone said the firm doesn't have any indication that a directive will be issued overseas, in the wake of SAS's third crash-landing in seven weeks.
Bombardier “will take the appropriate actions,†if necessary, Mr. Arnone said.
On Sunday, Stockholm-based SAS's board of directors decided to drop its 27 Q400s from service, one day after one's right landing gear failed to deploy properly, forcing the plane to slide on its belly on arrival on the Copenhagen runway.
British-based Flybe has 33 Q400s, Austrian Arrows of Innsbruck has 10, Germany's Augsburg Airways has five and Luxembourg's Luxair has two, with one plane on order.
There are another 135 orders globally on Bombardier's books, and for now at least, those contracts aren't being placed in jeopardy, said Benoit Poirier, an analyst with Desjardins Securities.
Other observers said SAS may be saddled with roughly $64-million in unexpected costs related to scrapping Q400s from its schedule, and the airline may sue Bombardier in a move that could damage the Q400 brand and hurt future orders.
Bombardier's Downsview plant in Toronto does the final assembly of the $27-million turboprop, with landing gear supplied by Goodrich Corp. C of Charlotte, N.C.
Mr. Holtgen said the European agency is looking forward to discussing the Q400, which is based on the Dash 8 model, with Bombardier and Transport Canada. “We're calling the people responsible. Something has to be done, and it has to be done together,†he said.
Transport Canada spokeswoman Lucie Vignola said Ottawa is co-operating with the Europeans.
“The aircraft has a solid safety record. We're confident that everything is safe,†she said.
Ms. Vignola said the SAS crash landing on Saturday hasn't changed Transport Canada's mind about the Q400, nor altered its views on Porter Airlines Inc., which has four of the planes in its fleet, with six more to be delivered next year.
NDP MP Olivia Chow, whose riding includes Porter's home base at Toronto City Centre Airport, is urging federal Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon to launch an independent safety investigation into the turboprops.
In a letter to Ms. Chow last Tuesday, Mr. Cannon offered assurances that Porter's Q400s are safe and reliable.
The Conservative cabinet minister said Porter has experienced two landing-gear problems since it launched service a year ago, “but Transport Canada conducted follow-ups and found that the air operator had taken appropriate steps to document and address those safety issues in accordance with its safety management system.â€
Porter president Robert Deluce reiterated that he's committed to using Q400s, as the regional carrier expands into the United States, starting with flights to New Jersey by next March.
Mr. Deluce stressed that privately owned Porter's turboprops are much newer than the planes that SAS had trouble with recently.
All four of Porter's Q400s are less than 14 months old. Hydro-Québec has two Q400s registered with aviation authorities – one is five years old and the other dates back to February, 2006, according to aircraft records.
Another 15 Q400s are registered in Canada under Bombardier's name.
Bombardier shares closed down 3.4 per cent Monday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
_________________________________________________________________
I'm sure this is just a series of flukes. If it's landing gear, it might have more to do with the components supplier. Perception is everything, though, and airlines will definitely now be thinking twice about buying Dash 8s. Oh, and trust Olivia Chow to take a swipe at thousands of good local manufacturing jobs.
