Aviation

Boeing Begins Production Of The New 777X

Last week, Boeing celebrated the official kickoff of production of its 777X wide-body jet. The 777X aircraft is a large-sized twin-engine passenger aircraft currently being developed by Boeing as a successor to the existing 777, with plans for its first flight in 2019 and delivery of the first plane in 2020. Boeing’s two 777X variants, the 777-8 and 777-9, are designed to carry between 350 and 425 passengers. The new jets are expected to be 20 percent more fuel-efficient.

The ceremony brought hundreds of Boeing workers to the company’s widebody-jet manufacturing facility in Everett, Wash., where the support structures for the 777X’s CFRP composite wings are being assembled. The highlight of the ceremony was when a laser-guided robotic arm drilled a hole into the carbon fiber layer for a 105-foot-long wing spar and its stiffener and installed the first fastener. Meanwhile, in the new wing-fabrication center, an automated fiber-placement machine designed and built by Multikeo, Wash.-based Electroimpact moved along a spar mold by putting down plies of half-inch-wide carbon fiber tape to begin making a spar for the left wing of the test aircraft.

“The new 777X is going to launch into a technological era and a performance era that are not used to,” said Jason Clark, vice president of 777 and 777X operations, during the ceremony. “It’s going to set a new bar for commercial travel.”

Boeing’s Composite Wing Center will support the production of the longest wing Boeing has ever produced. The 777X features lightweight wing design based on a composite spar made of over 400 miles of carbon tape cured in a specially built autoclave. This results in a wingspan of 235 ft. Because the 777X has such a big wingspan, its wingtips have been designed to fold upward so it will fit at an airport gate.

Toray’s TORAYCA® prepreg has been selected for these main wings. Boeing will source carbon fiber prepreg composite material for the 777X’s empennage and floor beams from a new 50/50 joint venture formed last year by Solvay and Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Development Company.

Courtesy : Composite manufacturing Magazine

Aviation

No More Jet Airways. Supreme Court Says “No Choice”, Orders Liquidation

Jet Airways was once one of India’s leading airlines, known for its service and extensive network. Founded in 1993, it served millions of passengers, connecting cities across India and international destinations.

However, since grounding its flights in April 2019, Jet Airways has struggled to navigate financial turbulence, leading to years of efforts to revive the airline and return it to the skies.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court ordered the liquidation of Jet Airways, citing “no choice” but to take this decisive step after the resolution plan failed to meet creditor obligations. The court invoked its extraordinary powers under Article 142, which allows it to make orders for “complete justice” in any case, overriding previous tribunal rulings.

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The Jalan-Kalrock Consortium (JKC), which had won the bid to revive Jet, faced criticism for not fulfilling payment commitments to creditors, which included major banks like the State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank.

The Supreme Court’s ruling pointed to “peculiar and alarming” issues surrounding the resolution plan’s implementation, leading to its conclusion that liquidation was the only feasible outcome.

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Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, alongside Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, emphasized that while liquidation should be a last resort, it was necessary as the resolution plan was “no longer capable of implementation.”

In line with this decision, the court ordered that the ₹200 crore already infused by JKC be forfeited and directed the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) in Mumbai to appoint a liquidator to oversee the process.

JKC, a partnership between Murari Jalan, a UAE-based Indian entrepreneur, and Florian Fritsch, a Jet shareholder through Kalrock Capital Partners Limited, had taken ownership of Jet Airways two years after it was grounded. The consortium’s inability to fulfill its financial obligations has now led to this final verdict, marking the end of an era for Jet Airways in India.