Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Safran suspends electric jet taxiing project after Airbus ends talks

Published 2019-12-03, 04:45 p/m
Updated 2019-12-03, 04:49 p/m
Safran suspends electric jet taxiing project after Airbus ends talks

Safran suspends electric jet taxiing project after Airbus ends talks

SACLAY, France (Reuters) - France's Safran SA (PA:SAF) has shelved plans to install an electric taxiing system on Airbus (PA:AIR) A320 jets after the planemaker halted discussions on the project, it chief executive said.

The system relies on electric motors embedded in landing gear to allow planes to push back and taxi without their jet engines running - saving fuel, curbing emissions and ending last-minute delays while waiting for airport tugs.

Several such projects emerged during a spike in oil prices earlier this decade and have come to the fore again due to pressure to reduce emissions, but development has been hindered by weaker oil prices and shifts in jet flying patterns.

Safran acknowledges the system would be uneconomic for long flights because those jets do not spend enough time taxiing to justify carrying the motors, which weigh some 400 kg (882 lb).

But for planes doing six or seven short trips a day and looking to cut extra minutes off turnaround times, the benefits could be worth 4% in lower fuel consumption, the French company said.

Analysts say the trend in single-aisle jets like the A320 has recently, however, been toward longer flights enabled by design improvements.

Safran Chief Executive Philippe Petitcolin said he was "surprised and disappointed" by the Airbus decision, which emerged weeks after Air India became the first airline to use a rival system called TaxiBot, developed by a unit of Israel Aerospace Industries.

"We offered various forms of partnership (to Airbus)," he told reporters.

An Airbus spokesman said the system did not offer enough technical maturity and performance "in its current form."

Airbus continues to explore ways to curb emissions, he added.

Safran had previously worked with Honeywell International Inc (N:HON) on a similar product for Boeing (NYSE:BA) 737 jets but they parted ways due to problems adapting it to the wheels of the slightly smaller airplane.

Wheeltug, a unit of Borealis Exploration Ltd (PK:BOREF), said in September it had reached agreement with an unidentified party to support Wheeltug, a system allowing the Boeing 737 to taxi forwards and backwards using a motor in the nosewheel.

As part of a wider technology drive, Safran is studying longer-term autonomous systems that could take over a pilot's job of taxiing or ease the workload so that only one pilot is engaged, Safran researchers said on Tuesday.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.