Singapore Airlines (SIA) has confirmed that it will replace an engine in each of three of its Airbus A380s after further inspections found oil stains in one engine on each of the aircraft, but the remaining eight A380s in the fleet had no problems. The three aircraft, currently standing in the UK and Australia, will be flown back to Singapore without passengers for the work to be carried out.
From A380 problems to Boeing’s 787 saga: Yesterday Dreamliner number 2 was forced to make an emergency landing at Laredo Texas after the cockpit began to fill with smoke. Upon landing the emergency slides were deployed on the runway to exit the 40 odd passengers on board.
That is not the end of it for Boeing though. At the same time as their test aircraft was filling with smoke and deploying emergency slides on a Texas runway, Boeing management was telling Wall Street that the expected 80 deliveries for 2011 will look more like 24! In order to dampen expectations Boeing told investors that the aircraft currently painted and standing on Paine Field are only in various stages of completion with most still missing their interiors. Some 17 of the 25 aircraft that are “completed” are due to have Rolls Royce engines fitted, and are likely to suffer additional delays.
We have to ask ourselves where all this will end for both Rolls Royce and Boeing and at the end of it all how much of the booked revenue will be lost through reparations.