The Sukhoi Superjet 100 operations in Aeroflot: the first half a year

January 23, 2012, Moscow. Aeroflot currently operates the fleet consisting of four Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft (SSJ100). The Act of Delivery & Acceptance for the fifth deliverable aircraft was signed at Komsomolsk-on-the Amur on January 23, 2012.

By January 22, 2012 four SSJ100s of Aeroflot accumulated 2,381 flight hours in 1,418 revenue flights. Aeroflot mainly operates its SSJ100 aircraft on domestic routes from Moscow to ten Russian airports and Minsk. In December 2012 Aeroflot’s SSJ100 started to serve international routes to Budapest and Oslo. Aeroflot’s operations confirm that the aircraft is able to serve efficiently regional routes with the high frequency of departure. The SSJ100 is able to perform two to three return flights per day, achieving daily utilization from 9 to 11 flight hours. The best results in terms of number of flights per month and monthly utilization were reached by aircraft RA-89001 (149 flights and 229.3 hours) and RA-89002 (151 flights and 231.5 hours) in August and September 2011 respectively.

“Our priority is to establish an effective system of spare parts supply and to increase the delivery pace. However, at the initial phase of operation all new aircraft without exception deal with unexpected technical problems that emerge only in the regime of intensive operation. During the first year and especially in the first months of operation AOG (aircraft on ground) situations happen more often than in the course of further operation. We appreciate the fact that our launch customers are highly cooperative while working with the brand-new aircraft. It is important to mention that SSJ100 has high safety rates and received positive reviews from Aeroflot pilots” — noted Vladimir Prisyazhnyuk, President of Sukhoi Civil Aircraft.

“Piloting and handling the aircraft is easy. The ergonomics of the cockpit is being improved jointly with the manufacturer. We hope that the cockpit of SSJ100 won’t differ from modern Western aircraft as far as the level of comfort is concerned. The aircraft is perfectly protected from the point of view of piloting criteria such as an exit on great values of overload, stall flight and roll and excess of allowable speed of flight. There is no doubt that SSJ100 will show its efficiency and reliability, we believe in the great future of this aircraft” — states Evgeny Voronin, Chief of the Aeroflot SSJ100 pilots team.

“Aeroflot applies same rigid requirements to the technical condition of SSJ100 as to the Airbus and Boeing aircraft within our fleet. We understand that the aircraft is undergoing the initial phase of operation, so we treat it with maximum attention. It is important that the aircraft manufacturer is doing its best to build an effective system of after-sales support to ensure absence of schedule disruption for the airline. All the speculations that Aeroflot is displeased with the aircraft are absolutely groundless” — pointed the Deputy Director General, Chief Commercial Officer of Aeroflot Andrey Kalmykov.

For the time being Aeroflot, SCAC, SuperJet International (responsible for the technical support of the aircraft operations and maintenance) and PowerJet (the engine manufacturer) mainly concentrate on the improvement of the operations’ technical support and the establishment of the more efficient teamwork. The main priority is to provide the smooth supply of the spare parts and consumables. For this purpose the stock list of spare parts available at the SJI supporting warehouse in Sheremetyevo is being expanded to the one available at the SJI main warehouse in Frankfurt. It will allow to reduce essentially the time to deliver a requested part directly to the aircraft. In parallel Aeroflot technical services is receiving additional ground equipment and control devices.

Training for flight and technician staff for the SSJ100 aircraft is another important field to be focused. 16 crews with previous “glass cockpit” experience, four crews without such experience, 24 flight attendant-instructors and more than hundred technicians were trained by the mid of January 2012. The training is conducted at the Training center in Zhukovsky which has a range of the most advanced training equipment and simulators including Full Flight Simulator (FFS). Another FFS will be installed and put in operation in the Aeroflot training center in Sheremetyevo this year. It will allow the airline to train its pilots in its home base.

The stage of the initial commercial operations requests that all sides involved (the aircraft manufacturer, airlines and suppliers of the engines and systems) combine the professional skills, great dedication and efficient coordination. Aeroflot and SCAC work exactly in this manner.