Leeham News and Analysis
There's more to real news than a news release.
Leeham News and Analysis
- Boeing’s 737 North Line and the Everett factory: in transition now June 9, 2025
- Bjorn’s Corner: Air Transport’s route to 2050. Part 25. June 6, 2025
- New RISE powerplant benefits from decades of GE research and development June 5, 2025
- Engine makers emphasizing durability, reliability June 4, 2025
- Boeing CEO: Lessons learned are key to certification of 737-7/10 and 777X June 2, 2025
Pontifications: Ugly, fundamental changes coming for airline industry
By Scott Hamilton
May 4, 2020, © Leeham News: The global airline industry is on the cusp of a fundamental restructuring that will be painful, and painfully long.
A few airlines already ceased operations.
Several others are on the brink of filing for bankruptcy—among them Lufthansa and Virgin Atlantic, brand names that aren’t normally at the top of an endangered list.
A shake-out in Europe was already underway before the COVID-19 crisis erupted. The inevitable shake-out in Asia hadn’t yet begun.
Fleet rationalization among legacy carriers will occur at rapid-fire speed. And some carriers now have the opportunity to shed unprofitable routes that were maintained for market share.
It’s going to be an ugly process, though.
Bjorn’s Corner: Why e in ePlane shall stand for environment, Part 20. Wrapup.
May 1, 2020, ©. Leeham News: We now wrap the series about technologies that can help reduce air transport’s environmental footprint.
I wrote in the first article, December 13: We have lost our way in our search for a lower carbon footprint air transport system by heading down the electric lane. I will argue why it’s not the best route as it’s not the route that leads to tangible results any time soon, despite huge investments.
In 19 Corners to date, we discussed why. It’s time to summarize what we learned.
Figure 1. The Gartner hype cycle. Source: Wikipedia.
Supply chain focus: Thales’ first 2020 quarter
By Bjorn Fehrm
April 30, 2020, ©. Leeham News: We continue our special focus on the OEM supply chain as the COVID19 crisis threatens several suppliers.
Thales Group is the number three supplier of Avionics and IFE to the commercial aircraft industry. The defense sector represents 45% of the business, and the commercial side 30%. With defense less exposed to the crisis, it moderates the effect on the 1Q2020 results.
Figure 1. The Airbus A350 avionics and displays are mainly from Thales. Picture from my test flight of the A350-900 in May 2015. Source: LNA.
Airbus 1Q2020, preparing for “the gravest crisis in our industry’s history”
April 29, 2020, © Leeham News: Airbus presented its results for the first quarter of 2020 today. In the accompanying news conference, Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury said, “we are facing the gravest crisis in our industry’s history,” and the company is implementing several measures to secure Airbus’ future.
World travel has disappeared, and new airliner deliveries will be down for years. Production of Airbus commercial aircraft is cut with one third, but this will be adapted as actual demand evolves, with the next adjustment expected in June.
HOTR: Product development another victim of virus crisis
By the Leeham News staff
April 28, 2020, © Leeham News: The Coronavirus not only decimates the airline industry.
It’s going to completely upend the product strategies of Airbus, Boeing and Embraer.
Boeing is most immediately affected.
The Squeeze on Embraer
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Now open to all readers.
By Scott Hamilton
Introduction
April 27, 2020, © Leeham News: The collapse of the Boeing-Embraer joint venture Saturday resurfaces the squeeze Embraer was under when the deal was announced in 2018.
Then, Embraer faced the prospect of competing against Airbus in the 100-150 seat sector with the former Bombardier C Series.
Embraer’s E2 Jets are squeezed from above by the Airbus A220 and, if Mitsubishi performs, the M100 SpaceJet from the bottom.
John Slattery, the CEO of Embraer Commercial Aviation (ECA), said he could not compete against the marketing might of Airbus alone. In fact, he lost a key customer when jetBlue ordered the A220-300 instead of the E195-E2 to replace 60 E190-E1s. Airbus, which took over the C Series July 1, 2018, wrapped the A321neo into the A220 order. This deal was announced shortly after Airbus assumed majority ownership of the C Series program.
Summary
- E195-E2 will drive demand.
- The E190-E2 won’t be a “door opener.”
- The E175-E2 future depends on US Scope Clause relief.
- Coronavirus upends everything.
- M100 waiting in the wings.
Pontifications: Taking a knife to a gunfight
April 27, 2020, © Leeham News: There is a great line in the movie, The Untouchables. Sean Connery’s character tells an assassin that he’s bringing a knife to a gunfight.
By Scott Hamilton
That’s what came to mind when Embraer says it will seek remedies against Boeing following the latter’s terminating the joint venture agreement between the two companies.
In the movie, the assassin lured Connery into a trap. Connery was gunned down by a machine gun. But don’t expect Boeing to be lured into any trap by Embraer.
Boeing doesn’t pull a move like this without thinking through all the possibilities. It may muff the thought process, as will be noted below, but it does think through alternatives.
Analysis: The collapse of the Boeing-Embraer joint venture
By the Leeham News Team
Analysis
April 25, 2020, © Leeham News: The Boeing-Embraer joint venture is off.
Boeing called off the JV, saying Embraer didn’t satisfy all the conditions required.
The Boeing-Embraer joint venture is dead.
The impact to Embraer is more profound than to Boeing.
When the JV was announced in 2019, the advantages for Boeing were:
- Access to EMB engineers at a time when Boeing’s are aging and ready to retire.
- Access to much lower cost base in Brazil.
- KC-390 program.
- Revenue from EMB Commercial services.
- E2 program, though this is tangential.
The advantages for Embraer were:
- Access to Boeing’s vast customer base, marketing power, balance sheet (again, pre-virus) and capital markets.
- Access to work on new airplane programs: NMA (at the time), Future Small Airplanes (single aisle, either to compete with A220 or larger).
- Work for its engineers.
- A future beyond the struggling E2 and beyond the fanciful turboprop concept.
- A future for Embraer Commercial Airplanes, which in LNA’s view was increasingly risky.
Can a passenger airliner run as a freighter with today’s tariffs? Part 4.
By Bjorn Fehrm
Subscription Required
Introduction
April 23, 2020, © Leeham News: We spent the last weeks checking if passenger airliners used as belly freighters make economic sense.
With the present air freight prices, it does. The high freight prices are a result of half the World’s freight capacity disappearing with the grounding of passenger jets.
Our economic analysis assumed standard densities for the belly cargo. What happens if this is no longer the case? Can more voluminous cargo fly in the passenger cabin?
Figure 1. Air Canada Boeing 777 with humanitarian supplies (face masks) transported in the cabin. Source: Air Canada.
Summary:
- Widebody aircraft can temporarily fly as belly freighters without loading cargo in the cabin, but enabling cabin cargo will improve the business case with the present lower-density cargo.
- For single-aisle jets the belly cargo holds are too small, a cabin cargo loading system is necessary for efficient operation.
- Is it OK to take out the seats and load cargo in the cabin? For normal cargo no, it isn’t. We check what is required.
Supply chain focus: Hexcel’s first 2020 quarter
By Bjorn Fehrm
April 22, 2020, ©. Leeham News: With the COVID-19 meltdown of airline traffic and aircraft deliveries, we place a special focus on the airliner industry supply chain in the next months.
Hexcel Corporation reported its 1Q2020 yesterday. In addition to the absence of MAX deliveries for a year, the mounting COVID crisis meant revenue was down with 11% year on year and profits 40%. The merger with Woodward Inc. is off. “This is the time for crisis management, not a merger,” said management.
Hexcel is a key supplier to Airbus A350.