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Nov. 19, 2018, © Leeham News: The move toward increasing automation makes US more competitive than moving work to other countries, an expert in industrial efficiencies said last week at a meeting sponsored by the Pacific Northwest Aerospace Alliance.
The same is true when it comes to states competing against other states, he said—something that is especially relevant as Washington State girds for expected competition from Southern states, and especially South Carolina, for the prospective Boeing New Midmarket Airplane.
By Bjorn Fehrm
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November 14, 2018, © Leeham News.: Last week we operated the future Boeing NMA from North American hubs. The aircraft would cover the North American market well but would have limitations when flying to South America. The coverage would be sensitive to where our hub would be, as would European coverage.
Now we finish the series by comparing the NMA to its main alternatives for range and operational economics.
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Nov. 12, 2018, © Leeham News: With the first flight of the Airbus A330-800, it’s time to take a new look at the status of the A330 program.
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By Bjorn Fehrm
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November 8, 2018, © Leeham News.: Last week we flew a Boeing NMA from the Middle East. We found the aircraft would be well suited to serve this market.
Now we finish the coverage part of the series with checking how useful the NMA would be for North American based carriers.
Update, Nov. 6: Boeing said the Wedgetail will be assembled in Renton, as it has in the past. Discussions are underway with the UK to perform final modifications there (similar to how KC-46A tankers move from final assembly to the Everett Modification Center for installation of military equipment). However, no agreement has been reached yet.
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Nov. 5, 2018, © Leeham News: A UK defense publication reported late today (US time) that Boeing agreed to final assembly of the 737-based Wedgetail radar and surveillance airplane in the UK.
This marks the first time a 7-Series commercial-based airplane will be assembled outside the US.
The 737 finishing center in China, which opens this year, installs interiors and paints the airplane of finished 737s.
If the report is confirmed by Boeing, this marks a huge strategic and psychological step in how Boeing Commercial Airplanes approaches final assembly in the future.
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Nov. 5, 2018, © Leeham News: With a backlog of more than 4,700 737 MAXes and pressure to increase the production rate beyond 57/mo, an analysis of the backlog shows why Boeing has plenty of room left to sell more 737s and push rates to 63 or even 70/mo.
Current 737 operators have only placed MAX orders to replace 56.5% of the airplanes in service. This compares with 77% of the A320 family ratio.
The resulting 3,430 airplanes Boeing potentially can sell, when divided equally between 2020 through 2029, comes to 381 airplanes per year. Even at increased production rates to 63/mo in 2020 and 70/mo in 2021, Boeing would not be able to fulfill these orders.
There wouldn’t be surplus production slots until 2024 at this evenly distributed assumption. Realistically, deliveries have to concentrate between 2023 and 2029.
By Bjorn Fehrm
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November 1, 2018, © Leeham News.: Last week we looked at how a Boeing NMA would function as a medium range airliner in the Asia-Pacific.
We now continue with flying the two aircraft variants from Middle East locations, exploring how large an area in Asia, Europe and Africa the aircraft would cover.
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Oct. 29, 2018, © Leeham Co.: Airbus faces a key disadvantage when it comes to winning current wide-body campaigns against Boeing.
The disadvantage is entirely out of its control.
It’s not about whether the A330neo or A350 vs the 787 economics are out of kilter. They’re not.
It’s about the engines, LNC is told by multiple market sources. Specifically Rolls-Royce engines, which exclusively power the Airbus wide-bodies.
By Bjorn Fehrm
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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.
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By Bjorn Fehrm
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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.
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