Commercial Aircraft In Aviation Industry Research Paper Example

Introduction

Aviation industry of the United States turns out to be worldwide in range. It is also very viable and the companies in the United States generate products in extensive variety intended for the defense and civil aspects. The aircrafts industry yields billions of dollars in terms of the worth of freights in 2010. In the same year, the products consisting of equipment, engines, parts and civil aircraft are exported generating billions of dollars correspondingly (Harrison, 2011).
There are several manufacturers for these commercial aircrafts. Among the manufacturers are Bombardier, Embraer, Boeing and Airbus. Boeing and Airbus are the two aircraft manufacturers that produce the ninety to two hundred twenty passenger seats, which is classified as the narrow-body commercial transport. The two other aircraft manufacturers, Bombardier and Embraer, also produces narrow-body aircraft and less than ninety passenger seats classified as regional jets (Harrison, 2011).
For more than forty years, the leading manufacturer of commercial aircrafts is the Airbus. It started in the 1974 when the A300 became the first commercial twin-engine wide range body jet in the world. Followed by the A310 and the A320, this is the single-aisle aircraft in the early 1980s. This single-aisle aircraft has developed into one of the most successful aircrafts families in the history with the A318, A319, A320 and A321 and eventually A330 and A340. In 2007, the new era of aircraft A380, a five hundred twenty five passenger seat was developed for commercial operation. Further, Airbus launched the A350 XWB twin-engine jetliner comprising of the latest design and advance technologies and aerodynamics. It continues to manufacture and improve the products in new engine option such as the A320neo, the A330neo and many others.
Airbus begun to expand its network on the assembly facility on the two countries, China and United States of America, thus, the start of the construction is in 2013 (Airbus).
In terms of market sector, the meaning of the commercial aircraft is unsolidified and numerous sectors overlap one with another. In the projection of Boeing in 2010, commercial aircraft means by way of airplanes such as the single-aisle passenger, the twin-aisle passenger, and the freighter. Boeing divided into subsections or subcategories, the twin-aisle passenger airplanes and the single-aisle passenger airplanes (Harrison, 2011).
Narrow-body aircraft and regional jets are included in the single-aisle aircraft. This aircraft is divided into two classes, first is the ninety to one hundred seventy five seats and the second class comprises of more than one hundred seventy five seats. Wide-bodies and large passenger aircraft denoted as twin-aisle aircrafts are characterized as small, medium and large. The small comprises of one hundred eighty to three hundred forty seats, medium had two hundred sixty to four hundred fifty seats and for the large consisting of more than four hundred seats. The Airbus A380 and the Boeing 747 likewise denoted as the very large aircraft or termed as VLA and are the examples of the large twin-aisle passenger airplanes (Harrison, 2011).

Challenges in the Aviation Industry

According to Axel Krein, Airbus Senior Vice President on Research and Technology, in the speech last year, the challenges and issues that the aviation industry are facing today remains unresolved without the unity of working together of the company as well as the country. Krein discussed several challenges that the aviation and Airbus is facing. Those challenges are not new or distinctive to Airbus and the company is undertaking those challenges (Garrett, 2014).
Traffic in the air is one of the issues in the aviation industry. According to Krein, there are more or less one hundred thousand flights within twenty four hours all over the world. Thus, there are enormous air traffics it created globally only in one day. The most traffic is in the North America with thirty five percent. Twenty five percent is in the Asia and Europe then followed by Latin America which is ten percent. The Oceana and Africa had only five percent of the air traffic. Thus, Krein states that around thirty thousand new aircraft will be manufactured and delivered by 2032. If this will happen, the number of the flight will be doubled at about two hundred thousand flights leading to traffic in the air (Garrett, 2014).
A lot of people travel throughout the world creating more flights to accommodate those passengers. One of the effects of this is that there will be congestion in the runways. Each aircraft will wait until it is its turn to load the passengers. However, to make this attainable the Airbus foresees that the airlines need to have big airplanes to accommodate the passengers. Not only the traffic on runways but also in the air. As stated, the projection of the Airbus with regard to the passengers is that it will have an increase of more than a one hundred percent after fifteen years as 2013 of three billion passengers. It will be about seven billion passengers who will travel by the year 2032 (Garrett, 2014).
Another challenge is the trained pilots to handle each aircraft. Krein states that in this time there are not enough pilots throughout the world and those pilots could not be trained that fast. One more challenge is the safety of the not only of the passengers but also the people in the row. Also, the eco-friendly or environmental aims such as lowering the noise, flying green, and reducing cardon dioxide footprint will add up to the challenges.
According to Krein, there are aspects that need emphasis in the future of commercial aircraft. One of these is the improvement of the offshoots or derivatives like performance, lead time and cost (Garrett, 2014). Years passed, Airbus had already the issue on the delivery of the aircrafts, accordingly, learned from this experience. With the wide-ranging availability of the modern aerospace or aircraft technologies and delivery of the aircraft within the time table makes it to be in the competitive commercial manufacturer.
Consider the time in the beginning of the creation and launch of the Airbus A380, which is the environmental friendly, most spacious and efficient, there was a problem in delivery of the aircraft. This issue is due to the industrialization problem such as the installation of the design of electrical connections inside the aircraft (Simons, 2014). Its implication to the company is that it will have a bad reputation or there is a risk in the reputation and also the inefficiency in manufacturing the aircrafts. But eventually the A380 was delivered on time and make it to be a competitive aircraft manufacturer up to this time.
Another difficulty is the capability of the support network of company to comply on supplying the parts and assistance to the manufacturer. Delayed in the delivery would cause the plane not to operate properly. Some aircraft manufacturers have poor reputation for the supply of the part and also on services. Thus, manufacturers like Airbus need to associate with the good and efficient reputable suppliers for the requirements in order to produce the aircraft on time and without any delay.
The main objective of the Airbus is to design, support and manufacture the greatest aircraft in the world (Airbus). Many people like to travel or find it a pleasure on travelling.
Krein discussed some of the issues on new technologies for development such as laminar flow wings, tests on ground vibration, additive layer manufacturing and counter-rotating open rotor technology. These new development will help to reduce by ninety percent of the materials needed and thirty percent reduction on the cost and weight (Garrett, 2014). Thus, manufacturers see to it that the aircrafts produced is comfortable, hassle-free, very efficient, less or without noise, and satisfying for the passengers while travelling in the air. Aside from that, it must need to be environmental friendly and cost affordably without suffering the safety of the passengers.
Investments and capitals are another challenge for every manufacturer, from the supplies and equipment used up to the workers and launching to the commercial market. The ability of the manufacturer to bring the aircraft to the market with its performances that satisfy the requirements of the passengers and customers, the delivery of this in a timely manner, the profit earning, the coverage of the maintenance and support services and the recovery costs and even the competitors response to the market.
For the future of aviation industry, manufacturers could be very supportive and aware of the fact that solar energy is gradually widely used in this modern times. There is a possibility for these aircrafts to be run by the solar energy and also the use of artificial intelligence. Using solar energy will greatly save fuel resources and eco-friendly emissions of the aircrafts. Combined with the less or low weight of the frame of the aircrafts with the high technology and improved aerodynamics will turn the aircraft to be competitive in the market. And lastly, every aircraft needs to pass the standard of quality and assurance in order to generate a safe and comfortable place for travelers and even to prevent any damage in the aircraft as well as danger to the life of the passengers.

References

Airbus. (n.d.). Company. Retrieved from Airbus website http://www.airbus.com/company/.
Garrett, L. (2014). Collective Effort Needed to Tackle Aviation’s Challenges. AIAA. Retrieved from https://www.aiaa-aviation.org/Forum.aspx?id=23825.
Gray, I. (2007). Recent Developments with Airbus: Oral and Written Evidence: Ninth Session 2006-2007 Volume 2. Great Britain: The Stationery Office.
Harrison, G. (2011). Challenges to the Boeing-Airbus Duopoly in Civil Aircraft: Issues for Competitiveness. CRS Report for Congress. Retrieved from http://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41925.pdf.
Simons, Graham. (2014). The Airbus A380: A History. Great Britain: Pen and Sword.