Odds and Ends: easyJet’s ‘neutral’ engine; Airbus, Boeing futures in Puget Sound

easyJet’s ‘neutral’ engine: We were amused at the Airbus photo release concerning easyJet firming up its orders for 100 A320neos, announced at the Paris Air Show. In the past, aviation geeks scrutinized the photos to see what engines were depicted to gain a clue if an engine order wasn’t announced with the airframe order. With the easyJet photo release, Airbus entitled it, Airbus “A320neo easyJet Neutral engines.”

EASYJET A320neo_NEUTRAL ENGINE_

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Airbus in Puget Sound: Next week the Pacific Northwest Aerospace Alliance and the Washington Department of Commerce are hosting the first Airbus suppliers fair here in the State.

  • This is something near to our heart. We’ve been working on getting Airbus here for a suppliers fair since 2009 as part of the “Beyond Boeing” strategy we outlined in an October 2009 speech at a conference in Spokane (WA). When we began consulting to the Washington Department of Commerce the following year, Commerce (which previously had expressed interest) also took up the cause. The whole thing fell apart at the height of the vitriolic USAF tanker competition, when the Washington Congressional delegation became so political about the affair. Since then, Commerce and the Pacific Northwest Aerospace Alliance took up the cause and next week is the culmination of this effort. According to the State, 40 percent of the Washington suppliers it surveyed already serve Airbus, and the State is the Number 2 supplier in the US to Airbus by company count. Airbus wants to increase its US dollar-based footprint and is even talking about opening an engineering center in Washington during the next 10 years.
  • The Puget Sound Business Journal article linked above has several links within it with more background.

Boeing in Puget Sound: Meantime, the Puget Sound Business Journal has several articles about Boeing’s future here:

The South is Winning: Why Puget Sound keeps losing jobs

The South is Winning: New composites could hasten drift

The south is Winning: Could Washington become a Right-to-Work State?

  • In this one, we note that the unions “saved Boeing’s ass” during the 747-8 and 787 debacles but if Washington wants to truly be competitive with the South, it needs to become a right-to-work state. Fat chance.

There is also this editorial comment from The Everett Herald.

10 Comments on “Odds and Ends: easyJet’s ‘neutral’ engine; Airbus, Boeing futures in Puget Sound

  1. Perhaps it is too finely split a hair, but did the *unions* “save Boeing’s ass” or the employees who happened to be unionized? Was being unionized a necessary condition for the “ass saving?”

    • I was there, and no, the actual union had nothing to do with it. Look, people aren’t stupid, most of the engineers by now have figured out that the company has them over a barrel and the union cannot protect their jobs or their lives in Washington. All other things being equal I’d rather not live in the south, thank you very much, which is why the membership disregarded the union and accepted Boeing’s contract offer last time around. You’ll see more of that, but I doubt the IAM or the state government (who will continue on unaffected whether their constituents are employed or not as in Michigan, so what do they care?) will ever come around. Institutions always fail you, guys, that’s the story of life in this country over the last thirty years. Ugh.

  2. 61% for NEO v. 39% for Max on the firm orders. Airbus is slowly creeping towards going beyond the first 2 years of deliveries (890 copies difference on firm+MoU) in terms of order advantage over the Max. Furthermore, 100% marketshare for the NEO on the 2nd-largest continent. Boeing must be quaking in their boots! ๐Ÿ™‚

    • Considering the NEO had a YEAR head start, I doubt Boeing is “quaking in their boots”. I know that doesn’t fit your preconceived notion, but too bad.

      • The smiley indicated the joke, and the point I was making is actually in favour of Boeing. Try to understand ๐Ÿ™‚

  3. I find the intensity of the management/labour issue both puzzling and a matter of concern. Regardless of the issues there is little doubt that the mutual distaste (even hatred) cannot be conducive to industrial growth and harmony. In this respect the contrast between Boeing and Airbus is revealing – yet perhaps this is simply the Victorian class distinction perpetuated into the 21st Century! I am not taking sides here – just regretting the collapse of the previously closely knit, if sometimes antagonistic, relationship that characterised Boeing at its best.

  4. Rudy Hillinga Why is filling out these two lines a new equirement every time I write somethingScott?

    Maybe it’s time, Boeing and the US in general, introduce the very effective and
    succesful Europen proces of “Mietbestimung’s”, whereby Managements and
    Unions sit together on occation and JOINTLY decide how much of any profits
    should be spent on defidents to shareholders and how much on wage increases!
    It has worked well in most N. European countries for decades and has vertually
    prevented all costly and wastful strikes!

  5. Pingback: Washington on the move for new aerospace business | Leeham News and Comment

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