Air Park with A350 contract in dire financial condition

The air park selected by Spirit Aerosystems as the location for a 500,000 sf facility to produce fuselage panels for the Airbus A350 is in dire financial condition and cannot repay state bonded indebtedness, according to a newspaper… Read More

Christmas Day bombing attempt

BBC sponsored a bombing test on a retired Boeing 747 to see if the Northwest Airlines Airbus A330 would have survived the Christmas Day bombing attempt. The results are surprising and may be seen here. The aluminum fuselage… Read More

787 First Flight

Update, December 15 0445 AM (Yawn): We’re up and have already done one radio interview for first flight set for 10 am today. Weather is iffy. The hourly forecast has 60% chance of rain at 8am and 50%… Read More

787 Schedule, $2.5bn charge announced

Boeing’s Press Release: Note webcast at 0700 PDT referenced at the end. The 787 is to fly by the “end of the fourth quarter” and frst flight in the 4th quarter of 2010. Production rate to 10/mo is… Read More

Boeing San Antonio seeking tanker work

Boeing’s defense unit in San Antonio, TX, is bidding on USAF KC-10 upgrade work. See this story. For the conspiracy theorists and those in Seattle terrorized by the prospect Boeing Commercial Airplanes could locate the second 787 production… Read More

EADS Earnings Preview

EADS, parent of Airbus, announces its 2Q09-1H09 earnings July 28. Here are some topics that ought to be covered and questions analysts and reporters should ask:

Blaming labor oversimplifies: Fancher

Scott Fancher, the head of the Boeing 787 program, told the Charleston (SC) Business Journal that blaming labor for Boeing’s consideration of siting a second 787 production line is over-simplifying the issue. The business paper wrote:

Negotiating in the Media

Certain Members of Congress close to Boeing, and the Governor, told the Seattle papers Boeing essentially issued an ultimatum to the IAM: adopt a no-strike clause or we’ll set up 787 Line 2 in another state. As you… Read More

Boeing buys Vought 787 facilities

Update, 9:10 AM PDT: Innovation Analysis Group has a podcast with Jon Ostrower, who broke the news last week, about the likely purchase of Vought, and us. We look at the prospect of where Line 2 will be… Read More

Lessor LCAL in 787 talks

Middle East lessor LCAL is in compensation talks with Boeing over delays to the 787 program. LCAL was created to lease 787s and has 21 on order. With the delays to the program, the lessor’s business plan is… Read More