Odds and Ends: New upgrades for the B-52; MRJ delay confirmed; EIS estimates for new airplane programs

Upgrades for the B-52: The USAF and Boeing are upgrading the Boeing B-52 bomber to further extend the service life. The LA Times via the Seattle Times has this story. This is remarkable; the B-52 was designed in 1948 to be the USA’s aerial backbone against the Soviet Union in the Cold War. It bombed Iraq in the 1991 Gulf War and continues to out-perform the B-1B bomber, which was supposed to replace the old gal, nicknamed by some as BUFF.

More on MRJ Delay: Mitsubishi made it official: the MRJ 90 passenger regional jet will be delayed another year. There are several stories via Google News; this Reuters piece is typical. Aviation Week has a good timeline recap.

Here’s how pending new airplane programs now appear to line up for Entry into Service:

Original Current
CS100        Dec-13        e4Q2014*
MRJ       4Q2013           2Q2017
ARJ21           2006  Good Question
C919           2016           2018–>
A320neo Oct-15 Oct-15
737-8 Jul-17 Jul-17
777X e12-2019**
EJet E2           2018               2018
* One analyst suggests early 2015
** Market Intelligence estimate.

We don’t have enough visibility on the Irkut MS-21 for inclusion in the Table.

Here’s a real oddity: A man in underwear broke into the German Chancellor’s airplane.

American-US Airways: Airchive has this long analysis (and it’s only Part 1 of 2), taking a look at the DOJ complaint. It’s 15 pages even after copy-and-paste into Word and re-sized to 10 point type.

Odds and Ends: Lorenzo weighs in support AA-US merger; lawsuit could delay AA RJ replacement; 93% airport concentration

Lorenzo supports AA-US merger: In a radio interview with Bloomberg news, Frank Lorenzo supports mergers in the US airline industry and the proposed one between American Airlines and US Airways. Lorenzo is the former CEO of Texas Air Corp, and Continental Airlines. Lorenzo said labor, shareholders and stakeholders would lose if the Department of Justice prevails in its effort to block the merger.

DOJ lawsuit might impact Bombardier: An analyst for a Canadian investment bank thinks the DOJ lawsuit could delay an order by American to replace some of its regional jet fleet. The Scotia Capital analyst covers Bombardier, so his focus is on the impact to this company but Embraer is competing for the business, too.

93% Airport Concentration: While DOJ whines about the prospect of the New American Airlines controlling 69% of the slots at Washington Reagan National Airport, the Dallas Morning News cites a report that 93% of the airport traffic at three airports is controlled by the combined Southwest Airlines-AirTran company.

Our own Milestone: Today we surpassed one million views in a single year, running about 55% YTD ahead of last year.

China short on re-engine orders, but nearly 400 C919 “commitments”

The Chinese government and airlines have very few orders for the re-engined Airbus A320neo family and Boeing 737 MAX. There are no identified Boeing 737 MAX orders in China and just 19 A320neos.

There are 197 Unidentified MAX orders, some of them rather large. China in the past has placed large Unidentified orders with Boeing that remained so categorized for years, but there is no way to tell if this is the case right now.

Nor has China placed any orders for the Bombardier CSeries despite growing commercial ventures between Bombardier and the C919 developer, COMAC.

Read more

CSeries first flight: late August or September (analysis)

We believe the first flight of the Bombardier CSeries is planned for late August or early September, based on the coming flight “in weeks” statements from BBD. We note this is “weeks” rather than “days,” and it is not as ambiguous as “the third [or fourth] quarter.”

BBD said it can’t “pinpoint” a date for first flight, in response to a reporter’s question about the first flight at the end of August or in September.

  • BBD’s second quarter slide presentation is here.

CEO Pierre Beaudoin said on the earnings call that the integration of the APU and engines is running smoothly and software upgrades are being upgraded but is taking longer than anticipated. He said first flight is to be in “coming weeks.”

During the Q&A, BBD said “nothing has changed as far as entry into service” despite previous statements that the flight test program would take 12 months, and this timeframe was reiterated. So this certainly suggests EIS slips from mid-2014 to late third quarter at the earliest. (Some analysts yesterday slipped the EIS to early 2015 and we tend to agree.)

BBD would not comment on the possible impact the delays will have on compensation coming.

The company also said that the “earned value” of tests were not quite as anticipated, citing an example of wiring being stalled upside down that requires up to two days to fix rather than a half-day for the anticipated testing.

“The test for the first Flight Test Vehicle is much more intense than for the next FTVs, so it takes a lot more time,” BBD said. “This is the first time…we’re learning.”

The flight test program will have five CS100s and two CS300s and additional tests with the first couple of production airplanes.

“We’ll adjust as we need to adjust [the flight test schedule of 12 months” depending on what emerges.

Embraer’s E2 program begins in the regional arena and comes up into the CSeries arena, and EIS is from 2018 and it is a derivative, Bombardier noted.

“We have two very good products in a unique market. The airlines say they have a need for a smaller airplane with seat costs for the larger airplanes, and the A319 and 737 [700/7] do not do,” the company said.

Bombardier CSeries first flight target: still in “coming weeks”

Bombardier announced its second quarter financial results today and repeated in its press release the first flight of its CSeries will be in “the coming weeks.”

News articles are here and here.

An earnings call is at 10 am EDT today.

A Bombardier official yesterday said the entry-into-service, slated for mid-2014, will be “reassessed” after first flight. BBD in the past had pretty much planned one year for EIS after first flight. We’re going to predict this will slip to early 2015 now.

  • Separately, Bloomberg News has a story about how Bombardier is facing pricing pressure from Embraer. This puts BBD in a squeeze between EMB at the bottom and Airbus above; we’ve written several posts about the Airbus pricing in A319/A320 competition against CSeries.

Paris Air Show wrap; and other Odds and Ends

It’s over and here are the Airbus and Boeing press releases, followed by some Odds and Ends:

Airbus books almost US$70 billion at Paris Air Show 2013

·        466 Airbus aircraft orders & commitments across all product families;

·        A320neo Family retains 60 percent market share;

·        A350 XWB, A330 and A380 all continue to outsell the competition.

At the 2013 Paris Air Show, Airbus won US$68.7 billion worth of business for a total of 466 aircraft, which shows the resilience of the commercial aviation industry. The deals comprise Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) for 225 aircraft worth US$29.4 billion and firm purchase orders for 241 aircraft worth US$39.3 billion.

The A320 Family, spearheaded by the A320neo, continues its trailblazing success in the single-aisle market with 371 orders and commitments from six customers announced at the show, worth approximately $37.8 billion. Of these, 88 were for the A320ceo – showing that today’s in-production aircraft is still the most sought-after industry workhorse. A stand-out commitment during the show for the A320 Family was the announcement from easyJet for 100 A320neos plus 35 A320ceos – the winning result of a very intense competition. Another major endorsement for the A320 Family came from Lufthansa with the firming-up of 100 more aircraft. Additional A320 Family orders and commitments came from: Hong Kong Aviation Capital for 60; ILFC for 50; Spirit for 20; and Tunisia’s Syphax Airlines for three – significantly the first A320neo commitment from Africa.

Another star at Paris was the A350 XWB which flew for the first time on Friday 14th June 2013 and successfully completed its second flight on Wednesday 19th June. At the show this aircraft gained 69 more orders & commitments worth $21.4 billion from four customers on different continents. Air France-KLM placed a firm order for 25 A350-900s. Meanwhile, Singapore Airlines, already a large customer for the type, returned to order 30 more A350-900s; United Airlines also placed an additional A350 order for 10 A350-1000s — not only bringing its total A350 orders to 35, but also upgrading its previous order for 25 A350-900s to the larger A350-1000 model to replace its Boeing 777s. In addition, Sri Lankan signed a commitment for four A350-900s to complement an order for six A330-300s at the show.

At the top end of the product range, the flagship A380 received a commitment for 20 aircraft from the world’s third largest wide-body lessor, Doric Lease Corp, in a deal worth more than $8 billion. The contract with Doric is significant as it opens up a new, additional route to market for the A380, which is now available to airlines who wish to acquire the aircraft under the flexibility of an operating lease agreement.

John Leahy, Airbus’s Chief Operating Officer, Customers said: “The dramatic rainfall and thunder storms at Le Bourget this year didn’t dampen our order intake.” He added: “Our A350 XWB has been out-selling the 787 by better than 2- to-1 over the last five years. In addition our A320neo Family retains a 60 percent market share lead. That’s a ‘corner’ I want to stay boxed into.”

Boeing Launches New Commercial Airplane; Highlights Innovation, Efficiency and Partnerships at 2013 Paris Air Show

 

LE BOURGET, France, June 20, 2013 –Boeing (NYSE:BA) enjoyed a strong and productive Paris Air Show launching its newest model, the 787-10 Dreamliner, announcing important commercial airplane orders and strengthening alliances and relationships with customers and partners around the world.

“The 50th Paris Air Show has been important for Boeing with a number of historic milestones,” said Charlie Miller, Vice President of International Communications. “Our airline customers have strongly endorsed Boeing’s innovative family of commercial airplanes with outstanding orders and the launch of our latest 787 Dreamliner model.” 

“The excitement and enthusiasm among customers, partners and suppliers for the products and technologies Boeing showcased across the commercial and defense businesses validated our commitment to innovation and customer focus,” said Miller.  

            Boeing highlighted its family of efficient commercial airplanes in both the single and twin-aisle market segments. The 787-10 Dreamliner was launched with 102 orders and commitments from five customers, including Air Lease Corporation (30), GE Capital Aviation Services (10), International Airlines Group / British Airways (12), Singapore Airlines (30) and United Airlines (20).

The new 787-10 covers more than 90 percent of the world’s twin-aisle routes with seating for 300-330 passengers. Design of the 787-10 has already started at Boeing and international partners will be involved in detailed design in the months ahead, with first delivery targeted for 2018.

The innovative 787-8 Dreamliner in Air India livery flew for the first time at the Paris Air Show, and the Qatar Airways 787 on static display attracted hundreds of customers, partners, government officials and news media. The ScanEagle unmanned aircraft system, produced by Boeing subsidiary Insitu, was part of the U.S. Corral display throughout the show.

Over the past week, customers have demonstrated their strong confidence in the full family of Boeing commercial products – the Next-Generation 737, 737 MAX, 787, 777 and 747-8, announcing orders and commitments for 442 Boeing airplanes, valued at more than $66 billion. Additional orders for 20 Next-Generation 737s and 20 737 MAX airplanes from unidentified customer(s) were posted on the Orders & Deliveries website today. The number of Boeing net orders for 2013 currently stands at 692.

Boeing announced during the show key partnerships with Embraer on the sales and marketing of Embraer’s KC-390 medium-size transport, and with Sikorsky on a joint venture to compete for sustainment services in support of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’ s rotorcraft fleet.  The U.S. Marine Corps V-22 Program Manager reported that operational success of the Bell-Boeing tilt-rotor played a key role in the recent award of a $6.5 billion multi-year contract for 99 aircraft. Boeing also announced that work has begun at Le Bourget on a $354 million Mid-Life Upgrade contract with Air France Industries to upgrade four French E-3F Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft.

 

Customer announcements this week

(Note that Boeing is including a May 31 announcement from TUI in this tally–Editor)

Customer

Quantity and Model

Approx. List Price Value

Status

TUI Travel PLC *

(60) 737 MAX

$6.1 billion

Commitment

Skymark Airlines

(4) 737 MAX

$400 million

Commitment

GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS)

(10) 787-10

$2.9 billion

Commitment

Qatar Airways

(2) 777-300ER

(7) 777-300ER

$2.8 billion

Firm order (2)

Commitment (7)

Air Lease Corporation

(30) 787-10

(3) 787-9

$9.4 billion

Commitment

IAG / British Airways

(12) 787-10

$3.5 billion

Commitment

Singapore Airlines

(30) 787-10

$8.7 billion

Firm order

United Airlines

(20) 787-10

$5.8 billion

Firm order

Korean Air

(5) 747-8 Intercontinental

(6) 777-300ER

$3.6 billion

Commitment

CIT Aerospace

(30) 737 MAX 8

$3.0 billion

Firm order

Ryanair

(175) 737-800

$15.6 billion

Firm order

Oman Air

(5) 737-900ER

$473 million

Firm order

Travel Service

(3) 737 MAX 8

$301 million

Commitment

Unidentified Customer(s)

(20) 737

(20) 737 MAX

$3.8 billion

Firm order

 * First announced by customer on May 31

Odds and Ends

Embarer has good show: Embraer launched its E-Jet E2 with 375 orders and commitments, most for the E-175-E2 75 seat model.

Aerodynamics of the goose in flight: The video is a hoot (or should we say honk); you will enjoy this a lot.

By your finger tips: If you thought the video was a hoot, get a “load” of this story.

787-9F: Boeing plans to make a freighter, some day, of the 787-9.

Washington State boosts efforts for global supply chain

 Washington State is ratcheting up its efforts to expand its supply chain work beyond Boeing, state and federal officials said in their final Paris Air Show conference call.

 “Don’t underestimate the European companies that want to do business in the US because they want to do business in US dollars,” said US Rep. Rick Larsen, who led the State’s air show delegation, filling in for Gov. Jay Inslee who stayed home to deal with budget issues. “They want to get into Boeing.” Larsen said an experienced workforce is the #1 issue. Companies want “to start today rather than wait for other states. This is one of the distinguishing factors for Washington.”

“We want to go after supply chain for the entire industry,” Inslee said, noting that European suppliers want to come to the US for dollar-based work.

“One of the things that is becoming more and  more apparent to us is we have great opportunities in the entire supply chain,” Inslee said. “Thirty-five percent of jobs [in Washington] are in supply chain. We can be very competitive because of their desire to deal in dollars. We need to make sure we build on that opportunity and this is one reason we want to have the budget to build on training.

“We have to think expansively to think of these opportunities.”

Inslee said that 75% of suppliers here do business with Boeing, 40% work with Airbus, 39% with Bombardier and 25% with Embraer.

“The supply chain has flown under the radar,” Inslee said. “We really haven’t given it enough attention on our economic strategy. This is a supply chain that can service all the manufacturers. We don’t live in a single company world any more. We have to serve all of it.”

Inslee said he’s still working on retaining the Governor’s Office of Aerospace in the yet-to-be written budget. The Democratic version retained and increased funding for the office. The Republican version eliminated funding. There was an impasse in the regular session of the Legislature to agree to a state budget and the special session so far has not seen an agreement. If a budget isn’t approved by July 1, the state government starts shutting down.

Inslee proposed budgets for more workforce training and for transportation improvements to make it easier for goods to ship to Boeing and the supply chain. These, too, are stalled in the budget impasse.

Paris Air Show, Day 3: A320, 737 production rates of 50+ seen

Highlights from the show, as we see it:

  • Boeing said the entry-in-service for the 737 MAX will be accelerated from the fourth quarter 2017 to the third quarter. Southwest Airlines of the USA is the first operator. Bloomberg reported this is a six month acceleration, but we believe this is no more than three months at the outside. We had EIS for October 2017. Ascend data base shows the first delivery now for September 2017 and a total of four in 2017, the latter unchanged from when we wrote a story for Flight Global about the order from Southwest.
  • Update on the above item: Boeing has clarified that citing “six” months was a mis-speak; the EIS moves from Q4 to Q3 [along the lines we’ve written–editor].
  • The long-awaited order for Airbus A350s from Air France finally happened.
  • Ryanair firmed up its order for 175 737-800s.
  • Airbus says it’s alerted suppliers about the prospect of boosting A320 production to 50/mo by 2020. Boeing didn’t reveal at the air show (as far as we can tell from news reports) but our Market Intelligence tells us that Boeing has alerted suppliers about the prospect of boosting 737 production to 52/mo by 2019.
  • For all the hoopla of the Embraer E-Jet E2 launch, most of the orders and commitments were for the smallest E-175 E2.

Paris Air Show Day 1

UBS has this easy-to-read Table of the orders and commitments announced on Day 1 of the Paris Air Show:

UBS Paris 2013 Day 1

The big news, of course, is the launch of the Embraer E-175/190/195 “E2” (second generation). The press release is here.

Embraer Rendering

Airbus scored an unexpected order for the A380: 20 from specialty lessor Doric Leasing, which has financed a number of A380s. We think this is an odd deal, and it must be one that already has some A380 customers lined up.

Tomorrow is expected to be the day Boeing launches the 787-10, so it should be Boeing’s day. We also believe tomorrow will be the day Airbus does a fly by of the A350 XWB. A little tit-for-tat, perhaps.