25th anniversary of the first Airbus A320 delivery

by Devesh Agarwal

25 years ago today, Airbus entered the hither-to US dominated market of narrow body airliners when it delivered its first A320 to Air France. The A320 shook up the market segment with the highest demand. As of today Boeing and Airbus estimate the single aisle narrow body segment to purchase about 20,000 airframes in the next 20 years.

The A320 which seats 180 passengers in a single class high density configuration, was the first member of the A320 family. Launched in March 1984, it first flew on 22 February 1987, and without a doubt, has significantly altered the face of "Code C" market segment, which sees the highest demand of aircraft. As of today Boeing and Airbus estimate the single aisle narrow body segment to purchase about 20,000 airframes in the next 20 years.

The A320 family. A318, A319, A320, A321. The number of over-wing doors is the secret to identifying the variants.

The A320 family was soon expanded to include the extended length A321 seating 220 passengers in a single class high density configuration, first delivered in 1994, the shorter A319 seating 156, first delivered in 1996, and the really short A318, seating 132, first delivered in 2003.

All economy class Kingfisher Airbus A321 VT-KFW.

The A320 family pioneered the use of digital fly-by-wire flight control systems, as well as side-stick controls, in commercial aircraft, and extensive use of automation and flight envelope protection, causing Boeing supporters to deride the aircraft as flying a video arcade.

Final assembly of the A320 family takes place in Toulouse, France, and Hamburg, Germany, and in Tianjin, China. Airbus has announced the construction of a final assembly line (FAL) in Mobile, Alabama, USA, the home turf of arch-rival Boeing.

Winglets and Sharklets

The first series of A320s, the A320-100 did not feature any winglets. Only 21 aircraft were produced for Air Inter and British Caledonian Airways, both bought by Air France and British Airways respectively.

An Airbus A320-100 (F-GGEA) of Air Inter without winglets. Image courtesy Wikimedia

The all familiar wing-tip fence was added from the -200 series onwards. Indian Airlines an early adopter of the A320 had Airbus develop special four-wheel main gear bogies for use on rough under-prepared airstrips which the large dual wheel bogies could not handle. Unfortunately these non-standard four wheel bogies have become a curse for the airline, which now cannot find a buyer for these aircraft.

Airbus A320-200 VT-EPC of Indian Airlines (now Air India) featuring winglets and four wheel main gear bogie.

Now the A320 optionally ships with new blended winglets called "Sharklets". Both of India's low cost carriers GoAir and IndiGo operate Sharklet equipped A320s.

Airbus A320-200 of GoAir VT-GOL featuring the new "Sharklets". Image courtesy Airbus.

Competition

The Airbus A319, A320, A321 today compete with the Boeing 737-700, 737-800, and 737-900ER respectively. The venerable Boeing 737, even today, is the best selling aircraft in the world, Boeing having just delivered its 7,500th 737 aircraft recently; but this lead is slender and the A320 is closing the gap. The McDonnell Douglas MD80, MD83, MD88, and MD90 which morphed in to the Boeing 717 are no more in contention. Newcomers like the Bombardier C series and COMAC C919 are expected to offer competition, especially in the smaller sizes.

Delivery history Airbus A320 vs. Boeing 737

As of December 2012, Airbus has delivered 5,402 A320 series aircraft since their first delivery on March 26, 1988, with another 3,629 on firm order. In comparison, Boeing has shipped 5,919 737s in the same period and has a further 3,074 on firm order.

Annual deliveries of Airbus A320 (in green) vs Boeing 737 (in red). Image courtesy Wikipedia.

The future

On 1 December 2010, Airbus officially launched the next generation of the A320 family with the A320neo or "New Engine Option". The neo offers a choice of larger diameter engines which offer significant fuel savings, which can top 15%, when combined with airframe improvements and the standard fit of Sharklets. Airbus enjoys an advantage in larger diameter fan engines, since its A320s are taller and there is more space under the wing, unlike Boeing which needs to so 

Cut and make your own A320neo paper model airplane

Operators are offered an engine choice of the CFM International LEAP-X or the Pratt and Whitney Pure Power PW1000G Geared Turbo-Fan (GTF). With well over 1,400 aircraft on order from 22 airlines, the A320neo family is the fastest ever selling commercial aircraft.



Boeing subsequently responded with its re-engined option of the 737 called 737 MAX which has scored impressive wins but lags behind the neo on backlogs of the newest generation orders 40%-60%.

Read our analysis of the A320neo vs. the 737 MAX

The re-engined aircraft will carry the two behemoth airframers for the next ten years. The narrow body single aisle aircraft segment is the hottest in the industry and both Airbus and Boeing are going to face competition from the Bombardier C Series, Sukhoi SuperJet, COMAC C919, Embraer E195, and UAC/Irkut MS21. Expect a new aircraft from both manufacturers about 12 years to 15 years from now. A paper by the US Congressional Research Service (CRS) documents well, the challenges the duopoly of Airbus and Boeing face in the coming years. You can download the PDF here.

For now, just a simple congratulations to the team at Airbus for developing an option.

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US FAA and EASA issue Emergency Airworthiness Directive on Airbus A320 family aircraft

DATE: December 17, 2012
AD #: 2012-26-51

Emergency airworthiness directive (AD) 2012-26-51 is sent to owners and operators of
Airbus Model A318, A319, A320, and A321 series airplanes.

Background
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which is the Technical Agent for the Member States of the European Community, has issued EASA Emergency Airworthiness Directive 2012-0264-E, dated December 17, 2012 (referred to after this as the Mandatory Continuing Airworthiness Information or “the MCAI”), to correct an unsafe condition for the specified products.

EASA has advised that an Airbus Model A330 airplane equipped with Angle of Attack (AoA) sensors installed with conic plates recently experienced blockage of all sensors during climb, leading to autopilot disconnection and activation of the alpha protection (Alpha Prot) when Mach number was increased. Based on the results of subsequent analysis, it is suspected that these conic plates may have contributed to the event. Investigations are ongoing to determine what caused the blockage of these AoA sensors.

Blockage of two or three AoA sensors at the same angle may cause the Alpha Prot of the
normal law to activate. Under normal flight conditions (in normal law), if the Alpha Prot activates and Mach number increases, the flight control laws order a pitch down of the airplane that the flight crew might not be able to counteract with a side stick deflection, even in the full backward position.

This condition, if not corrected, could result in reduced control of the airplane. EASA also issued Emergency AD 2012-0258-E, dated December 4, 2012, for Airbus Model A330 and A340 airplanes to require an amendment of the AFM to ensure that flight crews apply the applicable emergency procedure.

AoA sensor conic plates of similar design are also installed on Model A320 series airplanes. Installation of these AoA sensor conic plates was required for Model A318, A319, A320, and A321 series airplanes by EASA AD 2012-0236, dated November 9, 2012 (corrected November 12, 2012).

Subsequently, EASA issued AD 2012-0236R1, dated December 17, 2012, to remove the requirement to install AoA sensor conic plates.

Read the full Emergency AD here.

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Boeing and Airbus: 40 years of rivalry and one-upmanship - Part one

Forty years ago as the 1969 Paris Air Show unfolded, the world was abuzz over the Boeing 747 and the BAC-Aerospatiale Concorde both whom had just made their first flights just a few months before.

At the same time, European aerospace companies were finalising a consortium to wrest back dominance of the United States in the commercial aviation market.

Within months of the show the European aerospace companies created Airbus Industrie which would take on the industry leaders of the day Boeing, Lockheed, and McDonnell Douglas. Today Airbus SAS and Boeing are the two survivors battling it out in an intense global duopoly.

In a two part series I take you on a look back at the rivalry over the past forty years and the one-upmanship practised by both companies reflected in the aircraft developed and produced.

1969 was clearly for Boeing. Its 747 Jumbo Jet reigned for more than 36 years as the Queen of the skies. It is among the world's most recognizable aircraft, and was the first wide body ever produced. As of May 2009, 1,416 aircraft have been built, with 107 more in various configurations remaining on order. The next version of the aircraft, the 747-8, is in production and scheduled to enter service in 2010 but the project is highly delayed. The 747 is supposed to be replaced by the Boeing Y3 (part of the Boeing Yellowstone Project) in the future. [Note: I have not covered my beloved Concorde since it is not an Airbus product per se.]

But just as Boeing was celebrating the 747 debut, France and Germany who were later joined by Spain and the United Kingdom set up the Airbus Industrie consortium in 1970 and launched their first plane, the A300. The first twin engine wide-body aircraft, the A300 entered service in 1974 with Air France. The A300 was the first airliner to use just-in-time manufacturing techniques. Complete aircraft sections were manufactured by consortium partners all over Europe. These were airlifted to the final assembly line at Toulouse-Blagnac. Incidentally, today Boeing uses the same technique, ferrying the wings and other parts of the soon to fly 787 Dreamliner from production facilities in the far east. Airbus sold 561 of the planes and the final production A300 an A300F freighter for FedEx, made its initial flight on 18 April 2007 and was delivered on 12 July 2007.

To counter the Airbus A300 and Boeing launched development of its twin-engine wide-body the 767 in 1978 which entered service in 1982. The 767 was conceived and designed in tandem with the narrow-body Boeing 757 twin-engine jet with both aircraft sharing common design features and flight decks. The 767 was followed the A300 cockpit and became the first Boeing wide-body airliner to enter service with a two-person crew flight deck, eliminating the need for a flight engineer. The first 767 entered service in 1982. Though orders started tapering off in the 1990s, updated versions of the plane are still in production, including the 767-400ER (extended range) model. American Airlines has outfitted many of its 767s with the Aviation Partners winglets in a bid to improve the fuel efficiency. There have been over 1,000 767s ordered with over 900 delivered as of 2009. The -300/-300ER models are the most popular variants, accounting for approximately two-thirds of all 767s ordered. As of 2009, Delta Air Lines operates the largest 767 fleet of any airline.

Airbus next widened its product offering and offered a replacement for the venerable Boeing 727 three-engine jet, the most popular aircraft at the time. At the same time the A320 also targeted Boeing's best seller the narrow-body 737. After the oil price shocks of the late 1970s, the new Airbus would be of the same size, yet offer vastly improved operating economics and significantly quieter engines. The digital technology in the A320 would herald a two generation technological leap over the all-analogue Boeing 727 and a generation ahead of the hybrid Boeing 737-300/-400/-500 series. The new Airbus was also wider than the 737s by almost eight inches providing passengers that crucial extra inch of shoulder space in the same six abreast seating layout. In 1984 Airbus launched the A320 and again Air France was the launch customer, The airliner became the best selling aircraft for Airbus, who quickly developed two shorter and smaller versions, the A319 and A318, and the longer and larger A321. By the end of May 2009 a total of 6,321 aircraft of the A320 family have been ordered and 3,893 delivered. The order tally went up today with Qatar Airways announcing an order for 20 Airbus A320s and four A321s. The A320 family is the second best-selling jet airliner family of all time after its primary competition, the Boeing 737 family which recently crossed the 6,000th aircraft delivery mark.

Do visit Bangalore Aviation tomorrow and read the continuation of this 40 year old rivalry.

Images courtesy Wikipedia and Airbus SAS

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Engine safety inspection directive to affect Airbus A320 family

Both the European EASA and US FAA have issued emergency Airworthiness Directives ADs for operators of CFM56-5B engines, typically operated on the Airbus A320 family of aircraft, which include the A318, A319, A320 and A321.

Snecma Image
EASA Emergency Airworthiness Directive 2008-228 and the FAA Airworthiness Directive AD 2009-01-01, requests operators of CFM56-5B engines, to monitor Exhaust Gas Temperatures (EGT) for deterioration. If both engines show deteriorations of 80 or more degrees, at least one engine must be replaced according to the new directive. EGT monitoring is a crucial aspect of flight operations.

The emergency directives come after an incident, in which an Airbus A321-200 experienced compressor stalls on both engines during initial climb out on December 15th 2008. While not disclosed, it is suspected, this is the incident involving Air France Airbus A321-200, F-GTAJ, flight AF 2585 from Tunis to Paris CDG, where the flight had to return to Tunis 14 minutes after take-off due to "unspecified engine problems".

The CFM56-5B is a very popular engine with over 60% of Airbus A320 family operators, selecting them.

In India, Indian (now Air India) operates the CFM engine on the new series of Airbus aircraft, part of the 43 ordered by them in 2006. Indian had ordered 20 Airbus A321s, 19 Airbus A319s and four A320s. The older series of Indian's A320 fleet use engines from IAE, as do most of India's private operators, Kingfisher Airlines, Kingfisher Red, and IndiGo, which are not impacted by these ADs.

I must stress that there is no need for passengers to treat these ADs as negative, and Air India has an excellent maintenance record.

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