KLM Royal Dutch Airlines’ Post

There's a great quote from Airbus's Christian Scherer in this article https://lnkd.in/enc_JFh7 which states "bear in mind if you go to a one-man cockpit, you might as well go to a zero-man cockpit. Because it all needs to cater for the eventuality that this one guy just ate a bad oyster and is incapacitated and the aeroplane has to take over. So one pilot or zero pilot is effectively the same thing.” The article further explains how Airbus have been at the forefront of the next steps in aviation. Initially taking the number of engines from 3 or 4 down to just two. And reducing the cockpit crew down to 2 by removing the on-board engineer. There's a logical path that is being followed, albeit over a long time period. As engine technology, reliability and power improve, the number of engines needed reduces. And regulations still insist that aircraft must be able to fly with just one engine, so the reality is that a single-engine plane is perfectly feasible. And concerns about the loss of that single engine are abated to an extent by glide ratios (how far the aircraft can fly without power) https://lnkd.in/ev_amXe2. and the fact that planes have landed safely without engines . The key message coming through from the Airbus Chief Executive is that we are moving into an age where the planes can effectively fly themselves, with pilots simply monitoring the progress. And that monitoring could be done from a remote location, meaning there's no crew on the aircraft. It's the public perception that's the biggest hurdle, passengers may feel nervous if they find there's no pilot on the plane. But if the passengers are cargo, then this ceases to be an issue. And while there is also some pushback, perhaps understandably, from pilots themselves as they don't want to be taken out of the equation this can be balanced by the fact that there will still be a requirement for remote pilots, with all the requisite piloting skills, to monitor and in some events even remotely take control of the aircraft. And as the benefits of remote piloting become more apparent, making roles available and accessible for a more diverse group of pilots who don't have to commit to long flights and layovers in distant countries, more pilots may find this acceptable. Given that there are predictions of a significant shortage of pilots https://lnkd.in/eMT9_6jC this may become a necessity. And uncrewed aircraft, such as Droneliner in the airfreight sector, would seem to be just what the industry needs. #Airbus #autonomous #remotepilot #drone #Droneliner #airfreight #cargo

The electrification of aviation proceeds apace, one (small) step at a time. My piece today on AeroTime about Diamond Aircraft's eDA40 maiden flight https://lnkd.in/dMbRR2bG

Airbus is clearly looking to the future with the approach of its Chief Executive https://lnkd.in/etSpsdnQ and laying a greater foundation for an era of single pilot or uncrewed aircraft. Uncrewed aircraft, while being largely autonomous as many aircraft today already are, would still have remote pilots monitoring and taking control if necessary. But the need for pilots on board may just become a matter of perception to keep passengers feeling safe and happy. It seems very likely that there will be a shift in aerospace where airfreight steps more rapidly into a world of autonomous and remotely piloted aircraft. If there are no passengers on the plane then the need for pilots to satisfy their concerns is removed. This starts to describe a world where passenger planes continue to have an on-board crew, and continue with the aircraft from Airbus and Boeing that are designed for passengers. Whereas airfreight evolves into using specifically designed cargo aircraft, that would be uncrewed and unpressurized, reducing airframe weight and allowing for more payload, and thus more cargo-fuel efficiency. This has the added advantage of reducing cargo related emissions and allowing for new sustainable fuels such as hydrogen. It's also a world in which the remote pilot roles allow for a much greater diversity of talent. Currently the fact that long haul flights require a lot to be away from home for long periods has probably contributed to the lack of diversity https://lnkd.in/eXW9X-_u . And with predicted shortfalls in the number of available trained pilots, opening up remote pilot slots which could be performed for shorter periods, more accessibly and closer to home, could create a much broader range of candidates. #Airbus #autonomous #remotepilot #drone #Droneliner #airfreight #sustainability #cargo #diversity #MeAndTheSky

The Airbus A320 first took to the skies on February 22, 1987. We tracked a total of 1,038,052 Airbus A320 flights on #Flightradar24 in 2023 (including both CEO and NEO models). Here's a snapshot of all airborne A320s right now, showing the truly global footprint of this game-changing narrowbody. #airbus #a320 #a320neo #aviationdata #aviationindustry

Excited to share our newest video. Grateful to contribute to a vision that continuously revolutionizes airline communication, embodying innovation and excellence. Here’s to leading the change, soaring higher, and embracing the future of social media in aviation! 🚀 #QatarAirways #Innovation #DigitalTransformation"

This should turn some heads. Adding on an additional 250 nm and taking speed up to 0.935 Mach. Wonder if this means the price tag will increase?

The ACJ TwoTwenty. The reveal comes three years after #Airbus Corporate Jets (ACJ) first announced the VIP aircraft, which the manufacturer is marketing as an "Xtra Large Bizjet." The company created the new market segment to highlight the new business aircraft's impressive capacity, range & operating costs while maintaining a competitive price point. Compared to its airliner sister, the #ACJ #TwoTwenty boasts a much longer range at 6,500 nm. The performance rivals that of many large purpose-built #privatejets like the Gulfstream G700 & the Global 7500. While large #businessjets fly further, they have less floor space to offer giving the ACJ TwoTwenty a leg up on the competition. The ACJ was also designed to have a similar parking footprint & ramp presence & take off from the same airports as large business jets. Despite its higher capacity, Airbus estimates the cost to operate the ACJ TwoTwenty to be less than that of large long-range private jets. The TwoTwenty will be two-thirds that of large #bizjets, noting Airbus' maintenance infrastructure & large spare part inventory an advantage. Moreover, the cockpit hosts advanced systems that make urban & challenging airports not a problem for the TwoTwenty. Business jets are awesome.

The A350 is the best thing Airbus has to compete with Boeing in the wide body segment, very cleverly positioned between the 777 and the 787. But, in the other hand, does not take as much payload as the 777 neither is as fuel efficient as the 787. The -1000 is a way better aircraft, the -900 is too restricted. As much as Airbus is dominating the narrow body market, Boeing is very comfortable in the wide body segment. The 787-9 takes more payload than the A350-900 burning one ton less per hour. The Dreamliner is way superior and innovative compared to the conservative design of the A350, and this translates itself in operating costs way lower on the 787 side - it is outselling the A350 by nearly 2 to 1 - and I have not even mentioned how many 777s are ordered, or its almost 2000 aircraft client base, including a solid freighter segment. Bottom line: the A350 offers more room, volume, and a reasonable fuel burn up to 11 hours flights. More than that, 777 is alone up to 13 hours, and 787 dominates with the -9 variant flying up to 15 hours with unrestricted payload (out of curiosity, the A350-900ULR burns in 17 hours as much as a standard B787-8 in 21 hours carrying similar payload). In the lower and upper side, the 787-10 and the 777-9 will not make Airbus A350 life any easier in the years to come. We will discuss eventually the possible moves by both manufacturers, so stay tuned!

TOULOUSE- The European plane maker, Airbus, is ready to deploy its newest A321XLR aircraft on a special international route proving campaign from today (September 13, 2023). In January 2018, Airbus was examining an A321LR variant featuring a higher maximum takeoff weight (MTOW). By November of the same year, Airbus had signaled that the A321XLR would possess an MTOW exceeding 100 tonnes (220,000... #A321XLR #airbus #AirbusA321neo #AirbusA321XLR #AirbusA321XLRInternationalRouteProving #AirbusA321XLRInternationalRouteProvingCampaign #AirbusA321XLRNews #RangeRestrictionsonAirbusA321XLR #ScanMeIfYouCan