Leeham News and Analysis
There's more to real news than a news release.
How Boeing’s WISK technology may apply to its next new airplane
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By Scott Hamilton
Part 3
April 21, 2026, © Leeham News: In 2000-2001, Boeing revealed the concept it called the Sonic Cruiser.
This sleek, futuristic airplane was conceived to cruise just below the speed of sound. Once an airplane crosses this threshold, it flies at supersonic speeds. The Sonic Cruiser’s concept cruising speed was 0.97 Mach.
In 2000-2001, Boeing floated the Sonic Cruiser as a possible new airliner. Cruising just below the speed of sound, the concept died after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Airlines wanted efficiency, not speed. Technology from the Sonic Cruiser were shifted to what became the Boeing 787. Credit: Boeing.
There are all sorts of technical challenges for cruising just below the speed of sound, but this isn’t what killed the project. The terrorist attacks of 9/11 were a game-changer for airlines. They became more interested in dramatically lower fuel consumption. The Sonic Cruiser would burn the same fuel as 1982’s Boeing 767.
So, Boeing scrapped the Cruiser and began applying technology from this to a new idea, the 7E7. Thus, a new, all-composite airplane with an advanced wing design and a spacious, futuristic-looking interior was born: the 787.
Airlines wrecked the spaciousness by putting nine economy seats in a space designed for eight, but the 787 went on to become the best-selling twin-aisle airplane in the world.
Applying new technology from a design that never went beyond the concept stage is not new. Boeing today continues to follow this pattern with its WISK four-passenger autonomous eVTOL.-
Brian Yutko, VP of Product Development for Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Credit: Leeham News.
Brian Yutko, Boeing Commercial Airplanes’ VP of Product Development, last month outlined how WISK’s new technology is likely to migrate to the next new airplane, whatever it is. He spoke at the Pacific Northwest chapter of AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics).
WISK is Boeing’s four-passenger autonomous eVTOL. The first test flight was at the end of last year. There were no squawks, he said.
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Preview 1Q2026: How quickly things can change: this time, it’s not Boeing
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By Karl Sinclair
April 20, 2026, © Leeham News: At the very least, The Boeing Company (BA) can point to external forces beyond its control this time for a setback in its road to recovery.
Just when it seemed that a difficult six-year stretch was finally in the rearview mirror, along comes another crisis to spoil the party.
Skyrocketing jet fuel prices caused by an ill-advised “special military operation” into Iran, initiated by President Donald Trump and combined with a blockade of a blockade is throwing an entire industry predicated on long-term projections and steadiness in the markets, into the dustbin.
It is hard to find any positives in what is coming.
Reader Comments Open Forum, Week of April 20
LNA’s Comments Open Forum allows Readers opportunities to comment about any post (note, we said “Post”, not any “Topic”). All comments will be held for review and Moderation per our new policy. The Open Forum enables Readers to Comment on paywall articles (to the extent the paywall preview is open to all readers).
Maintain civility and follow Reader Comment rules.
A new Open Forum will be posted weekly.
Pontifications: Don’t give Spirit a bailout
Commentary
By Scott Hamilton
April 19, 2026, © Leeham News: News broke on Friday that US ultra low cost carrier (ULCC) Spirit Airlines wants a few hundred million dollars from the federal government to save it from liquidation.
The reason: the price of jet fuel more than doubled since Feb. 28 when Donald Trump directed the military to bomb Iran. Trump didn’t ask Congress for authority to commence this war. Israel simultaneously undertook its own bombing.
Iran responded by bombing Israel and just about every other country in the Middle East, and by attacking a US aircraft carrier and unarmed oil tankers. The Strait of Hormuz was closed, cutting off the supply of about 20% of the global oil.
As someone who began his aviation career with the first Midway Airlines in Chicago in 1979, I have a natural affinity for low fare carriers. I support new airlines and for the most part, I oppose industry consolidation that results in making the mega-carriers even bigger and stronger.
That said, the US government shouldn’t bail out Spirit.
Like the clock striking 12, the Trump Administration blamed the Biden Administration for Spirit’s current plight. Biden’s Justice Department rejected a merger between JetBlue and Spirit on anti-trust grounds, concluding that the combination would be anti-consumer.
I opposed the merger when it was proposed in 2022. Spirit was such a basket case even then that I concluded Spirit would drag JetBlue into bankruptcy. Before the weekend, JetBlue’s founder, David Neeleman (who left the airline years ago) opined that JetBlue would be in bankruptcy before the end of this year. The airline was struggling in 2022, and it was struggling before the current Iran War began.
Diamonds are an MRO’s best friend
Science & Technology Editor
AIN
The small dark circles on these titanium components contain diamond nanoparticles whose random orientation creates a fingerprint no counterfeiter can replicate. DUST Identity’s new Theseus platform uses them to give MROs independent proof of a part’s identity and provenance.
April 18, 2026, © AIN: DUST Identity, a Massachusetts company whose Diamond Unclonable Security Tag (DUST) technology uses diamond particles to authenticate objects, has launched a new platform that it says will help maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) providers identify fraudulent aircraft parts.
Called Theseus, the platform combines a physical material marking with AI-assisted verification of airworthiness documents, allowing MROs to independently confirm the identity and provenance of incoming aerospace parts. Company CEO Ophir Gaathon announced the platform’s launch this week at the Titanium Europe 2026 conference in Toulouse, France.
Supply-chain fraud poses a growing threat, and MRO operators bear the most direct exposure. The FAA estimates that roughly 2% of the 26 million parts installed on aircraft each year may be counterfeit, or more than 500,000 parts annually.
Bjorn’s Corner: Blended Wing Body Airliners. Part 6
By Bjorn Fehrm
April 17, 2026, ©. Leeham News: We have started a series of articles on the Blended Wing Body (BWB) as a potentially more efficient design for passenger-carrying airliners than the classical Tube-And-Wing (TAW) configuration.
In the fifth article last week, we discussed how the drag characteristics of the BWB are different from a classical Tube-And-Wing airliner. The dominance of air-friction drag over induced drag results in a 10,000ft higher optimal cruise altitude compared with an equal-capacity TAW.
We compared JetZero’s Z4 project to a 250-seat variant of Boeing’s NMA that we have analyzed several times with our Aircraft Performance and Cost Model, APCM. Both aircraft use modern composite structures, aerodynamics, and systems, resulting in similar overall weights and drag.
Figure 1. The JetZero Z4 BWB. Source: JetZero.
The difference is how the drag is partitioned between the wetted area caused drag (air friction drag) and drag due to weight (induced drag). The difference between drag and optimal cruise altitudes has consequences for engine choice. Here is how.
No FAA decision by May 1 on extending 777F Classic production
By Scott Hamilton
April 16, 2026, © Leeham News: Boeing won’t get a decision from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) by May 1 on its request to exempt the 777F Classic freighter from an international rule that means production must cease by Dec. 31, 2027.
Boeing filed the request on Dec. 19.
Boeing wants to extend production of its popular 777F Classic beyond Dec. 1, 2027, due to continued certification delays for the 777X program. It asked the FAA for an exemption from emissions rules to do so. Boeing asked for a decision by May 1. This isn’t going to happen. Credit: Lufthansa Cargo.
The FAA will publish a solicitation for public comment in the Federal Register tomorrow. The comment period deadline will be on or about May 7. There is no indication of how quickly the FAA will make a decision after that.
New technology for Boeing’s next new airplane
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By Scott Hamilton
Part 2
Brian Yutko, VP of Product Development for Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Credit: Leeham News.
April 13, 2026, © Leeham News: As Boeing considers its next new airplane, whatever it is, there is a plethora of issues that must be considered.
Last week’s article outlined a high-level view of Boeing’s future airplane programs. Today, LNA details some specifics that Boeing must consider before launching a new airplane program.
Brian Yutko, the VP of Product Development at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, declined to address any questions about new airplane development. However, at the retiree meeting of the Pacific Northwest chapter of AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics) last month, Yutko discussed some of the issues Boeing will face in the coming years.
Related Articles:
Reader Comments Open Forum, Week of April 13
LNA’s Comments Open Forum allows Readers opportunities to comment about any post (note, we said “Post”, not any “Topic”). All comments will be held for review and Moderation per our new policy. The Open Forum enables Readers to Comment on paywall articles (to the extent the paywall preview is open to all readers).
Maintain civility and follow Reader Comment rules.
A new Open Forum will be posted weekly.
Bjorn’s Corner: Blended Wing Body Airliners. Part 5
By Bjorn Fehrm
April 10, 2026, ©. Leeham News: We have started a series of articles on the Blended Wing Body (BWB) as a potentially more efficient design for passenger-carrying airliners than the classical Tube-And-Wing (TAW) configuration.
In last week’s article, we discussed how the wingspan is an important factor in an airliner’s takeoff performance. The induced drag is about 85-90% of the drag at the critical V2 point after rotation, where regulations require that a twin-engined airliner be able to fly on one engine with a climb rate of 2.4%.
We now go through the entire mission for a BWB airliner and compare its drag characteristics with those of a classical Tube-And-Wing (TAW) design.
Figure 1. The JetZero Z4 BWB. Source: JetZero.