Leeham News and Analysis
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Bjorn’s Corner: Faster aircraft development. Part 8. Conceptual System design.
September 19, 2025, ©. Leeham News: We do a series about ideas on how the long development times for large airliners can be shortened. New project talks about cutting development time and reaching certification and production faster than previous projects..
The series will discuss the typical development cycles for an FAA Part 25 aircraft, called a transport category aircraft, and what different ideas there are to reduce the development times.
We will use the Gantt plan in Figure 1 as a base for our discussions.
Figure 1. A generic new Part 25 airliner development plan. Source: Leeham Co. Click to see better.
*** Special thanks to Ron Everlove for helping with this article***
How’s the next new aircraft produced? Part 5. Airbus: Improving the present
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By the Leeham News Team
Sept. 18, 2025, © Leeham News: In Part 1 of this series, we described the history behind Airbus’ very different production setup. The need to give a distributed value creation to participating countries in the then-Airbus joint venture, forced a multinational distributed production system that remains today.
The Airbus A320 fuselage production line in Hamburg, Germany. Credit: Leeham News.
We now examine the recent changes/improvements in this setup, including Airbus’ recent policies around the organization of production from a pre-Paris Air Show demonstration of their new A320/A321 Final Assembly Line (FAL) in Toulouse.
Boeing’s Orberg: Striving for parity with Airbus deliveries
- Traveled work, rework are still obstacles
- 777X certification running late; customers now see first deliveries in 4Q2026
By Karl Sinclair
Sept. 17, 2025, © Leeham News: “We were almost at parity on deliveries with Airbuses last month…. We’re getting there.”
Kelly Ortberg, the CEO of The Boeing Co. Credit: Boeing.
That was the opening salvo from The Boeing Company (BA) and CEO Kelly Ortberg, as it begins to claw its way back from the depths after a difficult six-year stretch.
Speaking at the Morgan Stanley Laguna Conference, Ortberg closed his interview by remarking on how close Boeing was getting to delivering aircraft at levels only recently seen by Airbus.
“I feel really good one year in that my plan is working, that we put together. People are getting excited. Customers are feeling better,” he said.
However, the deliveries comparison with Airbus isn’t precisely an even match. Boeing has finally cleared its inventory of 737 MAXes, a six-year task from when the MAX was grounded for 21 months beginning in March 2019 and extending through the extended recovery period of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Airbus, meanwhile, has about 60 A320neo family airplanes in storage awaiting engines from CFM International and Pratt & Whitney. Based on production rates, Airbus has a 60% share vs Boeing’s 40%.
JetZero CEO Lands A Silicon Valley Mindset at U.S. Chamber of Commerce Global Aviation Summit
By Chris Sloan
Sept. 17, 2025, © Leeham News: At the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Global Aerospace Summit, Tom O’Leary, CEO and Co-Founder of JetZero, made clear that his company is bringing something different to commercial aviation: a Silicon Valley ethos. JetZero, founded in Long Beach (CA) in 2021, is applying the speed and risk tolerance of the tech world to one of the most conservative corners of industry — airliner design.
O’Leary, who cut his teeth as Director of Sales and Marketing at Tesla and later served as COO at eVTOL startup BETA Technologies, is no stranger to disruption. “I was used to people saying that’ll never happen,” he said. “But it’s just about the belief in a disruptive technology and what a small group of committed individuals can do to move that technology forward.”
Tom O’Leary, CEO and Co-Founder, JetZero is interviewed by John Luth, Chairman, President and CEO of Seabury Capital Group at the U.S. Chamber Global Aerospace Summit on Tuesday September 9, 2025.
A Bold Design with a Big Payoff
JetZero’s Z4 aircraft is a blended-wing-body (BWB) design, in which the wings merge seamlessly with the fuselage. The company claims up to 50% lower fuel burn per passenger mile, thanks to lower drag, with capacity for more than 250 passengers and 5,000 miles of range. With engines mounted on top of the airframe, noise is reduced significantly — a key benefit for airport neighbors — and the Z4 is designed to fit existing airport infrastructure for faster turnarounds.
“The more you dig into the design, you find that’s the most compelling part of the plane,” O’Leary said. “There’s a 30% dynamic efficiency, the ability to hit the mid-market where there is no plane.”
JetZero’s Blended Wing Body Z4 comes in the passenger model (shown), a freighter and an air force refueling tanker. Credit: JetZero.
Tariffs, Trade, and Turbines: Aerospace Leaders Call for Zero Barriers at Global Summit
By Chris Sloan
Sept. 16, 2025, © Leeham News: At the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Aerospace Summit, the topic of tariffs dominated the discussion — and industry leaders didn’t hold back in calling for a return to tariff-free skies.
Airbus: “A Very Successful Agreement for All”
Guillaume Faury, CEO of Airbus, opened with a reminder of what’s at stake. “The so-called zero for zero, the 1979 agreement with no tariffs on aerospace goods, has led to the very successful benefits for all involved,” he said. Faury boasted Airbus’s role in strengthening the U.S. aerospace trade position, particularly with its FALs in Mobile, Alabama which will be the fourth largest aircraft manufacturing facility in the world: “We contribute to the positive balance of aerospace in the U.S.”
He called the current setup a “North Atlantic Ecosystem” that binds the U.S. and EU together. “If zero for zero did not get approved, how much would that have put a dampening effect in terms of orders, whether it’s from airlines or leasing companies?” Faury asked rhetorically. “The very strong demand that we see in the market … would’ve had negative impact on the cost base, on the efficiency of what we do. We would have continued to do the same, but what we have now is much more effective.”
Guillaume Faury, the CEO of Airbus Group (center), makes a point in a press scrum on the sidelines of the US Chamber of Commerce Aviation Summit in Washington (DC). Credit: Chris Sloan, Leeham News.
EU Awards €945 Million to 12 ‘Clean Aviation’ Projects
From our partners at AIN:
Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking funds further R&D for decarbonization efforts
By Hanneke Weitering • Science & Technology Editor
Sept. 12, 2025, (c) AIN: The European Union’s Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking has awarded €945 million ($1.1 billion) in government funding to 12 projects aimed at decarbonizing commercial air travel, the organization announced this week. Award recipients for this third funding round, which followed a call for proposals in February, include several major aerospace manufacturers who are developing novel aircraft and propulsion concepts.
The EU is boosting funding for sustainable aviation. ATR is a participant. Credit: AIN.
According to the governing board of the Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking, the selected projects could reduce greenhouse gas emissions for commercial aviation by no less than 30% over the next 10 years. Award teams will begin work under their Clean Aviation contracts in early 2026 and are expected to flight-test their creations in 2028 and 2029.
The full story may be reached here.
How’s the next new aircraft produced? Part 4. Boeing: new aircraft production
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By the Leeham News Team
Sept. 15, 2025, © Leeham News: In the fourth part of our article series about the Production of the next new aircraft, we look at what changes Boeing needs to do to produce the next new aircraft we described in our series What’s the next new aircraft.
Boeing 737s awaiting delivery, November 2022. Credit: Leeham News.
The new small widebody described in the series and a replacement for the 737 MAX will be an all-composite aircraft. For these products, new, cheaper, and faster composite production technology is needed.
The present widebody composite methods are not made for high-rate, low-cost aircraft, as Boeing found out lately with the NMA, which was canceled, not least because of the high-cost composite methods used.
Bjorn’s Corner: Faster aircraft development. Part 7. Conceptual Design.
By Bjorn Fehrm and Henry Tam
September 12, 2025, ©. Leeham News: We do a series about ideas on how the long development times for large airliners can be shortened. New project talks about cutting development time and reaching certification and production faster than previous projects..
The series will discuss the typical development cycles for an FAA Part 25 aircraft, called a transport category aircraft, and what different ideas there are to reduce the development times.
We will use the Gantt plan in Figure 1 as a base for our discussions.
Figure 1. A generic new Part 25 airliner development plan. Source: Leeham Co. Click to see better.
How’s the next new aircraft produced? Part 3. Boeing: Improving the present.
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By the Leeham News Team
Sept. 11, 2025, © Leeham News: In the third part of our article series about the Production of the next new aircraft, we look at where Boeing is with the present production and how this can develop in preparation for a next-generation aircraft.
Several of Boeing’s production sites have their roots in World War II factories making Bombers for the war effort. Each has built new production lines and modernized them over time.
Figure 1. Boeing 737 factory in Renton (WA). Credit: Boeing.
Boeing has fallen well behind Airbus in commercial aircraft narrowbody sales over the last decade. Poor strategic and tactical decisions, emphasis on shareholder value vs product strategy, poor execution on new commercial, defense, and space programs, and a series of safety crises with its 737 and 787 programs also took tolls, according to many observers, including Richard Aboulafia and Kevin Michaels of Aerodynamic Advisory, and aerospace analyst Ron Epstein of Bank of America.
Boeing has less than 40% market share in the dominant single aisle market, more than $50bn in debt, it’s losing money, and has an aging product line.
For Boeing, a drastic makeover in its aircraft programs, from concept to design to production, is key to its financial and market turnaround.
The Rise and Fall of Boeing, And The Way Back
By Scott Hamilton
Sept. 10, 2025, © Leeham News: The sequel to my book Air Wars, The Global Combat Between Airbus and Boeing, published today on Amazon (US and selected international markets, including France, the UK, Germany, Japan and elsewhere).
The Rise and Fall of Boeing And The Way Back recounts Boeing’s rise to dominance over the piston airliner era of Douglas Aircraft Co. and Lockheed as the modern jet age began in 1958. Boeing captured more than 60% of the market against Douglas and its corporate successor, the McDonnell Douglas Corp. (MDC). Europe’s upstart, Airbus Industries overtook MDC and in the 2000 decade it passed Boeing to become the Number 1 supplier in the world of commercial jetliners.