The airline "Yakutia" is tired of struggling with the defects of the SSJ 100 "Superjet"

Of the four SSJ 100 aircraft, the company has only two serviceable, and then not for long.
27.08.2018
Kommersant
Origin source
The market may become even one operator of a Russian aircraft SSJ 100 less. Example Red Wings, abandoned the SSJ 100 in 2016, promises to follow the "Yakutia". The carrier complains about the "critical mass of problems". At the same time, Yakutia can not obtain confirmation of defects from aircraft manufacturers and engines, and the Ministry of Transport can not temporarily replace the SSJ 100 with the old Boeing.

The airline "Yakutia" is considering the possibility of stopping the use of SSJ 100, the director of the carrier's fleet Ivan Vinokurov told Air Transport Review. According to him, this option is an "emergency button", because "a critical mass" of problems has accumulated. Because of poor serviceability SSJ 100 "Yakutia" "actually failed the summer", explained Mr. Vinokurov, adding that of the declared in the summer schedule of four aircraft, only two were serviceable.

According to Rosaviation, in the first half of the year, Yakutia's passenger traffic fell by 2.7%, to 363 thousand people. In the summer season, the airline regularly delayed flights. In July, 12% of the 75 international charters were detained, and the total share of the company's flights with a delay reached 14%. In addition to SSJ 100, its fleet includes Bombardier Q300 / 400, Boeing 737/757, An-24 - only 21 aircraft. "Yakutia" performs regular and charter flights to Yakutia, the cities of the Far East, the central regions of Russia, the CIS and South-East Asia, as well as Alaska.

"Yakutia" may become the second airline that returned SSJ 100 to the lessor: in 2016, five planes refused to Red Wings. Its general director, Yevgeny Klyucharev, then complained about the high cost of transportation per seat. At the same time, the company could not find a line for the SSJ 100, where the aircraft would fly with full load.

"Yakutia" is one of the first SSJ 100 operators. Since 2012, the total flight has reached almost 35 thousand hours - this type of aircraft accounts for about 25% of traffic. But with the guaranteed resource of the SaM146 engine of the French-Russian manufacturer PowerJet, 9,000 hours, they were lifted with a running time of 1,5-3 thousand cycles, not reaching 7,000 cycles specified in the aircraft certificate, Ivan Vinokurov said. Repair of two engines SSJ 100 "Yakutia" lasted from September 2017 to May 2018. At the same time, neither the PowerJet nor the Sukhoi Civil Aircraft (manufacturer of SSJ 100) provide the airline with confirmation of structural defects, although the identified problem is "systemic for all operators", including "with a world-wide name," told the technical director of Yakutia Alexander Zinkov to the agency YSIA. According to him, 33 cases of failure of engines were identified because of design flaws in the combustion chamber.

Despite the downtime, Yakutia has not received a "leasing vacation", the State Transport Leasing Company (GTLK) continues to charge payments, and tries to return the debts for one aircraft - 108 million rubles - through the court. At the same time, there are no swing motors in the market, and after-sales service is more expensive than for a similar foreign aircraft (dismantling and installation of the engine for consumables costs $ 100,000 for replacement). The carrier tried to replace the SSJ 100 with one Boeing 737, but the Ministry of Transport did not give permission, referring to the insecurity of operating a ship older than 20 years, registered in a foreign register.

The SCA was informed that the questions posed by Yakutia concern the after-sales service of SaM146, governed by the agreement between the airline and PowerJet. The interaction between the SCA and the carrier goes "within the framework of bilateral contractual obligations." PowerJet does not comment on the situation with individual customers, noting that engines of less than ten years of age "within the maturity of the cycle" are regularly sent for maintenance. In addition to the support from PowerJet, which creates a maintenance station in France and Russia to reduce downtime, the airline can also invest in spare parts. Since 2011, the reliability of engines at the level of world standards - 99.9%, assure PowerJet.

In Rosaviatsii "they are informed about the condition of the park" and "closely monitor the situation". The Ministry of Transport also supported Rosaviatsiya's offer to transfer Boeing 737 "Yakutia" to the Russian register: "the decision will increase the safety of flights, taking into account Rosaviatsii's remarks to the ship-causing state of the vessel".

The executive director of the "Airport" Oleg Panteleev believes that the airline fulfills social obligations and its flights in the region are unrestricted. "If the situation with debts becomes critical, then the authorities of the region will support over the funds allocated to Yakutia on an ongoing basis." In 2014 the airline received about 4 billion rubles from the republican budget, including leasing the SSJ 100.

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