JAL A350 ground collision is first hull loss by damage and fire of an all-composite airplane

Jan. 2, 2024, (c) Leeham News: Editor’s Note: With the ground collision (Jan. 2, 2024, Tokyo time) of a Japan Air Lines Airbus A350 and its destruction by fire, we’re reposting this article from March 2009. It was… Read More

Surrounded by global bad news, Mitsubishi launches new SpaceJet testing

By Scott Hamilton March 18, 2020, © Leeham News: While stock markets implode the world over and stock of Boeing, Airbus and Embraer take their own dives, Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. (MITAC) was a rare piece of good news…. Read More

Mitsubishi ends 2019 with ~500 commitments for SpaceJet

By Scott Hamilton Jan. 22, 2020, © Leeham News: Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. (MITAC) ended 2019 with 495 commitments for the M100 SpaceJets from multiple continents, LNA learned. All but 100 from US regional carrier Mesa Airlines are unidentified…. Read More

Challenges facing Boeing in 767-300ER passenger restart

Subscription Required Now open to all readers. Introduction Nov. 13, 2017, © Leeham Co.: The clock is ticking toward the end of the year for Boeing to decide whether to restart the 767-300ER passenger line. Officials want to… Read More

Odds and Ends: ANA, Airbus and Boeing; Era of the jumbo jet; Repo wars

ANA to stay with Boeing? After losing Japan Airlines to Airbus, analysts are split over whether ANA will also defect. Some say JAL’s order will give ANA cover to defect. Others say JAL’s order will increase the pressure… Read More

Airbus breakthrough: Japan Airlines orders 31 firm+25 option A350-900s/1000s

Airbus scored a big breakthrough October 7 (Tokyo time) when Japan Airlines announced an order for 18 A350-900s, 13 -1000s and options for 25 more. This is a huge win for Airbus and a big blow to Boeing’s… Read More

Ethiopian 787 fire: the day after

Update, 12n PDT: The British Air Accident Investigation Board has issued its first press release. No apparent connection to the APU or batteries, but otherwise a standard we’re-working-on-it statement. Unrelated to Ethiopian: Fascinating animations of the Asiana Flt… Read More

Odds and Ends: Fixing the 787; PW GTF; ANA to retire 747s

Fixing the 787: Avionics magazine has a long article on fixing the Boeing 787 battery issues. PW GTF: The Hartford Courant has a piece profiling the quiet nature of the Pratt & Whitney Geared Turbo Fan engine. While… Read More

Odds and Ends: Test sites for UAVs; Qatar CEO on 787; more on 747F crash

Support for UAVs: Innovate Washington, an arm of the State, is promoting sites in Washington as test sites for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). There are 37 states seeking to become test sites for UAVs. The Pacific Northwest Aerospace… Read More

Odds and Ends: Finding the “root cause;” The cliche about bad pennies

Finding the “Root Cause:” The world waits for the Boeing 787 to return to service, following a series of proposed “fixes” designed by Boeing in conjunction with its relevant suppliers and with help from Ford, General Motors and other… Read More