Leeham News and Analysis
There's more to real news than a news release.
Airbus’ A330neo gets better and better. Part 2
Subscription required
By Bjorn Fehrm
August 14, 2025, © Leeham News: We analyze Airbus’s A330-900, the larger of the A330neos. Last week, we examined the product improvements that Airbus will roll out in the coming years, including the latest increase in Maximum TakeOff Weight (MTOW) and the resulting increase in range.
The A330 entered the market as a mid-range aircraft. With the launch of the A330neo and subsequent improvements, it is today a long-range aircraft that covers several trans-Pacific trunk routes.
How does the improved A330-900 stack up against the efficiency of the Boeing 787-9? We use our Aircraft Performance and Cost Model (APCM) to find out.
Figure 1. The A330-900 in the colors of Delta Airlines, a major operator of the model. Source: Airbus.
Summary:
- The Airbus A330 is tested on a challenging route, LAX to Shanghai, versus Boeing’s perhaps best long-ranger, the 787-9.
- Where Airbus can’t match the efficiency and cargo capacity of a 20-year younger 787-9, it can compensate with lower capital costs.
Boeing’s Ortberg’s first year as CEO: progress, but lots remaining to do
By Scott Hamilton
Analysis
Kelly Ortberg, shortly after assuming his position as the the CEO of The Boeing Co. on Aug. 8, 2024. It was his first visit to Boeing’s 737 production line. Credit: Boeing.
Aug. 8, 2025, © Leeham News: Today is the one-year anniversary of Kelly Ortberg stepping into what is probably the most challenging career move of his professional life: becoming the chief executive officer of The Boeing Co.
He took on a company that was in yet another existential crisis. It was still reeling from the Jan. 5, 2024, accident of Alaska Airlines flight 1282. On that date, a door plug of an inactive emergency exit on a new 737 MAX 9 that had been in service for a mere 10 weeks blew at 14,800 ft, minutes after takeoff from the Portland (OR) International Airport. But because of the circumstances and the skills of the pilots, there were only a few injuries, no fatalities, nobody was sucked out of the pressurized airplane, and the flight crew landed safely 16 harrowing minutes after taking off.
A new crisis was underway.
Progress Boeing had made in recovering from the twin MAX disasters of October 2018 and March 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic, and major production issues in the 737 and 787 lines ground to a halt. A new crisis of confidence in Boeing’s leadership, safety, and relationship with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) emerged.
As a result of AS 1282, CEO David Calhoun announced in March his “retirement;” sources say this wasn’t his decision, despite the public relations spin that it was. Calhoun said he would stick around until a new CEO was named.
Stan Deal, the CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA), likewise was “retiring” immediately. Board Chairman Larry Kellner would step down in April.
Related Stories
Summary
- Early Missteps with the unions
- Inaction on a SPEEA safety plan
- Returning to higher rate production
- Certification challenges remain
- Restoring Boeing’s financial health
- The next new airplane
Boeing adds back deferred production costs for 777X in 1H2025
Subscription Required
By Karl Sinclair
August 5, 2025, © Leeham News: Boeing boosted program deferrals in the second financial quarter on the 777X and 737 MAX, shifting costs around, which had the effect of improving the profit-and-loss picture for the quarter.
Boeing spent more money on a unit-cost basis (UCB) than the company reported in its earnings.
Source: Boeing 2Q2025 Financial Reports.
Using program accounting, Boeing Commercial Aircraft (BCA) claimed a loss of $557m for the quarter. On a unit-cost basis (UCB), the amount spent to produce those aircraft delivered to airlines during the period was ~$1bn more than declared in its financial results.
However, the silver lining is that this is an improvement over the 1Q2025 UCB, when $2.933bn was lost.
This has become the typical result at BCA, where expenses are understated on the income statement, with a sizable portion capitalized and stored in Inventory.
Collins Aerospace pacing for new materials, production for next new airplane
Subscription Required
By Scott Hamilton
Aug. 4, 2025, © Leeham News: As the aviation industry considers what new major airliners to develop for the next 50 years, new engines, folding wings, advanced materials, and new design and production processes will also be key.
Collins Aerospace, a unit of RTX Corp., is deep into research and development of advanced structures.
This portion of Collins’ antecedents is Hamilton-Sundstrand and B. F. Goodrich Aerospace. Each was acquired by United Technologies, the forerunner of today’s RTX.
Collins has three basic lines of business: aerostructures, landing systems, and propeller and cockpit controls.
Going back to Jim McNerney, the CEO of The Boeing Co. from 2005-2015, the company said repeatedly that its next new airplane will be as much, or more, about production than it will be about the aircraft.
A new materials airplane based on composites or thermoplastics or a similar material to replace the ubiquitous 737 needs a production rate of 60-80 a month, or even more. This can’t be achieved with an autoclave process. Boeing and NASA, the US space agency, are studying new materials processes aimed at this rate.
Airbus is conducting similar studies in Europe with EU companies.
Airbus is openly talking about launching a new airplane program in 2030 to replace the A320 beginning in 2038. Boeing is quietly understood to be operating on a similar timeline for a new program that may be aimed at a New Midmarket Airplane (NMA) category airplane.
The underlying question, then, is whether these new processes will be ready by the time Airbus and Boeing want to launch an airplane program.
Bjorn’s Corner: Faster aircraft development. Part 1.
By Bjorn Fehrm
August 1, 2025, ©. Leeham News: Four years ago I did a series about aircraft development together with Henry Tam and Andrew Telesca. Both worked on the Mitsubishi Spacejet program. You can find the series here.
It was about the arduous task of developing and producing a certified aircraft for the FAA Part 23 standard and its EASA equivalent. The idea was to better describe what’s ahead for the many upstarts that wanted to develop 9-seat and 19-seat alternative propulsion aircraft.
Now we do a series about recent ideas on how the long development times for large airliners can be shortened. New projects talk about cutting development calendar time by one-third or more. Is this realistic?
Figure 1. The A350 development schedule from December 2011. Source: Airbus.
Read more
What’s the next new aircraft, Part 5
By Scott Hamilton and Bjorn Fehrm
July 31, 2025, © Leeham News: We wrap up our five-part series today on What’s the Next New Airplane in the coming decades. We now look at Airplanes 9-13 in Figure 1 below.
Figure 1. The 13 airliners we look at in the series. Source: Leeham Co.
These are the (9) COMAC 929, (10) Eco-version of New Light Twin, (11) CFM Open Fan single aisle, (12) the Boeing 787 re-engine, and (13) the Airbus A350 re-engine.
Odds and Ends from Boeing, Textron, China and the US DOT
By the Leeham News and AIN Teams
July 30, 2025, © Leeham News: It’s time for a few odds and ends in aerospace.
- Boeing and tariffs.
- Textron and the small cargo airplane SkyCourier.
- China certifies the first eVTOL.
- The DOT watchdog focuses on the Newark ATC meltdowns
Boeing on tariffs
Boeing is optimistic that evolving tariff policy by the Trump Administration will continue to exempt aerospace products.
On the Boeing earnings call on July 29, CEO Kelly Ortberg said Boeing previously estimated the impact from tariffs imposed by the US on imported parts would be about $500m.
“One of the key areas for us is the equipment we import from Japan. Getting this Japan [tariff] agreement in place will be helpful for us going forward. We understand that to include zero-for-zero, no input tariffs.
“We still need to see what happens with Italy. We import some fuselage components from Alenia in Italy, so hopefully that will also result in zero-for-zero. My understanding is that is the kind of the baseline negotiation strategy as they go through these bilaterals that we will end up in a zero-for-zero, but [there is] still work yet to do,” Ortberg said.
The trade agreement negotiated in the first Trump Administration between the US, Mexico and Canada is called USMCA. Ortberg said this agreement is very important because of the amount Boeing imports from Mexico and Canada. The second Trump Administration upended the USMCA with new tariff demands.
“As they revisit that USMCA, hopefully, that stays in the same trade situation that we’re in today. We don’t see additional tariffs going forward. But if we continue to see this zero-for-zero, I think we’ll be able to beat that $500 million bogey that we’ve established here.”
Ortberg becomes more cautious about 737 MAX production ramp timing
By Scott Hamilton
Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg. Credit: Getty Images.
July 30, 2025, © Leeham News: Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg began to walk back just a bit about the timeline to ramp up production of the 737 MAX during the 2Q2025/1H2025 earnings call.
It’s the first time that LNA has seen a little equivocation.
In previous interviews and earnings calls, Ortberg said that once the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approves, Boeing would ramp up production of the 737 MAX every six months in increments of five.
For example, Boeing is currently producing the MAX at a rate of 38/mo (although July may fall short, according to tracking by Planespotters). The next rate, subject to FAA approval, is 42/mo (yes, this is only four, not five, but this is the figure Boeing has said). After that, Ortberg has said repeatedly that rate breaks in increments of five would be every six months. LNA was skeptical from the start.
Jamie Baker and Mark Streeter, the airline analysts for JP Morgan, came up with an apt term when discussing the Southwest Airlines guidance that applies equally here: “Very Aggressive and Seemingly Unobtainable (or VASU for short).”
In response to questions from an analyst, Ortberg began walking back on the 2Q earnings call yesterday.
Boeing’s CEO Kelly Ortberg, “Our recovery plan is taking hold.”
By Karl Sinclair
Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg. Credit: Getty Images.
July 29, 2025, © Leeham News: The Boeing Company (BA) President and CEO Kelly Ortberg is confident that, despite there still being work to do, he likes the direction that the company is headed in.
“We’re making steady progress to stabilize our business, strengthen development program execution, and change our culture to set up for the future,” he said on the 1H2025 earnings call.
While the company still reported a loss for the quarter, it was less than expected, and there were signs of improvement in areas that were projected to take longer to turn around.
Related Article
• Boeing 1H2025: Turnaround underway
Despite projections in the first quarter that 2025 would be a loss-making year for the company, along with a substantial drain on cash reserves, management was pleased to note that things were progressing along in a timely and orderly manner.
“I’m pretty pleased with where we are through the first half and through my first year. I’m not surprised with the performance of the company and the recovery. We’ve got great people in the company,” said Ortberg.
Boeing is first and foremost a commercial aircraft manufacturer. The company will go as that division does.
Boeing 1H2025: Turnaround underway, led by revenue jump at Boeing Commercial and positive results at Defense
By Karl Sinclair
First half 2025 financial results.
July 29, 2025, © Leeham News: The Boeing Company (BA) released 1H2025 results, and while the corporation still posted a net loss of ($643) for the first six months of 2025, strong revenues at Boeing Commercial Aircraft (BCA) indicate that the company has turned the corner and is back on track.
Revenues leapt $8.8bn, year-over-year (YoY), as did margins, which increased $1.747bn. This resulted in positive earnings of $285m for the period, a turnaround of $1.461bn.
The net loss for the period was driven by interest expense of $1.418bn, an increase of $176 YoY. However, results are a marked improvement over 2024, when the company had a loss of $1.794bn. Service revenues showed a marginal increase, while sales of products increased $8.507bn.
