Hopes To Certify Application By November
An American Airlines 767-300ER equipped with Aviation Partners
Boeing Blended Winglets took to the skies for the first time at
1:50 pm CDT Sunday. The newly-modified aircraft flew a ferry flight
from Kansas City, MO to San Bernardino, CA where it will undergo
two months of certification and winglet performance flight
testing.
The Blended Winglet installation, along with necessary wing and
aircraft systems modifications, was performed by American Airlines
employees at their Kansas City Maintenance Base.
The 11 foot tall (3.4m) Blended Winglets are manufactured for
Aviation Partners Boeing by GKN Aerospace, based on the Isle of
Wight in the United Kingdom. The wing modification kit was
manufactured by the team of LMI Aerospace, Contour Aerospace, and
Honeywell Consumable Solutions.
FAA and EASA certification of 767-300ER Blended Winglets is
anticipated for November of this year with entry into revenue
service following in December.
"The 767-300ER Blended Winglet program launch has been our most
successful to date," says Aviation Partners Boeing's President and
CEO, John Reimers. "We are four months away from expected
certification and already have firm commitments for over 130
systems from 10 different airlines. As a result, we are currently
sold out of 767-300ER Blended Winglet Systems through November of
2009."
By reducing the drag created by traditional wingtip vortices,
Aviation Partners Boeing estimates that the Blended Winglets
designed for the 767-300ER will save up to 6.5% on fuel
consumption. This translates to a savings of over 500,000 gallons
of jet fuel per aircraft per year for operators with the longest
average sector lengths and highest aircraft utilization rates.
"Blended Winglets are the 'greenest' aftermarket product
available to the aviation industry today," says Aviation Partners
Boeing founder and Chairman, Joe Clark. "A 767 burning half a
million gallons of jet fuel translates into an annual reduction of
over 5,000 tons of CO2 per aircraft."
To date over 2,480 Boeing aircraft have been equipped with
Blended Winglets, including Boeing 737-BBJ, 737-800, 737-700,
737-300, 757-200, 737-500, and 737-900 aircraft. Aviation Partners
Boeing is now in the process of being certified for the Boeing
767-300ER (both passenger and freighter variants) and 757-300.
Aviation Partners Boeing also hopes to launch a 777-200ER
Blended Winglets certification program later this year with
certification anticipated by December 2010.