Key leaders hit back at Boeing “exodus” assertions; CSeries competition for the Big Two; A380 uses; Boeing hikes prices

Boeing’s WA ‘exodus’: Three key leaders in Washington State responded to the drumbeat from State. Sen. Mike Hewitt (R-Walla Walla) that Boeing is in an “exodus” from Washington. Read the article here.

We agree that the use of the term “exodus” is overblow, as we wrote in previous articles here, here and here. We also believe that the greatest threat to Washington’s future in aerospace is when Boeing designs clean-sheet replacements for the 777 and 737, as which point we think there is a real chance these new designs will be built at Boeing’s growing Charleston (SC) complex.

But this bickering between Hewitt, on behalf of the the State’s Republican party, and the Democrats gets Washington nowhere.

At least the Democratic gubernatorial administration has come up with a plan for Washington’s aerospace, although we’ve noted we think it falls short of being bold and innovative. Hewitt and the Republicans haven’t come up with anything except criticism.

The State is undertaking two more studies (on top of at least four we can remember) to come up with ideas about what needs to be done. There are several industry organizations and experts that could be tapped to provide ideas, which the state is not using: the Pacific Northwest Aerospace Alliance, the Pacific Northwest Defense Coalition and INWAC in Eastern Washington, just to name three. The state-appointed Washington Aerospace Partnership doesn’t have a single industry representative on it, which is astounding, but it could come up with suggestions for economic development since the membership is overly weighted with these organizations.

Let’s stop the bickering, roll up the sleeves and get to work coming up with a forward-thinking, bi-partisan aerospace plan for Washington.

CSeries Competition: The Puget Sound Business Journal has this article looking at the competition the Bombardier CSeries will give the incumbents.

Meanwhile, Bombardier has undertaken low-speed taxi tests for the CSeries. This is, of course, a prelude to first flight.

A380 deployments: This article goes down the list of Airbus A380 operators and how the aircraft are deployed and configured.

Boeing raises prices: Boeing hiked the list prices slightly of its commercial airplanes. Here is a report comparing Boeing’s new prices with Airbus.

12 Comments on “Key leaders hit back at Boeing “exodus” assertions; CSeries competition for the Big Two; A380 uses; Boeing hikes prices

  1. Why doesn’t WA just give Boeing what they want, RTW?

    Good to see the C-Series finally moving towards FF.

    Most Boeing aircraft have a lower list price compared to their Airbus counterparts. The exception is the B-737-8MAX lists for about $3M more than the A-320NEO. Not listed, but my guess is the B-77W also has a higher list price than the A-333.

  2. “The exception is the B-737-8MAX lists for about $3M more than the A-320NEO. Not listed, but my guess is the B-77W also has a higher list price than the A-333.”

    KCT I think the 737-8 & 737-9 fill a gab in the A320 portfolio, theoretically between 180-236 seats.. Airbus doesn’t have them locked in under the A321, they have a hole in their line-up 😉 The 77W and A333 are in different segments I guess.

  3. How does Boeing Commercial Airplanes make the operating margins reported quarter by quarter so far?

  4. An OEM could write off unexpected costs over the next 1400 (partly unsold) airframes. Prevent taxes if no profits are made. Outsource, let risk sharing partners bleed. Let national research agency’s pay the R&D tickets. Let government finance risky, or even not so risky aircraft deals. Ask government to put pressure on Asian countries to “balance” huge trade deficits. Let politicians make sure Buy Here laws are in place. Accuse others when they do the same..

  5. That’s a larger price delta for comparable pax numbers… IIUC the total cost delta is in the single digit percent points… so Ab a/c are more economical to operate and maintain?

    • No, the competing Boeing and Airbus NBs are actually about the same costs to operate and maintain. Scott did a story on this a while back.

  6. Re: C Series competition

    The article repeats the flaws of the Superjet in the same manner that previous one did:
    “Russia’s Superjet 100 is flying, but not very well, and the aircraft so far has crashed twice, once due to pilot error and once when the landing gear didn’t go down.”

    One has to select the gear down, fortunately. I don’t know why any aviation related press would repeat such obvious misinterpretations. I’m sure the plane isn’t as good as it should be but even the autoland operation demands for.. well pilots. And that’s by design.

  7. Pingback: Boeing slammed for moving jobs to Southern California, WA state for naivete | Leeham News and Comment

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