Leeham News and Analysis
There's more to real news than a news release.
Leeham News and Analysis
- Bjorn’s Corner: Air Transport’s route to 2050. Part 21. May 9, 2025
- Does an A220-500 need a new wing and engines? Part 2. May 8, 2025
- Embraer downplays tariff impact on 2025 results May 6, 2025
- 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
Farnborough/Sunday-Boeing
The Boeing 787 arrived today at the Farnborough Air Show, a day before the event actually begins.
The plane, #3–the so-called “interior airplane” equipped with an interior that is more suitable for testing operations than representative of the actual 787 customer interior–arrived at 9 am UK time, after a 9 hour flight from Paine Field at Everett (WA). At least 100 people lined Farnborough Road adjacent the airport with binoculars and telephoto cameras to watch the landing.
New 787 delay possible
In a conference call this morning, Scott Fancher, the program head for the Boeing 787, announced the first deliveries to All Nippon Airways might slip to after the first of the year.
Fancher emphasized that the schedule still calls for delivery by year-end, but Boeing is raising a “cautionary” note.
French union understands “Buy American” on tanker
Update, July 19: Airbus says CGT is fourth Union out of five for Airbus in France, representing about 10 percent of Airbus employees in France.
Update, July 16: We received this from CGT: the union severed ties in 1978.Christian and Jean-Jacques were amused and laughed about the Airbus response.
Original Post:
Only a few days after EADS and Boeing (and the long-shot bid from US Aerospace-Antonov) submitted their bids for the $35bn KC-X contract to supply tankers to the US Air Force, a French union at Airbus declined to endorse the EADS bid.
The Federation des Travailleurs de la Metallurgie, or CGT, holds the position that the French military should buy its equipment from French industry and to be consistent with this position, told us that it understands the “Buy American” approach of Boeing supporters.
Airbus and EADS dismissed the CGT’s view as that held by a minority union concerned about outsourcing and off-shore jobs.
Questioning the effect of the WTO
We’re not the only ones questioning the effect of the recent WTO ruling against Airbus and its illegal subsidies.
A respected business writer from The Seattle Times has weighed in with this opinion piece.
We’ve long been cynical of the WTO and the Airbus/Boeing complaints as little more than political talking points. We’ve noted before the ineffectual rulings that Canada and Brazil illegally subsidized the Bombardier CRJ and Embraer EMB-jets, and nobody imposed sanctions.
Boeing offers KC-767 to USAF
It’s now official: Boeing submitted a bid for the KC-X competition, offering the KC-767 NewGen tanker.
Boeing did not schedule a press conference, so the initial press release detailing its bid is below the jump, with our reporting following the PR.
777 decision may come before 737: JP Morgan
EADS submits tanker bid; Boeing to follow
Update, 2:30 PM:
- Here are three PDF slides of information from the press conference, comparing the KC-45 with the KC-767 NewGen: KC-45 slides 7-08-10.
- Boeing does not plan a press conference with its tanker submission tomorrow-just a press release and a note on its Tanker Blog. We will create a separate posting for this information tomorrow.
- Addison Schonland has an 11-minute podcast with Airbus Americas Chairman Allan McArtor.
Original Post:
EADS will submit its bid today for the KC-X tanker competition. Boeing’s bid will be filed tomorrow, when they are due.
(Detour:) This just moved from Bloomberg: The release of the WTO’s Interim Report on the EU complaint about “illegal” subsidies to Boeing has been pushed from July 16 to September.We cannot help but be skeptical about this. Every time this report was due, with timing happening to coincide with a key date in the KC-X tanker competition, the WTO mysteriously postponed its release date. Call us conspiratorial, but it seems that multiple “coincidences” are at work here. The announcement came from the US Trade Representative’s Office. Hmmm…..
Here is the Airbus statement concerning the delay:
747-8 vs A380 costs: airlines weigh in
In the ever-present back-and-forth between Boeing and Airbus about the costs of the 747-8 vs. A380, each company claims its airplane has lower costs.
Boeing claims the 747-8 has double-digit lower costs, to which Airbus indignantly says Boeing–not to put too fine a point on it–is lying. Airbus is unusally blunt on this topic.
Well, two airlines weighed in within days of each other.
Emirates Airlines says the A380 has 16% lower costs than the 747-8, as reported in this article from Business Week. Emirates has ordered the A380 and the 747-8F.
Go to commercial markets for A350
Update, July 8: This just moved from Bloomberg: The release of the WTO’s Interim Report on the EU complaint about “illegal” subsidies to Boeing has been pushed from July 16 to September.
We cannot help but be skeptical about this. Every time this report was due, with timing happening to coincide with a key date in the KC-X tanker competition, the WTO mysteriously postponed its release date. Call us conspiratorial, but it seems that multiple “coincidences” are at work here.
Original Post:
With the WTO ruling that launch aid for Airbus is legal providing terms and conditions are done on a commercial basis, we see no rationale for Airbus to continue with “reimbursable launch investment” (RLI) from its European government owners and partners.
But Louis Gallois, CEO of Airbus parent EADS, says they’ll tap RLI from the governments anyway.