Leeham News and Analysis
There's more to real news than a news release.
Leeham News and Analysis
- JetZero readies effort for private equity fund raising May 5, 2025
- Bjorn’s Corner: Air Transport’s route to 2050. Part 20. May 2, 2025
- Supplier Howmet exceeds expectations despite tariffs May 1, 2025
- Airbus 1Q2025 results: So far, so good, but US tariffs make future results unpredictable May 1, 2025
- Does an Airbus A220-500 need a new wing and engines? May 1, 2025
Does an Airbus A220-500 need a new wing and engines?
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By Bjorn Fehrm
May 1, 2025, © Leeham News: For years, the debate has been going on about when Airbus will complement the A220-100 and -300 with a longer, higher-capacity A220-500.
In fact, the Bombardier team that designed the A220 as the CS300 already foresaw the prospect of a longer -500. The latest discussions have been around how much to stretch and whether a new wing and stronger engines are needed if the A220-500 replaces the A320neo in the Airbus lineup.
We use the Leeham Aircraft Performance and Cost Model (APCM) to examine the design data for the A220-100 and -300 and determine whether a stretched -500 would benefit from a new wing and stronger engines (which would then be the CFM LEAP-1Bs used on the Boeing 737 MAX).
Figure 1. A rendering of a possible A220-500. Source: Leeham Co.
Summary:
- The A220 started life as the CSeries, designed to compete with Embraer’s E-Jet E2.
- It has since added range through increased Maximum Takeoff Weights to enter the single aisle segment range-wise.
- A stretched A220 would expand the present A220 series upwards and potentially replace the A320neo for Airbus.
- We start by comparing the A220 to the E2, then we move on to examining whether an A220-500 can successfully replace the A320neo.
Teamsters, Boeing have a new contract
By Scott Hamilton
April 29, 2025, © Leeham News: One down, two more to go this year.
The Teamsters Local 174 and Boeing have a new contract. Union members ratified a new contract on April 19. Results were announced on April 21. Local 174 represents about 300 truck drivers for Boeing in the greater Seattle region. A strike could have disrupted production.
The union said the “contract materially surpasses all previous contracts for the group. The new agreement, which not only makes major language improvements but also guarantees economic victories that raise the bar for the rest of the industry, comes on the heels of labor disputes between Boeing and the International Association of Firefighters and the International Association of Machinists.
“Contrary to those negotiations, bargaining with the Teamsters took an entirely different tone, and the resulting Agreement will protect and reward Boeing Teamsters for years to come.”
Related Story
Boeing faces three labor contracts this year
Boeing wants to remarket China’s airplanes. It’s costly and time consuming.
- China has 130 Boeing airplanes that are identified in the Boeing backlog. On last week’s earnings call, officials said China accounts for 10% of its backlog of 6,319 aircraft as of March 31. This means there are about 500 Chinese-destined aircraft in the “Unidentified” backlog.
- Reconfiguring airplanes would cost millions of dollars. Backlogs to order materials and complete the work could be as much as two years. Engineering that may be required and regulatory review also could take a year or two.
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By Scott Hamilton
Reconfiguring aircraft interiors is a costly and time-consuming challenge. Aftermarket company ATS is one of those engaged in this sector. It explains the process here. Credit: ATS.
April 28, 2025, © Leeham News: China used to be Boeing’s most important single collective customer. By the end of 2016, this country’s airlines and lessors accounted for between 25% and 33% of Boeing’s annual deliveries, depending on the year.
Boeing was losing ground to Airbus there. The European rival aggressively sought to partner with China. In 2008, the company opened an A320 family final assembly line in Tianjin. This followed a long courtship in which Airbus boosted its supply chain and engineering in China. Airbus establishing an A330 finishing center in China in 2017.
In China, doing business there meant providing “benefit” to its new and growing industries. “Benefit” was a loosely defined term that generally meant transferring technology, helping create a supply chain and ordering parts and components made in China. For some, it meant providing kickbacks. (This is not suggesting Airbus engaged in kickbacks, but corruption is a matter of public record. Such was suggested to me when I was doing business in China between 1989 and 1993.)
It had been a long struggle. When Airbus was establishing its presence there selling airplanes, some officials said they didn’t need any air buses—passengers boarded by jet bridges. Over time, Airbus began to surpass Boeing’s orders in China and today is the leader.
Boeing recognized it needed to do more in China. It floated the idea of establishing a 737 final assembly line in China, but its touch-labor union, the IAM 751 exercised its veto contract clause to stop the idea. Instead, Boeing opened a 737 completion center in China in 2018.
Completion centers paint the airplanes and install the interiors. A few 737s were at Boeing’s completion center when President Trump started the tariff war with China; the airplanes returned to the United States.
How good is the C929? Part 2.
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By Bjorn Fehrm
April 24, 2025, © Leeham News: We started looking at the future COMAC C929 widebody 10 days ago. The C929 development has gone through a number of challenges, the first being how to structure the cooperation between China’s COMAC and Russia’s United Aircraft, with the latest being what engines to use for the aircraft.
The first problem was solved by COMAC deciding to go it alone, whereas the last problem around engines has no definite solution yet.
Figure 1. The C929, a new COMAC widebody that shall complement the C919. Source: COMAC.
Summary:
- The C929 airframe is taking form with detailed design having started, according to COMAC.
- The engine side is less settled. The likely engine is the Chinese CJ-2000, a 78,000lbf development of the CJ-1000A engine aimed at the C919.
- We apply the CJ-2000’s likely performance to the C929 airframe and use our Aircraft Performance and Cost Model (APCM) to predict the C929’s operational performance.
Boeing First Quarter Results Update: China is 10% of the backlog, with 500 in “Unidentified”
By Karl Sinclair
April 23, 2025, © Leeham News: China represents 10% of Boeing’s commercial airliner backlog,
Boeing first quarter 2025 earnings report.
CFO Brian West clarified on the Boeing 1Q2025 earnings call. About 50 aircraft are scheduled to be delivered to China this year, but all are in limbo due to President Donald Trump’s trade war tariff fight, which began this month.
Previously thought to represent some 2% of the commercial backlog, with another 2%- 3% added for lessors, it was revealed that China represents 10% of the Boeing (BA) backlog. There are 130 Boeing jets identified in the backlog destined for China. With 6,319 Unidentified orders, about 500 are placed by China’s airlines and lessors.
“We have roughly 50 airplanes in our plan this year going into China, so we’re going to be pretty pragmatic with what we do here. For those airplanes that haven’t been built yet, we’ll be looking to maybe redirect those to other customers. For the airplanes that have been built, we call it re-marketing,” said Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg on the CNBC financial network this morning.
Re-marketing, as Ortberg puts it, can be a costly endeavour.
At the end of FY2024, Boeing still had 50 aircraft in inventory (40 for China) it needed to “re-market.”
The 737 MAX program also incurred abnormal production costs and write-offs of ~$22bn since the grounding.
It was revealed that Boeing also had four 787s in production destined for China.
Holding onto inventory, especially commercial aircraft that need to be maintained, can be an expensive exercise.
Boeing First Quarter Results: Tariffs, Return flights, $10.55bn asset sale
By Karl Sinclair
Boeing first quarter 2025 earnings report.
April 23, 2025, © Leeham News: As aircraft destined for delivery for airlines in China were turned around and returned to the US, the Boeing Company (BA) released 1Q2025 results today. Results were better than expected, with the loss lower than forecast and Free Cash Flow better than analysts forecast.
Revenue in the quarter was $19.5bn, the loss per share before charges was 49 cents and free cash flow, while negative at $2.3bn, was well below analyst projections.
Boeing ended the quarter with $23.7bn in cash and marketable securities, down from $26.3bn on Dec. 31. Debt was $53.6bn, down slightly from the end of last year. Boeing has an untapped $10bn line of credit.
The company said it still expects to return to a new production rate on the 737 MAX line of 38/mo. Production for the 787, how at 5/mo, is forecast to go to 7/mo this year. Both figures are lower than previously targeted (42/mo and 10/mo, respectively).
Yesterday, Boeing announced that it had reached a deal with Thoma Bravo – a software investment firm, to spin-off parts of the company for $10.55bn in cash. The deal includes Jeppesen, ForeFlight, AerData and OzRunways assets, and is expected to close by the end of 2025.
Boeing reports mixed results of latest employee survey, but middle management and officers remain key obstacles
By Scott Hamilton
Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg is working to improve the company’s culture. Credit: Boeing.
April 22, 2025, © Leeham News: Boeing released an employee survey last week about safety, culture, and related items. Some areas recorded improvements, while others recorded declines.
But the survey data released did not address a serious problem Boeing has had for more than two decades and continues to have, despite efforts to improve safety, quality and culture: the “deep state” that exists within Boeing at the middle- and lower-officer levels that continue to practice intimidation and retaliation against some who attempt to point out problems in the areas listed above.
In interviews for LNA and my forthcoming book, The Rise and Fall of Boeing and the Way Back, it was clear that Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg’s initial rounds of housecleaning at the executive and some lower levels haven’t scratched the surface of the root of the company’s problems that have brought this icon to its proverbial knees.
Rise and Fall is essentially a sequel to my first book, Air Wars, The Global Combat Between Airbus and Boeing, published in September 2021. Rise and Fall is in final copy editing, with a target publishing date in September, the fourth anniversary of Air Wars’ publication.
Boeing’s release of its recent survey last week presents a contrast in contradictions.
Hopes for 1Q financial progress turns into bumpy ride for Boeing
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By Karl Sinclair
At its peak, there were 140 Boeing 737 MAXes stored across Washington state destined for China. The number is now around 40, and with the tariff war, there is no telling when these will be delivered. Photo in March 2023 in Moses Lake (WA) by Scott Hamilton.
April 21, 2025, © Leeham News: Just when it looked like The Boeing Company (BA) had a sensible recovery plan and leadership that understood the tasks at hand, along came that pocket of turbulent air, which upset a smooth flight.
Boeing announces its 1Q2025 financial numbers on Wednesday. What had been hoped to be a positive report is now overshadowed by the impact of worldwide tariffs, announced by President Donald Trump on April 2.
The latest industry news, which seems to change daily, is that the Trump Administration has levied a 245% tariff on China, after China had retaliated against tariffs of 145%. Last week, Beijing reportedly told its airlines to refuse delivery of all Boeing products.
In the interim, Trump walked back exorbitant tariff rates applied to nearly 100 nations, calculated with a flawed theory, focusing instead on hitting China hard and retaining a blanket 10% rate on the rest of the world.
There was a further retreat as tariffs on electronics were removed on iPhones and tablets, as pressures in the bond market forced a move.
Nothing in the aviation industry operates in a vacuum, as corporations begin to circle the wagons.
Delta Air Lines will refuse to take any Airbus aircraft that are tariffed, according to CEO Ed Bastian. Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary said the same, regarding Boeing aircraft.
Howmet Aerospace, a Tier 1 supplier, is preparing to use “force majeure,” a legal term referring to an unexpected event which prevents a party from fulfilling contractual obligations, to get out of delivering parts.
According to equity research firm Bernstein, other suppliers are expected to invoke the clause as needed.
This is only 17 days after Trump’s much-heralded “Liberation Day.”
China bans Boeing, US parts imports in tariff war
April 15, 2025, © Leeham News: It was inevitable: China has banned its airlines from accepting deliveries of Boeing airplanes.
The move is in retaliation against President Donald Trump’s boosting tariffs on Chinese goods to 145%. Beijing placed retaliatory tariffs on US goods to 125%. During the first Trump administration, the president placed tariffs of 25% on Chinese goods imported to the US. Beijing has allowed delivery of very few Boeing jets since then.
Illustration of many of the systems and components COMAC sources for its C919 jet. The smaller C909 regional jet is similarly sourced. Credit: Airframer.com.
The move once more blocks Boeing from the world’s second biggest aviation trade market. Additionally, Beijing blocked the import of US-made parts, according to Bloomberg News, which first reported the actions.
Boeing welcomes COMAC competition as Asia-Pacific demand soars
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By Leeham News Team
April 15, 2025, © Leeham News: Boeing sees long-term growth potential in the Asia-Pacific commercial market, but the company also acknowledges that China’s domestically produced COMAC C919 poses a credible challenge in the single-aisle segment—particularly in China and potentially in the broader region over time.
With China’s state-backed aerospace ambitions gaining momentum, the U.S. manufacturer faces a new challenge threatening to unbalance the traditional duopoly with Airbus.
According to Boeing’s 2024 Commercial Market Outlook (CMO), Southeast Asia will require more than 4,700 new aircraft over the next 20 years. About 80% of this demand will be for single-aisle aircraft—a space Boeing would ordinarily seek to dominate with its 737 MAX family.
COMAC may still have work to do to gain credibility for the C919 inside and outside China, but its short-medium-range airliner is proving popular in its domestic market (Air China, China Eastern Airlines, and China Southern Airlines are current operators). The planemaker is now seeking customers elsewhere in the region, including Indonesia, Cambodia, and Kazakhstan. How potential U.S. tariffs will alter airline customer decision-making between Boeing and its rivals remains to be seen.
Speaking to LNA as the Routes Asia forum got underway, Dave Schulte, managing director of Boeing Commercial Marketing for Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, and Oceania, said he welcomed the contest for supremacy.
“Competition is always good for the aviation industry,” Schulte said when asked about the impact of COMAC on Boeing’s plans in the region. “It makes everyone in the industry invest in better technologies and find solutions to meet evolving customer needs.
“In the future, airlines will need to make longer-term fleet decisions that support growth and profitability, while providing competitive fares and service levels to the public.
“To achieve this goal, airlines across the region and globally evaluate airplanes based on performance capabilities, comfort level for passengers, economics, and more.” Read more