AboutDottie Norkus Expertise I can address questions concerning: airline pilot employment & entry level airline careers in the Unites States, women pilots, flight training, pilot certification, flight scholarships (mostly for women), aviation & airline safety topics, aviation accident investigation, air carrier accidents and airline operations.
***Please note, I cannot address flight training or career queries from outside the United States. If you are not in the USA, please direct your question to the message boards at www.PPRUNE.org as you can surely find an answer there. For those in India try http://www.indianpilots.com
Also, I cannot address questions about aero engineering degree programs/careers or aviation management careers.
Experience U.S. Regional Airline Pilot. I have also had 15 years previous experience in airline ground operations, as well as a part 91 commercial skydive pilot and ferry pilot.
Organizations I belong to I am a charter member of Women In Aviation International as well as the International Organization of Women Pilots: the Ninety Nines. I keep a database of flight scholarships for women (mostly SW USA) and mentor student pilots.
Education/Credentials Embry Riddle Aeronautical University certificate in Aviation Safety/Accident investigation.
Question Realizing that cycles and flying hours impact an aircraft service life, what is the present service life forecast for present Boeing and Airbus widebody aircraft production. Are these aircraft designed for 60,000 flying hours and 75,000 cycles? Have there been any recent studies as to the service life of aircraft in production?
Answer The Boeing Company advertises a generalized service life of "twenty years" or 50,000 flights/pressurization cycles. Of course, the actual flight hours depends on the routes flown. Trans World Airlines had a 747, N53110, which was retired with 105,759 flight hours and 19,163 pressurization cycles!
The widebody 747 minimum design service objective is 20,000 flights/cycles, 60,000 hours and 20 years. The 767 is 50,000 flights/cycles, 50,000 hours and 20 years. The 777 is 40,000 flights/cycles, 60,000 hours and 20 years. I can't comment about Airbus products as I have not seen that kind of info provided by them on the internet.
There have been studies done on service life. The FAA formed a committee to propose revisions to applicable Federal Aviation Regulations and associated guidance material for aging airliners called the the Aging Transport Systems Rulemaking Advisory Committee (RAC). Their objectives are to:
1. Evaluate fleet condition
2. Review fleet service history
3. Improve maintenance criteria
4. Review and update standard practices for wiring
5. Review inspection and repair training programs
I suggest contacting the folks at Service Engineering or Boeing Technology Services within the Boeing Commercial Airplanes Group regarding their service life studies. They can probably provide you with some documents. (I have found them to be very helpful when I contacted them- even with trivial info requests.) There are numerous pages with many departmental contacts at their site. Try starting here- http://www.boeing.com/contactus.html
