Leeham News and Analysis
There's more to real news than a news release.
Pontifications: Engines, engines, engines
By Scott Hamilton
Oct. 29, 2018, © Leeham Co.: Engines, engines, engines.
News emerged last week that Rolls-Royce admitted its continuing problems with the Trent 1000 that powers the Boeing 787 now bled over to the Trent 7000.
RR will fall short of delivering the number of engines need to Airbus for the A330neo, meaning fewer deliveries of the airplane this year.
Boeing said it is clearing its inventory of 737 MAXes, but CFM LEAP engines are still late, slowing the effort.
Pratt & Whitney’s GTF engine deliveries to Airbus are caught up, but technical issues still plague in-service engines. CFM still has technical issues as well, though not as severe or persistent as with GTF, with its LEAP engines. Read more
How useful is an NMA, Part 3
By Bjorn Fehrm
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Introduction
October 25, 2018, © Leeham News.: Last week we looked at the trans-Atlantic capabilities for a Boeing NMA. We could see West Europe to East US worked fine, but then it quickly became sensitive to bad Winter weather on the Westward routes when we wanted to fly further.
Now we look at what works and not for Asia-Pacific, an important market for the NMA.
Artists impression of the Boeing NMA. Source: The Air Current.
Summary:
- The NMA is not ideal for the trans-Atlantic US to Europe market. Its reach is too limited.
- The Asian market works better as long as routes to “Down Under” are not considered.
Boeing reports strong 3Q results
Oct. 24, 2018: Boeing reported a stronger than expected third quarter when it announced financial results today.
The press release is here.
The stock was up more than 3% ($10.87) in early morning trading.
Wall Street analysts issued these quick notes ahead of the earnings call:
Boeing’s growing 777X challenge
- Boeing 3Q earnings call Oct. 24, 10:30am EDT.
Oct. 23, 2018, © Leeham News: Boeing has been confident it has bottomed out the production rate of the 777 line, successfully bridging between the Classic and the X models.
CEO Dennis Muilenburg nevertheless typically couches this confidence with “with still have some work to do.”
But during LNC’s trip last week to New York, sources said this bridge may be moving to the right.
Etihad Airways was a launch customer for the Boeing 777X. It’s deferred delivers once. It may do so again. LNC has been on this story since January 2017. Image via Google images.
Pontifications: Market Intelligence from NY
By Scott Hamilton
Oct. 22, 2018, © Leeham News: I was in New York City last week for a series of meetings. Here’s what “the street” is talking about. I make no judgment calls about whether the thoughts are on target or not. Read more
How useful is an NMA, Part 2
By Bjorn Fehrm
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Introduction
October 18, 2018, © Leeham News.: Last week we started an article series which analyzes how useful a Boeing NMA will be for medium to long-haul flights in different markets.
We first went through all the factors which will change the OEM’s nominal range to an operational range. Now we fly the NMA in one of its main markets and look how it fairs.
Artists impression of the Boeing NMA. Source: The Air Current.
Summary:
- The NMA is designed to compete on operational economics with Single Aisle aircraft, yet offer the comfort and turn-around times of a Twin Aisle.
- To get to Single Aisle economics, the NMA can’t be too much aircraft. This shows when analyzing how NMA fares on trans-Atlantic routes.
Boeing expected to lay out new contract terms for suppliers
Danieljcatchpole[at]gmail[dot]com
Oct. 16, 2018, © Leeham News: Puget Sound-area Boeing suppliers are anxiously awaiting an Oct. 30th meeting at 
the Lynnwood Convention Center. The aerospace giant has invited dozens of suppliers to the meeting.
Attendees have been required to sign non-disclosure forms in advance, though Boeing has been tight-lipped about what exactly it plans to discuss with them. Each company has been limited to sending only two representatives, according to several suppliers attending the meeting.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re a machine shop or a big (tier one supplier), you can only send two people,” said an executive at a Puget Sound-area supplier. The supplier spoke on condition of not being named for fear of losing business with Boeing.
Boeing has indicated that the conference is to discuss sweeping changes to how the terms and structure of its supply chain contracts. But it has revealed few details, according to executives at two suppliers.
“You know it’s bad if they won’t tell you what it’s about,” one of the executives said.
Pontifications: “We will develop and actionable plan to develop supply chain”
By Scott Hamilton
Oct. 15, 2018, © Leeham News: “With your help, we will develop actionable plans to develop the supply chain.”
This was the leading message from the 5th Annual South Carolina Aerospace Conference and Expo, held Tuesday and Wednesday last week in Columbia (SC).
Conference officials also said they are “exploring a national aerospace coalition.”
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Organized by Leeham Co. and Airfinance Journal April 14-16, 2019 Francis Marion Hotel Charleston, SC |
The South Carolina Council on Competitive/SC Aerospace already have a Letter of Intent with Washington State’s Aerospace Futures Alliance “for the purpose of advancing the aerospace industry across the US. The LOI will serve as the platform for exploring the creation of a national aerospace Coalition (Coalition) with the objective of strengthening and growing commercial aviation, space, and unmanned aerial systems in the US through a variety of activities.”
How useful is an NMA?
By Bjorn Fehrm
Subscription Required
Introduction
October 11, 2018, © Leeham News.: The Boeing NMA is by now reasonably well defined. The passenger capacity is set at 225 seats for the smaller version and 265 seats for the larger. The nominal range is 5,000nm for the smaller version and 4,750nm for the larger NMA.
This is all nominal data. In practice, there will be different operational realities which will decrease these figures. How much and how useful will the final operational NMA be? What will be the economic advantage over the direct competition?
Artists impression of the Boeing NMA. Source: The Air Current.
To find out, we will pit the NMA against its direct competition in a series of articles.
Summary:
- The NMA as defined is configured according to Boeing’s STANDARD rule set. Using these rules, the smaller variant is classified as a 225 seat airliner with a range of 5,000nm. The larger as a 265 seat aircraft with a 4,500nm range.
- In practice, operational realities and cabins changes compared with the ones used in the STANDARD ruleset will decrease the seating capacity of the aircraft and its range. How much and why is discussed in this, the first article in the series.
Boeing’s transition in supply chain management aims to save hundreds of millions of dollars
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Now open to all readers.
Introduction
Oct. 8, 2018, © Leeham News: As Boeing moves toward more automation, digital twins and 3D printing to streamline manufacturing and reduce costs, behind the scenes another major initiative has been underway for more than a year.
It’s the shift from its decades-old Enterprise Resource Planning system to a new, expanded one called Systems Applications Projects.
ERP manages parts and inventory. SAP is an evolution of ERP, important as Boeing plans to up production of the 737 and 787 and nears a decision whether to launch the New Midmarket Aircraft (NMA).
The transition is complex and will take years to fully accomplish.
Synergizing scores of old processes covering a billion parts, requiring meticulous data entry, is a daunting task. In fact, after running into problems in June, Boeing Commercial Airplanes’ transition has been delayed, reports the aerospace analyst for Cowen & Co.
A glitch in the system can have ramifications that interrupt production and create traveled work that can delay airplane deliveries to customers.
A system that works as it should streamlines delivery of parts and reduces costs for Boeing—and, theoretically, also its suppliers.
It’s a delicate balance where one misidentified entry into the computer can create problems.