Aircraft Delivery Flights

[in-my-opinion]

I am intrigued by how new aircarft are delivered ie all the Airbus built in France/Germany sold to US and likewise all the Boeings from Seattle headed this way to Europe.

Do the manufacturers have 'team' of delvery pilots who transport aircraft - presunably via a circuitous route for non-ETOPS aircraft? Or would the purchasing airline send its own people to collect - but for example would an FR pilot be 'allowed' to operate an oceanic route?

Would be very interested to get a response from those who actually do the job.

Thanks

[mutt]

We send normal line pilots, they conduct the aircraft acceptance testing, then fill it with fuel and head home.

If the aircraft is a B777 or B744, then they just fly non-stop. Our smaller aircraft bounce home in anything up to 5 sectors.

Mutt

[parabellum]

Last couple of airlines I worked for the training staff used to share out the delivery flights from Seattle between them. As Mutt says, an acceptance flight first though and then a trip out of USA airspace where the final agreement of sale was signed, thus avoiding USA sales tax/duty!!! This may have been stopped now though.

Boeing won't let an aircraft leave until it is paid for either.

[WHBM]

Originally Posted by parabellum

an acceptance flight first though and then a trip out of USA airspace where the final agreement of sale was signed, thus avoiding USA sales tax/duty!!!

It is common for new Boeing aircraft to make a quick trip up to Canada (Abbotsford is a favourite) and back to overcome this tax issue.

The same thing afflicts other large purchases in the USA. General Motors railway locomotives built in Chicago, Illinois were driven from the factory to Iowa to be handed over to railway companies headquartered in Illinoins (quite a number of them), and then driven back.

VAT in Europe works in a different way so not an issue for Airbus.

Regarding delivery flights apparently John Cunningham, long-term chief test pilot at de Havilland/Hawker Siddeley, did many of the delivery flights of the Trident to China in the 1970s himself.

ETOPS is not an issue for such flights nowadays as they are not public transport flights and there are no passengers. It is common for aircraft like the DHC-8 to deliver from Canada across the Pacific, extra fuel tanks are fitted inside the cabin if required. In earlier times this was not possible; aircraft like the Convair 240 which were delivered to US airlines in Hawaii in the 1950s could not make the single hop across the Pacific and went the long way round through Europe and Asia, shorter legs but lots of them.