Update, November 6:
2:40 PM PST: Boeing is to make its contract offer to SPEEA today, with plans to conclude talks next week.
Armed Forces Journal: We wrote this article for this magazine’s November issue taking a look at the next competitive battle between EADS and Boeing over a military program.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer: UBS’s aerospace analyst thinks Boeing stock hasn’t hit bottom, due to the downturn in the aviation industry. He echoes Goldman Sachs and other analysts in a growing consensus that the worst is yet to come.
London Guardian: Airbus foresees Chinese deferrals.
Bloomberg News: There could be 200 whitetails next year as airlines find they can’t pay for airplanes.
AeroNews: Embraer considers jumping into larger airplanes.
China Daily: China looks to build 150-200 seat jets.
Update, November 4, 11:30 AM PDT: James Wallace of The Seattle P-I reports that Boeing officially told him the 787 won’t make its first flight until 2009.
November 4:
A sampling of news about Airbus and Boeing.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Slow restart on production, 787 first flight to February or March.
London Guardian: Lessor BOC Aviation orders 20 A320s.
Defense News: Airbus suspends A400M production.
International Herald Tribune: IAM strike delays 80 Boeing airplanes.
ATWOnline: New fastener problems with the 787.
I have a little difficulty believing that after 100s of workers have been crawling all over the first aircraft changing the fasteners since 2007, only now they discover that 3% are installed incorrectly… by partners! 787 really is in a sorry state, seems to be stumbling with every step…
However what a disaster A400M is? Gallois has been warning of a stop in production if there no settlement of penalty payments. Engine troubles, software control etc, this could be a long delay 🙁
This sort of falls into the category, “can’t anybody here build an airplane?”
The article about 200 whitetails is a bit over the top. I really do not see it happening. John Leahy is quoted by Dow Jones as saying the deliveries should not be affected as Airbus is overbooked through to 2011. For November, Airbus will record 119 cancellations although BOC has picked up 20 of the Skybus slots. Deliveries run at 391 + a plan to deliver around 55 in November!
The main thing is there is a lot of uncertainty in the market leading to all sorts of wild speculation. The demand is there, shown by the orders so far. Although I guess airliners will probably be streamlining their fleets rather than expanding.