Airbus announces measures to bolster liquidity and balance sheet in response to COVID-19
press release
- New € 15 billion credit facility
- Withdrawal of 2019 dividend proposal with cash value of € 1.4 billion
- Suspension of top up pension funding
- 2020 guidance withdrawn
- Strong focus on support to customers and delivery
Amsterdam – Airbus SE (stock exchange symbol: AIR) announces measures to bolster its liquidity and balance sheet in response to the COVID-19 pandemic as it continues to assess the ongoing situation and the impact on its business, customers, suppliers and the industry as a whole.
“Our first priority is protecting people while supporting efforts globally to curb the spread of the coronavirus. We are also safeguarding our business to protect the future of Airbus and to ensure we can return to efficient operations once the situation recovers. We have withdrawn our 2020 guidance due to the volatility of the situation. At the same time, we are committed to securing the liquidity of the Company at all times through a prudent balance sheet policy. I am convinced that Airbus and the broader aerospace sector will overcome this critical period,” said Airbus Chief Executive Officer Guillaume Faury.
Reflecting the Company’s prudent balance sheet policy and to ensure financial flexibility, Airbus’ management has received approval from the Board of Directors to: secure a new credit facility amounting to € 15 billion in addition to the existing € 3 billion revolving credit facility; withdraw the 2019 dividend proposal of € 1.80 per share with an overall cash value of approximately € 1.4 billion; and suspend the voluntary top up in pension funding. Given the limited visibility due to the evolving COVID-19 situation, the 2020 guidance is withdrawn. Operational scenarios, including measures to minimise cash requirements, have been identified and will be activated depending on the further development of the pandemic.
With these decisions, the Company has significant liquidity available to cope with additional cash requirements related to the coronavirus. Liquidity resources previously standing at approximately € 20 billion, comprising around € 12 billion in financial assets at hand and around € 8 billion in undrawn credit lines, were further bolstered by converting an existing € 5 billion credit line into a new facility amounting to € 15 billion. Available liquidity now amounts to approximately € 30 billion.
By maintaining production, managing its resilient backlog, supporting its customers and securing financial flexibility for its operations, Airbus intends to secure business continuity for itself even in a protracted crisis. Safe and efficient air travel is a key backbone of global economic development and cultural exchange. Airbus therefore highly welcomes governmental efforts around the globe to stabilise this industry by supporting the financial health of its airline customers and its suppliers. Airbus continues to monitor the overall health of the industry.
Airbus has convened its 2020 Annual General Meeting in Amsterdam on 16 April. Due to the global outbreak of COVID-19, Airbus discourages physical attendance and strongly encourages shareholders to vote by proxy in line with public health and safety measures.
Boeing Announces Actions to Navigate COVID-19 Crisis
CHICAGO, March 20, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) today announced several decisions to support the company as it navigates through the COVID-19 pandemic while ensuring the company is positioned for the industry's recovery. Decisions include:
CEO Dave Calhoun and Board Chairman Larry Kellner will forgo all pay until the end of the year.
The company will suspend its dividend until further notice.
Boeing will extend its pause of any share repurchasing until further notice. The company previously suspended its stock buyback program in April of 2019.
Boeing is drawing on all of its resources to sustain operations, support its workforce and customers, and maintain supply chain continuity through the COVID-19 crisis and for the long term.
Longview Aviation Capital Corp. Announces Temporary Suspension of Production of Dash 8-400 and Series 400 Twin Otter Aircraft
press release
Longview Aviation Capital Corp. Announces Temporary Suspension of Production of Dash 8-400 and Series 400 Twin Otter Aircraft
TORONTO, ON, CALGARY, AB and VICTORIA, BC – Longview Aviation Capital Corp., parent company of De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited and Viking Air Limited, today announced the immediate suspension of manufacturing operations for new production Dash 8-400 aircraft at De Havilland’s Downsview facility in Toronto, and new production Series 400 Twin Otter aircraft at Viking’s facilities in Victoria, BC and Calgary, Alberta.
Production on these aircraft will be paused until further notice. Approximately 800 employees or 65% of De Havilland’s current workforce, and 180 employees or 40% of Viking current workforce will be affected.
The global aviation industry is facing unprecedented uncertainty as a result of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Longview and its subsidiaries have been in close communication with customers and suppliers over the last several weeks. On the basis of these discussions, and against the backdrop of significantly reduced airline activity, Longview determined that it is necessary to pause all new aircraft production activity at this time.
The suspension applies only to new aircraft production. Both De Havilland and Viking will continue to provide full product support and technical services to all in-service De Havilland and Viking aircraft. All other Longview business activities will continue as usual, including:
Customer support operations, including parts, and in-service aircraft support
CL-415EAF “Enhanced Aerial Firefighter” conversions through Longview Aviation Services
Aircraft leasing activity through Longview Aviation Asset Management
“This is a period of considerable challenge for our industry and for our customers, and we must adapt to this new – hopefully temporary – reality,” said David Curtis, Executive Chairman, Longview Aviation Capital Corp. “In this context, we will focus our efforts on supporting our customers’ existing in-service fleets and delivering the other services our companies provide to the global aviation industry. We will remain in close contact with our customers and continue to monitor the evolving situation. We will make further adjustments to our operations as required.”
Longview hopes to restart aircraft manufacturing operations as conditions improve – based upon ongoing local, national and international events and developments.
In the meantime, the company will remain in frequent contact with customers – and will closely monitor and assess market conditions.
Both De Havilland and Viking have established business continuity plans to ensure the companies are set up to serve customers, and have reorganized working arrangements to prevent the spread of any illness while still allowing vital customer service and product support work to continue.
De Havilland’s Dash 8 24/7 Customer Response Centre is operating at full capacity:
North America (toll free) + 1-844-272-2720
Local +1-416-375-4080
Europe +44 (0)28 9046 8899
Technical Help Desk: thd@dehavilland.com
Service Solutions and Sales: parts.sales@dehavilland.com
Material Services: parts@dehavilland.com / emear.parts@dehavilland.com
Mobile Repair Team: mrt@dehavilland.com
Operators of the Series 400 Twin Otter and all other Viking aircraft, can receive support from the Viking’s Technical Support Team:
North America (Toll Free): 1-800-663-8444
International: +1-587-430-0572
Technical Help Desk:
technical.support@vikingair.com (for DHC1-7)
acs-technical.support@vikingair.com (for CL-215, CL-215T and CL-415)
Spares Sales:
sales@vikingair.com (for DHC1-7)
acs@vikingair.com (for CL-215, CL-215T and CL-415)
Training: trainingdhc6@vikingair.com
Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul: MRO@vikingair.com
Operations at other Longview companies are continuing under enhanced health and safety protocols.
“The health and safety of our employees and our community is our highest priority,” said Mr. Curtis. “We will continue to carefully follow the directives from public health authorities and take the steps we can to support the overall objective of preventing the spread of the virus.”
Airbus announces measures to bolster liquidity and balance sheet in response to COVID-19
Urban Aeronautics, partners with urban air mobility service Ascent to advance its market entry
press release
http://www.urbanaero.com/category/2020
Hydrogen-powered Electric air taxi developer Urban Aeronautics, partners with urban air mobility service Ascent to advance its market entry
Urban Aeronautics Ltd. (Urban Aeronautics), the pioneering hydrogen/electric-powered vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) developer, who recently announced its partnership with the Boeing Company, now joins forces with Asia’s tech-powered urban air mobility service Ascent Flights Global Pte. Ltd (Ascent), to bring the eVTOL CityHawk to market.
Urban Aeronautics has been building the next generation of flying vehicles since 2001.
With its success in the development of the Cormorant, an unmanned VTOL aircraft built for a variety of military, civil and emergency response missions, Urban Aeronautics is now setting its sights toward the manned civilian market through commuter air taxis, and emergency medical services (EMS). With the recent announcement of its partnership with the Boeing Company, Urban Aeronautics now joins forces with Ascent to accelerate the commercialisation of its hydrogen/electric-powered vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, the CityHawk. CityHawk has a uniquely small footprint the size of a large SUV and yet has a seating capacity for up to six passengers. This combination maximizes the efficiency of vertiports and increases passenger traffic laying a foundation for a genuine mass transit solution.
Ascent is Asia’s first technology-powered urban air mobility service that enables users to avail of helicopter flights by the seat today, and eVTOLs in the future, to skip the traffic between activity hubs like international airports, central business districts and popular leisure destinations to regain control of their time in traffic-congested cities.
This new business model allows users to experience seamless urban mobility through the skies on fuel-efficient flights, from US$150 per seat, a rate up to ten times more affordable than traditional chartering. Despite this innovation, urban air mobility is predicted to become even more affordable and environmentally sustainable with eVTOLs, a less expensive aircraft to produce, maintain and operate, relative to helicopters. Recent studies project that unmanned autonomous air taxi services could bring the price as low as $2 per mile.
“As we continue to advance on our development and look toward commercial flights within a few years, we are eager to work with Ascent. Thanks to Ascent’s unique operational experience, and growing footprint, we are now able to enrich our aircraft design and commercialisation approach, based on direct market insights. With this partnership, Urban Aeronautics can make an aircraft for the customer, with the customer,” says Dr. Rafi Yoeli, CEO of Urban Aeronautics.
Lionel Sinai-Sinelnikoff, Founder and CEO of Ascent adds “The partnership with Urban Aeronautics is a great step forward in line with our objective to democratise sustainable urban air mobility. In addition to providing flights by the seat, and our commitment to climate neutrality, partnering with the industry pioneer in low-emission VTOLs brings us one step closer to doing so. We are honoured to bring Urban Aeronautics within our ecosystem" Read more...
Messe Friedrichshafen Postpones Aviation Show AERO until 2021
New Dates Set For April 14-17, 2021 Due to current developments in regard to the spread of coronavirus COVID-19, Messe Friedrichshafen is taking a serious but necessary step: aviation show AERO will not be held as planned April 1 to 4, 2020… continue Reading: http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?do=main.textpost&id=10acb482-4481-4430-b57f-1229d60baebc
Drones & «Sense & Avoid»: Researchers at the University of Zurich have developed a new system that lets drones dodge high-speed obstacles
video
https://youtu.be/sbJAi6SXOQw
press release
https://www.media.uzh.ch/en/Press-Releases/2020/Moving_robot.html
This Drone Can Play Dodgeball – And Win
Using a novel type of cameras, researchers from the University of Zurich have demonstrated a flying robot that can detect and avoid fast-moving objects. A step towards drones that can fly faster in harsh environments, accomplishing more in less time.
Drones can do many things, but avoiding obstacles is not their strongest suit yet – especially when they move quickly. Although many flying robots are equipped with cameras that can detect obstacles, it typically takes from 20 to 40 milliseconds for the drone to process the image and react. It may seem quick, but it is not enough to avoid a bird or another drone, or even a static obstacle when the drone itself is flying at high speed. This can be a problem when drones are used in unpredictable environments, or when there are many of them flying in the same area.
Reaction of a few milliseconds
In order to solve this problem, researchers at the University of Zurich have equipped a quadcopter (a drone with four propellers) with special cameras and algorithms that reduced its reaction time down to a few milliseconds – enough to avoid a ball thrown at it from a short distance. The results, published in the journal Science Robotics, can make drones more effective in situations such as the aftermath of a natural disaster.
“For search and rescue applications, such as after an earthquake, time is very critical, so we need drones that can navigate as fast as possible in order to accomplish more within their limited battery life,” explains Davide Scaramuzza, who leads the Robotics and Perception Group at the University of Zurich as well as the NCCR Robotics Search and Rescue Grand Challenge. “However, by navigating fast drones are also more exposed to the risk of colliding with obstacles, and even more if these are moving. We realized that a novel type of camera, called Event Camera, are a perfect fit for this purpose”.
Event cameras have smart pixels
Traditional video cameras, such as the ones found in every smartphone, work by regularly taking snapshots of the whole scene. This is done by exposing the pixels of the image all at the same time. This way, though, a moving object can only be detected after all the pixels have been analysed by the on-board computer. Event cameras, on the other hand, have smart pixels that work independently of each other. The pixels that detect no changes remain silent, while the ones that see a change in light intensity immediately send out the information. This means that only a tiny fraction of the all pixels of the image will need to be processed by the onboard computer, therefore speeding up the computation a lot.
Event cameras are a recent innovation, and existing object-detection algorithms for drones do not work well with them. So the researchers had to invent their own algorithms that collect all the events recorded by the camera over a very short time, then subtracts the effect of the drone’s own movement – which typically account for most of the changes in what the camera sees.
Only 3.5 milliseconds to detect incoming objects
Scaramuzza and his team first tested the cameras and algorithms alone. They threw objects of various shapes and sizes towards the camera, and measured how efficient the algorithm was in detecting them. The success rate varied between 81 and 97 per cent, depending on the size of the object and the distance of the throw, and the system only took 3.5 milliseconds to detect incoming objects.
Then the most serious test began: putting cameras on an actual drone, flying it both indoor and outdoor and throwing objects directly at it. The drone was able to avoid the objects – including a ball thrown from a three-meter distance and travelling at 10 meters per second – more than 90 per cent of the time. When the drone “knew” the size of the object in advance, one camera was enough. When, instead, it had to face objects of varying size, two cameras were used to give it stereoscopic vision.
According to Scaramuzza, these results show that event cameras can increase the speed at which drones can navigate by up to ten times, thus expanding their possible applications. “One day drones will be used for a large variety of applications, such as delivery of goods, transportation of people, aerial filmography and, of course, search and rescue,” he says. “But enabling robots to perceive and make decision faster can be a game changer for also for other domains where reliably detecting incoming obstacles plays a crucial role, such as automotive, good delivery, transportation, mining, and remote inspection with robots”.
Nearly as reliable as human pilots
In the future, the team aims to test this system on an even more agile quadrotor. “Our ultimate goal is to make one day autonomous drones navigate as good as human drone pilots. Currently, in all search and rescue applications where drones are involved, the human is actually in control. If we could have autonomous drones navigate as reliable as human pilots we would then be able to use them for missions that fall beyond line of sight or beyond the reach of the remote control,” says Davide Falanga, the PhD student who is the primary author of the article.
The work was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation through the National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) Robotics.
Literature:
Davide Falanga, Kevin Kleber, Davide Scaramuzza, “Dynamic Obstacle Avoidance for Quadrotors with Event Cameras”, Science Robotics, March 18, 2020. DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.aaz9712
Read more...
Mitsubishi Aircraft Makes Maiden Flight of Mitsubishi SpaceJet Flight Test Vehicle 10 (FTV10)
press release
https://www.mitsubishiaircraft.com/latest/maiden-flight-of-mitsubishi-spacejet-flight-test-vehicle-10
Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation, a MHI Group company, announced that it has completed the maiden flight of Flight Test Vehicle 10 (FTV10), the first Mitsubishi SpaceJet M90 in final, certifiable baseline configuration.
FTV10 took off at 14:53 (JST) from the Prefectural Nagoya Airport and conducted basic aircraft performance tests in normal operating conditions over the Pacific Ocean. After approximately two hours of flight, the aircraft returned to Nagoya at 16:40 (JST). With the completion of FTV10’s first flight, Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation is prepared to enter the final phase of certification flight testing for the SpaceJet M90, the first commercial jet manufactured in Japan.
"I am very pleased that FTV10, which was handed over from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in January this year, successfully conducted its first flight today," Hisakazu Mizutani, President of Mitsubishi Aircraft said. “I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all those who are continuously supporting the program. We are excited for this latest step in the certification of the Mitsubishi SpaceJet M90."
“Today’s announcement is especially encouraging, as it marks the start of certification flight testing for the first SpaceJet M90 in final, certifiable configuration,” added Alex Bellamy, Mitsubishi Aircraft’s Chief Development Officer. “We are all proud of this latest accomplishment, which reflects the hard work of a dedicated team, the culmination of an organizational transformation and all of the engineering changes made since 2016. We look forward to continuing our progress toward commercial certification of the M90 program.”
Hiroyoshi Takase, a captain aboard FTV10’s maiden flight, remarked, “Today’s flight test was conducted smoothly and according to plan. The aircraft delivered on expectations and handled just as I anticipated.”
In coming weeks Mitsubishi Aircraft plans to continue flight tests on FTV10 in Nagoya, as well as prepare for the ferry flight to Moses Lake Flight Test Center (MFC) to join the remainder of the Mitsubishi SpaceJet M90 test fleet for the final phase of type certification flight test.
Flight information
・Aircraft: JA26MJ (FTV10)
・Takeoff time: 14:53 JST
・Landing Time: 16:40 JST
・Pilot Name: Hiroyoshi Takase (total flight time: approx. 7,700h) and Akira Udagawa (total flight time: approx. 11,600h)
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Unmanned helicopter designed to drop "bombs" on fores fires
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Body length
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2.8m(Excluding blades)
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Takeoff weight
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260KG
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Body height
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1.6m
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Engine
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34HP * 2 water-cooled rotor engine
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Rotor diameter
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3.6m
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Cruising speed
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≤100km/h
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Number of paddle blades
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2 * 2 coaxial
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Time of endurance
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3-4h
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Empty weight
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160kg
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Fuel
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gasoline
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Mission load
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100kg
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Start way
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Remote start
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Fire Extinguisher Model
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CL-50
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Number of mounts
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2 pieces
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A set of independent drone forest fire targeting system
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One-click launching system for drone forest fire extinguishing bomb
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||
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50 cubic meters of fire extinguishing area per forest fire extinguisher
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Extinguishing accuracy of fire extinguishing bomb is not more than 2m * 2m
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||
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