Ahmad Sharilamin

Don't think you can get the 787 maintenances manual right now...the aircraft is not even certified yet...usually only a few months before the plane is about to enter service, would you be able 2 get a copy of it.....and it is normally restricted circulation 2 airline operators....

You guys probably have seen this old video before...just to share with them new folks..hehehe...enjoy.. click link for part 1: Part 2 Part 3

Airbus is under a lot of pressure lately , particularly the Power8 cost cutting and planed elimination of 10,000 Jobs...you can imagine the workers in the factories being disgruntled and having daily strikes and industrial action...at the same time there is a lot of management changes occurring within.... and of course customers dissatisfaction on the handling of A380 fiasco, and thus there exist increased pressure to not screw up on deliveries of other models.... .. and to meet demand Airbus are aiming to increase production rapidly , despite the circumstances... .......all these factors could ultimately lead to quality control issues....

Ahh..MSN3 is bout to be delivered in a few months time.. ..i better finish my work, or people are going 2 be disappointed ..hehe..

..there are a lot of international conman who are working with local business- conman to promote new and interesting projects...doono why but aerospace seems 2 be one of the major attractions for these individuals... ..i personally was working under such an organization selling an aerospace product...a westerner and local conman who were trying 2 get international investors into the project..once i knew their intentions..i bailed out immediately ..these people are really giving a bad name for malaysia.... ..i also know off 2 other dubious schemes running around also promoting aerospace ventures...again international collaboration..but since my experience , i can tell these are probably another money grabbing outfit...

Well the A320 family has a history of landing gear and braking problems..was it the nose landing gear that jammed?... Recall infamous A320 Jet Blue gear incident... "With about 2,500 Airbus A320s in operation worldwide, the number of incidents involving jammed nose gear is not significant, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Greg Martin said Thursday. The A320 family _ which includes the A318, A319 and A321 _ has a somewhat unusual landing gear that rotates before retracting into the fuselage. "It's definitely not the most common way," said Chuck Eastlake, aerospace engineering professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla. "The reason is that the ability of the nose wheel to rotate 90 degrees introduces the possibility of failure, exactly like what we saw." The problems with JetBlue Flight 292 marked at least the seventh time that the front landing gear of an Airbus jet has locked at a 90-degree angle, forcing pilots to land commercial airliners under emergency conditions, according to federal records. No one has been injured in the incidents, which span about a decade. There are more than 2,500 planes from the Airbus 320 family, which includes the Airbus 318, 319 and 321 models, in operation worldwide. Aviation safety officials Thursday said the planes have a good safety record. In the most recent case, JetBlue's flight from Burbank to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, carrying 140 passengers, was forced Wednesday to make an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport. The plight of the aircraft was televised nationwide, beginning with the plane circling over the California coast and ending at an LAX runway with a landing marked by fire streaming from the plane's front wheels. Howard Plagens, a senior air safety investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating Wednesday's incident, called problems with landing gear "common." At a news conference Thursday at the Proud Bird Restaurant outside LAX, he said he believed that passengers had no reason for concern about the safety of the Airbus fleet. "How many Airbus A320s are out there?" he said, adding that the number of times the wheels have locked is small. "Incidents happen every day" involving landing gear on all types of planes, he said. The locking of the nose landing gear on Airbus jets is one of several recurring problems with the plane's nose landing gear. A Canadian study issued last year documented 67 incidents of nose-landing-gear failures on Airbus 319, 320 and 321 aircraft worldwide since 1989. Plagens said the A320 wasn't grounded after previous incidents involving the nose landing gear because "they did do fixes for those things." After the initial investigation, the NTSB will look at maintenance records for other Airbus A320 aircraft, Plagens said. Investigators will review other instances involving the plane's nose wheel, as well as modifications recommended to fix the problem. "If we find a pattern, we'll certainly do something," he said. NTSB officials expect the investigation into Flight 292's emergency landing to take six to nine months. They have removed the cockpit voice recorder and the digital flight data recorder from the plane and sent them to Washington for evaluation. In the next few days, safety officials will decide whether to send the entire nose-landing-gear assembly to New York, where mechanics will take it apart piece by piece and reassemble it to try to re-create the failure. The landing gear on the nose of the A320, also known as the nose wheel, is a big, bulky system controlled by a computer. The computer gives commands to an electrical system, which in turn operates the hydraulics that move the gear up and down, moving the wheels into proper position for both landing and storage. The problem that caused the wheel on Flight 292 to lock in the wrong position could have been caused by the electrical system, the hydraulics or some other part of the assembly, Plagens said. The maker of the nose landing gear, Paris-based Messier-Dowty, said in a National Transportation Safety Board report dated April 2004 that the company had redesigned the backplate onto which the shock absorber attaches to prevent the problem from recurring. At that time the manufacturer said it was awaiting approval of the redesign. Federal aviation officials and an Airbus spokeswoman said Thursday that they did not know whether replacement of the problematic part had been approved or implemented. A call to a spokeswoman for Messier-Dowty in Paris was not immediately returned.

Here some more info i found on incident from some people in the net... "Some kind of powdered dangerous goods improperly packed which subsequently spilled in the belly. Loaded in Beijing if my memory serves me. $80m worth of damage, shipper hauled up by the chinese govt. The chemical was HYDROXIL QUINOLINE. It was improperly packed and wrongfully declared by the agent in China. Shipment was for India. Spillage was in the fwd cargo area, which damaged the area and contents badly. Also affected were the engines cos when the cargo doors were open, the engines were windmilling and sucked in the fumes. The fumes damaged the engines and ductings including those of the aircond system. Damaged too expensive to repair and damage due corrosion difficult to ascertain. Best thing to do, write it off and make insurance claim. The aircraft was a write-off and MAS was compensated for about US$90 million early this year."

Looks like MKB was the first A330 in active service 2 be written off (besides the crash of the Airbus prototype)...wonder what happened to MKB?? Was it cannibalized and scrapped?

Was MAS one of the joint launch customers for the -300?..i remember reading somewhere..i think thai and MAS were the first 2 receive them???...any clarification... I guess first customers would always take the risk of a bug riddle airplane... Have flown MAS and Emirates A330s only....anyone flown A340s ?..since the 2 have a generally similar wing and fuselage cross section, curious on how different is flying in an A330 and A340 (besides extra engines)...i hear A340s are quiet...would love 2 have a chance 2 fly in them...

I found this in Air Accident database...interesting, didnt know this before... Status: Preliminary Date: 15 MAR 2000 Time: ca 23:40 Type: Airbus A.330-322 Operator: Malaysia Airlines Registration: 9M-MKB C/n / msn: 068 First flight: 1995 Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney PW4168 Crew: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 14 Passengers: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 252 Total: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 266 Airplane damage: Written off Location: Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) (Malaysia) show on map Phase: Standing Nature: International Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: Beijing-Capital Airport (PEK/ZBAA), China Destination airport: Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL/WMKK), Malaysia Flightnumber: 085 Narrative: After arrival from a flight from Beijing, baggage handlers were unloading 80 canisters weighing 2,000kg when they were hit by the strong toxic fumes. A check by airport fire and rescue personnel revealed the canisters contained a chemical called "hydroxy quino-line" which is used for rust-proofing. Several canisters had leaked, causing severe damage to the aircraft fuselage. The aircraft was considered damaged beyond repair. I also read somewhere one of the first MAS A330 that was about to be delivered by Airbus, had a hot brakes that started a fire causing some damage and the plane had 2 be repaired .... ... MAS A330s has some pretty interesting history!!...

Hi newbie here. I am quite familiar with both accidents....the PAN AM one was from reading my old take off magazine...plane was headed for vegas and the captain was a very experianced pilot, i think he was a flight instructor...the 727 took off in heavy weather ...at bout 100 ft , it hit a wind shear and lost speed rapidly, stalled and crashed nose high in a residential area....back in 1982 , wind shear detection technology was non existance.. Now the second accident I remember very well as i was in the states back in '85... me and my family were flying in a Delta Tristar out of Dallas FW...still remember the flight as the stewardess handed me a small white plastic Tristar model as a souvenir...i remember a few weeks later , when i opened up the days newspaper and saw in the front page a large picture of an ugly, black ,charred tail section of an aircraft with a tail engine....and was shocked that it was a delta tristar, the same type we had flown earlier a few weeks back...

Actually, the Hawks and older Aermacchis were brought new....the 'A' varient Aermacchis were brought in around 83' to replace the old Tebuan jet/light attack trainer...... ...The Hawks were ordered in the early nineties after a plan to purchase Panavia Tornadoes fell through and a new combat aircraft was also required to replace the crash prone ,ex-US Navy Skyhawks .... The new Aermachis would replace the older 'A' varient which needs urgent replacement as they have very high flying hours ( some have been retired).....without the new trainers, the Air Force would have trouble training new pilots... my two cents....

Sorry to steal your show...but... Korean Air to Buy 25 Boeing Aircraft Associated Press 11.20.06, 10:47 PM ET South Korea's flag carrier Korean Air said Tuesday it will buy 25 aircraft from Boeing Co. for around $5.5 billion, the largest aviation deal in the nation's history. Under the agreement, Boeing (nyse: BA - news - people ) will deliver 15 passenger aircraft and 10 freighters to Korean Air Co. - the world's biggest mover of air cargo - over a 10-year period beginning in 2009, the airline said in a statement. Korean Air will purchase 10 long-haul 777-300ERs and five medium-range 737-900/700 passenger jets, as well as 10 freighters, five 747-8Fs and five 777-200LRs. It has an option on an additional eight planes: four 777-300ERs, two 747-8Fs and two 737-900s. "The addition of Boeing's aircraft to our fleet will play an integral part in our development to become a leader in the world's aviation industry," Korean Air's chief executive, Cho Yang-ho, said in a statement. Korean Air will use the planes to take a larger slice of global passenger traffic and "become one of the world's top 10 passenger carriers by 2010," the statement said. The Seoul-based company, which operates a fleet of 118 aircraft in 33 countries, forecast annual aviation sector growth of 5 percent to 6 percent over the next two decades, spurred in part by China's economic boom. The contract was signed in Seoul on Monday by Korean Air's Cho and Boeing's vice president of commercial sales, Larry Dickenson. In May 2005, Korean Air ordered 10 of Boeing's B787 Dreamliner jets, still in development, with an option for another 20. It has also placed an order for five A380s superjumbos from Boeing's rival, Airbus SAS. Korean Air shares traded in Seoul dipped 1.8 percent to 35.500 Korean won ($37.80) following the news. The Korean Air deal is the latest major contract for Boeing. Earlier this month, the U.S. Air Force awarded a lucrative contract for search and rescue combat helicopters to a team led by aerospace Boeing. Chicago-based Boeing beat out rival Lockheed Martin Corp. (nyse: LMT - news - people ) and helicopter maker Sikorsky Aircraft for the contract to build 141 helicopters by 2019 for the Air Force's fleet of rescue aircraft, known as the Combat Search and Rescue program. The initial contract award is for $712 million; the program may be worth as much as $13 billion.

Heres an animated re-enactment....of the near collision on the 23rd of July 2006... The animation is available in Flash format and was presented at the Board Meeting on 11/14/2006 in Washington, D.C. http://www.ntsb.gov/Events/2006/MostWanted...Description.htm This three dimensional animated reconstruction shows the runway incursion incident between an Atlas Air B747 and an United Airlines B737 at the Chicago O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois on July 23, 2006. The following incident reconstruction displays information from the flight data recorder, Air Traffic Communication, recorded radar data, and aircraft performance data. This reconstruction does not depict weather or visibility conditions at the time of the incident. This animation contains audio.

Some more info on Finnair MD-11s coming to KUL '07... "Finnair are shuffling around thier long haul services in the Winter timetable due to planned MD11 maintenance. Currently their sole A340 operates to Shanghai. From 29 October till 2nd December the A340 will operate the Osaka and Nagoya flights vice MD11 and from 2nd December the A340 will revert back to the Shanghai route. From June 2007 after the arrival of 2 new A340's, Beijing and Delhi will be operated by the new aircraft. Bangkok will have 13 flights a week from May 2007, all MD11 operated with 4 flights continuing to Singapore and 3 onto the new destination of Kuala Lumpur. Hong Kong flights will revert to non stop operations for the Summer period instead if via Bangkok. Thanks to Ikka Mannikainen for this info.

Speculation in the news (WSJ) says Boeing will announce 50 new widebody jet orders from Europe and Asia in the next few weeks.... Lufthansa ordering 747-8s?.....BA longhaul orders??....Cathay's jumbo order??......lets wait and see!!!...

Not sure if this have been posted before..but check out the link.... http://www.airasia.com/site/en/page.jsp?re...=amazing%20main

-EADS has also reported a quarterly loss, mainly due to the A380 delay.... -The other A380 freighter orders (UPS , ILC) are also up in the air... -Penalty payments due to the A350 delayed launched are also expected to reach € 800 mil in the first quarter... Airbus forces EADS profits into a steep dive · Aerospace group reports €239m loss for the quarter · Superjumbo problems hit harder than expected David Gow in Brussels Thursday November 9, 2006 The Guardian EADS laid bare the dire financial impact of delays to the Airbus A380 superjumbo yesterday when it reported a shock loss of €239m (£160m) for the third quarter. Operating income at Airbus, now wholly owned by EADS, plunged from a healthy €410m to a loss of €350m -exacerbated by the euro's growing strength against the dollar. So far this year the A380, the world's biggest plane, has cost EADS €1bn in charges because of a two-year delay in its delivery timetable. FedEx this week cancelled an order for 10 freighter versions of the superjumbo. In the first nine months EADS saw earnings fall by a third from €2.1bn to €1.4bn, largely thanks to a €743m decline at Airbus. Airbus sales were up 16% at €18.6bn and insiders said the results would have been impressive but for the A380 problems. The aerospace group, which is slashing €2bn a year in costs to offset the impact of the weaker dollar, had warned that the superjumbo delays would depress earnings by €4.8bn over the four years to 2010 but the immediate impact proved worse than analysts had expected. Hans Peter Ring, chief financial officer at EADS and Airbus, added to the gloom by admitting that other orders for the A380 freighter - 10 from UPS and five from the leasing company ILFC - "are in the cancellation zone" and needed to be reconfirmed. The passenger version still has 142 orders, but it must sell 420 to break even. Mr Ring, who refused to give a full-year forecast, said the A380 delays could add an extra €100m in charges while penalty payments for airlines that ordered the A350 wide-body jet could stretch to €800m in the final quarter. EADS also has to account in the fourth quarter for purchasing BAE System's 20% stake in Airbus. "EADS financials remain sound based on good performance of the Airbus delivery programme and the helicopter, defence and space businesses," said Tom Enders and Louis Gallois, co-chief executives. "Nevertheless, the struggle to reverse the A380 problems imposes a severe burden on our financial performance." They said full-year sales would be "well above" €37bn based on a record 430 Airbus deliveries and strong performance in other divisions. The group, which this week cut its component suppliers from 3,000 to 800, is widely expected to axe thousands of jobs and close or sell off several Airbus plants in mainland Europe, particularly in Germany, in order to restore profit levels. This has prompted German ministers to orchestrate moves by state banks and private investors to acquire a 7.5% stake in EADS being sold by DaimlerChrysler. Shares in the group rose 2% on market rumours that Dubai, home of Emirates, the A380's biggest customer with 43 orders, could take a holding.

I think the D-Duct composite part near the bypass section of the engine suffered delamination...this could caused back pressure and cause a minor "expolosion".... ..this , if I'm not mistaken, also happend to Cathay's 777-300 case which lost a large composite piece from the D-duct ( also powered by Rolls Royce Trent 892 as in MAS 777s) and a few other similar cases....looks like the Rolls Royces 892 Trents have suffered this delamination problem more than GE90s or P&W4000s... ..this is the second time this has happened to a MAS 777..... http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0112157/M/ ..someone in Airliners also posted this interesting facts about the accident... "Some facts First the pilot was informed by ATC. Due to a small surge at 6000ft the engine was reduced to idle power. The aircraft returned after fuel dumping and landed safely using thrust reverse. The engine was running on arrival at the gate, and there were no cockpit indications of any problems The D Duct inner skin (honeycomb/carbon fibre) left the aircraft. The exhaust nozzle was damaged by the air pressure getting into the core. The Engine seems to be fully serviceable, after a nozzle replacement. The D Duct needs replacing, and will arrive at ARN on a MH freighter Saturday night. Steve on the ARN Ramp. "

Well...at least no one was hurt in this incident... ...I remember, was in 2004 , one of Cathay Pacific's 777-300 lost a large engine piece which fell on a car, badly damaging it... luckly no one was hurt in that accident too!!...can u imagine the face of the driver of the car???..after his car got smashed by an aircraft engine falling from the sky... hmmm..not mistaken, CA's 777 are also powered by Rolls Royce Trents???.. Cathay Pacific takes four aircraft out of service Airline Industry Information, Dec 9, 2004 AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION-©1997-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways announced on Wednesday (8 December) that it has temporarily withdrawn four of its 10 Boeing 777-300 aircraft from service. The decision was made after an engine part fell off one of the jets and struck a car following takeoff from Bangkok, Thailand last week. On 1 December flight 751 bound for Bombay, India had to return to Bangkok when a section of engine duct fell to the ground. Cathay Pacific said that it has checked all 10 of its Boeing 777-300s and found problems with engine ducts in four of them. Boeing experts have reportedly travelled to Hong Kong to investigate the jets and make the necessary modifications.

ROLLS-ROYCE TRENT 700 ENGINES SELECTED TO POWER A330-300 FLEET Singapore Airlines has selected the Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engine to power 19 Airbus A330-300’s, scheduled for delivery between 2009 and 2011. The aircraft will be delivered new, on operating leases from Airbus. Under the terms of the leases, Singapore Airlines had a choice from among the three makes of engines available for the aircraft. The selection was made following the technical assessments of the engines and evaluation of offers from all the three manufacturers. Singapore Airlines signed a Letter of Intent today with Rolls-Royce to provide engines, spares and maintenance under a TotalCare Services Agreement. Rolls-Royce will be responsible for the provision of off-wing maintenance, repair and overhaul of engines, as well as spare engine support. The engines will be repaired and overhauled at Singapore Aero Engine Services Limited (SAESL) - a Joint Venture company, owned by SIA Engineering Company Limited and Rolls-Royce. Source: Singapore Airlines Limited. Probably for delay on A350s on order....

Anyone one to comment on this...??..My friend just flew in the new Air Asia A320..he likes the cabin layout and apperance..but says the seat pitch is quite bad ..even worst than the older 737s....anyone had any experiance trying it out?.... ..I guess lower cost = packed like sardines...

Massive deal.. Boeing Wins Qantas Order for as Many as 115 Airplanes (Update1) Dec. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Boeing Co., the world's second- largest commercial aircraft maker, beat larger rival Airbus SAS to win an order worth as much as $15.5 billion for 115 airplanes from Qantas Airways Ltd., Australia's largest carrier. The order is for 65 Boeing 787s for deliver starting from 2008 and rights for an additional 50 787s, the Sydney-based carrier said. Boeing's 787, which costs as much as $135 million each at list prices, will be ready for service in 2008. The order, Qantas's biggest since 2000, will extend Chicago-based Boeing's lead over Toulouse, France-based Airbus and help it win more orders than its nearest rival for the first year in five. Qantas said it was looking for so-called wide-body planes that are more fuel efficient and will help meet demand for rising capacity. Qantas in August said it was looking to buy new aircraft including Boeing's 787 and Airbus' A350 to fly short international and domestic routes. It's spending A$20 billion ($15 billion) on planes over the next 10 years. Boeing and Airbus have doubled their 2005 orders from the previous year, helped by rising demand for in Asia for more fuel-efficient planes. Boeing has reached a record 800 firm airplane orders as of Nov. 30 compared with 687 orders for Airbus. The Boeing 787 seats 217 to 289 passengers. Link to Qantas statement http://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20051214/pdf/3tqzk5hk8t55s.pdf

Scary to think about it... Danger in the skies Terence Fernandez PETALING JAYA: While Malaysia has among the world's best air safety records, the people who watch our crowded skies say that luck has a lot to do with it. It is this clean safety record, say air traffic controllers, that have made the authorities complacent. The Air Traffic Controllers Union charges that the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) is using expired and outdated radar systems to control and monitor air traffic. Safety standards, they say, have been compromised due to red tape and financial considerations. The situation has been described as "grave" as it involves the safety of about 100,000 passengers a day. The system broke down in September, and there is an average of three incidents a month of planes flying too close to each other, due to unclear frequencies or failing equipment, said union president Wan Muhaimin Wan Jamal. The 10-year-old system, which expired a year ago, is installed at Subang, which controls all planes (about 1,000 a day) flying into and over the peninsula. It instructs all airports in the peninsula, including the KL Inter national Airport (KLIA) on when a plane can be cleared to land or take off. The system was supposed to be upgraded under the Eighth Malaysia Plan. "However, bureaucracy has delayed the allocation of funds which are urgently needed for a safer and more reliable air traffic control system. "The allocation is now to be given under the Ninth Malaysia Plan. Even then, it was cut from RM500 million to RM250 million. And when will the money come?" asked Wan Muhaimin. He said the system costs about RM100 million to upgrade and several more millions to maintain. Wan Muhaimin said in September, the system broke down for two hours, delaying several flights. "Planes which were already airborne were directed via radio and manual procedures to land or to keep circling until the situation was rectified," he revealed. He said the planes' onboard radars also helped to avert unwanted incidents. Union secretary M.K. Veloo said as funds for maintenance were slow in coming, they had to cannibalise the back-up system to repair the main system. "We go to work everyday, with the knowledge that should something go wrong, we have no back-up," said Veloo. Giving an example of the red tape and apathy, Wan Muhaimin said a blurred monitor for Sector Three ­ the busiest of four sectors ­ which controls flights to and from the Far East as well as Los Angeles, was only recently replaced. "It was a strain on some of the older controllers as they could not read the details on the screen," he said. Wan Muhaimin said controllers could not cope with the present system, especially since air traffic has increased. There is a need for another 100 air traffic controllers to the present 650. To fill these vacancies, retirees are brought back. Wan Muhaimin said the union met the Traffic Services Division of the DCA in February, and the DCA every three months to address these issues ­ each time being told that their concerns were being looked into. "Are they waiting for a disaster before they start moving?" he asked. theSun was shown memos which revealed that on Oct 21 there was a near-miss between an Air India plane and a Malaysia Airlines aircraft over Langkawi. It occurred because a controller ignored an alarm ­ triggered when planes fly too close to each other. In this case, one plane flew over the other just 700ft apart. The distance for clearance is 1,000ft. The controller has been suspended. However, Veloo said this particular alarm is faulty. "It goes off all the time that sometimes controllers ignore them as it is distracting," he said. Pilots voice their concerns Terence Fernandez PETALING JAYA: Several pilots have come forward to voice their concerns following theSun's report yesterday on the outdated and unmaintained Air Traffic Control (ATC) system at the Subang centre. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the pilots corroborated the Air Traffic Controllers Union's perception on the safety standards of the Subang ATC system that controls and monitors flights coming into and flying over the peninsula. "Sometimes we have difficulty hearing what is said. The static is bad," said a commercial pilot with eight years' experience. "We have to do guesswork sometimes, as at times it is too late to get a reconfirmation." Another pilot said Peninsular Malaysia is fortunate that its air traffic of 1,000 planes a day is not as heavy as in other countries such as Japan or Singapore. "If we were to operate an airspace of about 2,000 flights a day with this kind of ATC system, then we will be in trouble," said the pilot, who has been flying for nearly 20 years. A pilot who has been flying for 17 years said there are even times when the radio goes dead. "However, if you have been flying the same route for a while, then you can more or less guess what the air traffic controller was saying," he said. "But that is not good aviation safety practice. "I'm glad I'm flying a helicopter now. At least if I'm in doubt, I can hover for awhile until I get clear instructions. You can't do that with a plane flying at a ground speed of 800km an hour." The Malaysia Airlines Pilots Association (MAPA) has reserved its comments. Updated: 09:57PM Wed, 07 Dec 2005 Source: The Sun

If they do buy new aircraft, it would be much less than 39 aircraft, as they give more domestic routes to AirAsia and reduce aircraft capacity.... PMB Drops Malaysian Air Fleet Plan; Excess Planes -Source KUALA LUMPUR (Dow Jones)--Penerbangan Malaysia Bhd. has dropped plans to replace 39 single-aisle planes leased to its Malaysian Airline System Bhd. (3786.KU) unit as the carrier has excess aircraft, an industry source said Monday. "There is overcapacity and there are more plans to trim routes," the source told Dow Jones Newswires on condition of anonymity. In August, Malaysian Air - fresh from reporting a MYR280.7 million loss - said it was mulling all options including putting off the fleet replacement plan. The 39 Boeing 737 planes the airline operates have capacity of about 140 passengers each, and are about 13 years old on average. "That's pretty old and inefficient in fuel and maintenance terms," said the source, explaining the reason for the initial replacement plan. Earlier, company officials had said a decision on whether PMB would buy Boeing Co. (BA) or Airbus (ABI.YY) planes to replace the 39 aircraft had been expected by this year. The source added that a government-backed plan to parcel out domestic routes between Malaysian Air and low-cost carrier AirAsia Bhd. (5099.KU) could result in less need for the national airline to have 39 single-aisle planes. The planes are used mostly for shorter routes, particularly domestic runs. From Oct. 30, Malaysian Air began restructuring its routes to maximize yields and improve profits. It deferred indefinitely plans to fly to a total of six new Indian and Chinese destinations, citing efforts "to contain its cost growth and improve performance."