KQ sticks to Boeing's plan despite crash in Ethiopia

Kenya Airways: KQ will not cancel its orders for the Boeing 737-800 Max that have been stranded in the world after suffering two fatal accidents in five months, said President Michael Joseph.

The national carrier plans to order up to 10 aircraft with an estimated value of 120 billion shillings ($ 1.2 billion).

The Indonesian airline Garuda Indonesia became Friday the first carrier to publicly announce the cancellation of its order for 49 Bo for 600 billion shillings ($ 6 billion) for 49 Boeing 737 Max 8, evoking a loss pbadenger confidence following the two accidents.

"The only option we have planned is the Boeing 737-800 Max, as this will make it easier for us to train and maintain the aircraft," said Mr. Joseph during a meeting with the company. Daily.

"We hope that by the time we are ready to acquire the new fleet, Boeing will have solved the current problem," he added.

The US aviation giant is fighting hard to solve a computer problem suspected of being behind two accidents that claimed the lives of 157 people at the time of the accident. Ethiopian Airlines and 189 people in the crash of Indonesian carrier Lion Air five months ago. 36 people killed in the Ethiopian crash were Kenyans.

Preliminary investigations revealed similarities in the circumstances surrounding the two accidents.

The security concerns have brought into play global orders for the aircraft worth about 5 700 billion shillings ($ 57 billion).

Kenya Airways (KQ) has the opportunity to buy more of the older version 737-800 of the Boeing aircraft that does not contain the suspicious software, but this could make it lose the energy efficiency badociated with the new aircraft reaction.

KQ could also switch to Airbus, but this would result in additional training costs for its pilots, crew and engineers.

The cash – strapped national carrier intends to get rid of its two Boeing 737-700 before the end of the year.

Mr. Joseph stated that maintaining the same Boeing fleet was the most economical option for the national carrier, but that this would depend on the manufacturer's ability to address the safety issues badociated with the new 737-800 Max Series. .

The Boeing 737-800 Max was stopped around the world as a result of the two aerial collisions.

Kenya Airways does not have a Boeing 737-800 Max on its fleet and has not yet placed a firm order. The aircraft's fuel economy makes it one of Boeing's best-selling aircraft, having delivered more than 370 aircraft since 2017, with approximately 5,000 orders placed.

KQ currently has a fleet of 40 aircraft, consisting of both Boeing and Embraer 190, of Brazilian manufacture. It has 20 planes owned 100% by the national carrier and 20 others by other companies.

The national airline has leased three of the Boeing 777-300ERs to Turkish Airlines, while a Boeing 787 Dreamliner has been leased to Oman Air, where KQ derives rental rental income from the deal.

The airline is the third largest carrier in sub-Saharan Africa.

The shareholding changes that took place in 2017 gave the government a nearly 50% stake in KQ, with the Air France-KLM group, commercial banks and individual investors owning the other shares.

While not completely dismissing the Airbus switch, Mr. Joseph said the ideal would be to use aircraft from a single manufacturer to make fleet maintenance less expensive.

He stated that having more than three types of aircraft from different manufacturers would increase training and maintenance costs.

The fatal crash of Boeing 737-800 Max has been attributed to defective sensors, which transmit erroneous information to the computer of the aircraft.

Angle Attack Sensors (AOA) would send incorrect information to aircraft computers regarding the position of the nose of the aircraft relative to the airflow overhead. and under his wings, which determine if the plane is landing.

The software installed on Boeing's 737 Max 8 aircraft, called the Maneuvering Feature Enhancement System (MCAS), automatically lowers the nose of the aircraft when it receives AOA sensors the information that the aircraft is flying too far slowly or too much and may stall.

Ethiopian Airlines is the only carrier in the region to offer this type of aircraft.