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 25. June 6, 2025
- New RISE powerplant benefits from decades of GE research and development June 5, 2025
- Engine makers emphasizing durability, reliability June 4, 2025
- Boeing CEO: Lessons learned are key to certification of 737-7/10 and 777X June 2, 2025
- Digital twin is a key to JetZero’s hopes for Blended Wing Body entry June 2, 2025
The 717 and A220, Part 1: Introduction
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By Vincent Valery
Introduction
Dec. 3, 2020, © Leeham News: Delta Air Lines, the largest Boeing 717 operator, announced it would retire the type by the end of 2025. Airbus A220s will mostly replace the aging aircraft at the Atlanta-based carrier.
Credit: Delta Air Lines
In this mini-series, we give some background on the main characteristics of the 717 and the gains Delta achieves with a change to the A220.
Summary
- Last of the Mad Dogs;
- Competition, OEM Strategy, and timing cut life short;
- Current operators use 717 strengths;
- The A220, a clean-sheet replacement with more range;
- A route in the Aussie outback.
Exclusive: Embraer turns attention to cargo market, reports Airfinance Journal
By Olivier Bonnassies
Dec. 1, 2020, (c) Airfinance Journal: Embraer is studying the cargo market with a view to launching a freighter conversion programme, sources tell Airfinance Journal.
The Brazilian manufacturer aims to develop a secondary market for converted models in parallel to E2 jet sales and is set to make a decision on a potential Embraer E-Jet freighter conversion in December.
Embraer is weighing P2F conversions for the E195 and E190 E1 jets. The E175 doesn’t have room for a cargo door forward of the engines. Embraer photo.
Embraer was unavailable for comment.
The larger E195 model was involved in Azul Linhas Aereas cargo transportation flights earlier this summer after Brazil’s civil aviation authority granted an exemption for the carriage of additional freight on Embraer passenger aircraft.
“The E190 conversion project is independent from Azul cargo flights,” says one source with knowledge of the manufacturer’s plans. “The idea behind the conversion programme is to get a long-term OEM solution for those fleets,” the source adds.
The Embraer E-Jet freighter conversion will focus on the E190 and E195 models as they fill a gap between the Boeing 737-300 and ATR72 models.
The E190 model is the second-most successful aircraft in Embraer’s product line after the E175. As of 30 September, Embraer had delivered 565 E190s and had a backlog of three units.
Embraer is not studying potential conversion for the smaller members of its fleet because they would lack clearance between the main deck cargo door and the engine, Airfinance Journal understands.
Potential feedstock of E170/175 aircraft is another consideration, although the Brazilian manufacturer continues to sell the E175 model and had a backlog of 153 aircraft and 261 options at the end of the third quarter.
Restoring operations of the 737 MAX
By Bjorn Fehrm
December 1, 2020, ©. Leeham News: Boeing and its customer airlines have 837 MAX airliners that shall get back in the air. After the FAA and ANAC, Brazil’s regulator, have stated the conditions, the work can begin. EASA and Transport Canada will follow with eventual modifications on what needs to be done.
There can be no slip-ups when the 737 MAX flies again. Boeing and the airlines know this; hence there is no room for hurried work or compromises. It will take two years to get the job done, according to Boeing.
Boeing 737 MAX planes stored at Boeing Field. Source: Wikipedia/SounderBruce
HOTR: Boeing hopes for break in China order drought after electors vote for Biden:
By the Leeham News Team
Nov. 30, 2020, © Leeham News: Boeing hopes the three-year order drought from China may come to an end next month.
The order, according to market intelligence, would be a boost for the slow-selling 777X. It could also mean new orders for the 787. Orders for the latter dropped significantly enough to prompt Boeing’s decision to shutter the Everett 787 production line next year. Production for the 787 will be consolidated in Charleston (SC).
Dec. 14 is when US presidential electors meet to cast their votes for Joe Biden or President Donald Trump, making official the projected winner. Biden won 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232 in projections by all the major media. With almost all votes counted—and in some cases, recounted—Biden has 51.1% of the vote to Trump’s 47.2%. Biden received 80.1m votes to Trump’s 73.9m. The margin was nearly 6.2m.
China hasn’t ordered a Boeing airplane since 2017. Trump launched a trade war with China that escalated several times. He charged, without evidence, that China interfered with the US presidential election.
Boeing hopes for a major order from China as early as December. Included would be a sorely needed order for the 777X. (Shown: Boeing 777-300ER.) Photo source: Boeing.
Pontifications: The risk of closing China to aerospace suppliers
By Scott Hamilton
Nov. 30, 2020, © Leeham News: The Trump Administration this month indicated it might expand its ban on doing business with certain Chinese companies.
The Administration says the additional companies have ties to the military. Included in the listing is COMAC.
Reuters reported the move Nov. 13.
If the Administration follows through during its remaining lame-duck time in power, and if the new Biden Administration doesn’t reverse or modify the plan, the long-term effect could hurt the US aerospace supply chain.
2024 will be key year for Boeing in Washington
This is the second in a series of articles examining how labor, Boeing and Washington state could move forward following the COVID pandemic. The first article is here.
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By Bryan Corliss
Analysis
Introduction
Nov. 30, 2020, © Leeham News — You might want to set yourself an Outlook calendar reminder for January 2024.
It’s going to be a pivotal year for Boeing, its home state and its workforce. By then, the company’s recovery from the current Covid-caused crisis should be underway, with the order book refilling.
The countdown should be on for the long-delayed roll-out of the reconceived NMA, at long last giving Boeing a real counter to the Airbus A321. And — barring a surge in 737 MAX orders after its return to service — Boeing could be close to making some tough decisions about the future of the 737 program, thinking hard about whether after 60 years it’s finally time to design and build a clean-sheet replacement.
Also by then, the 787 program will have fully consolidated into Charleston, and the last 747 will have departed the Paine Field flight line, leaving The World’s Largest Building (By Volume) half-empty.
Then, in January 2024, Boeing’s contract with its touch-labor union – IAM District 751 – will expire, after a 10-year extension that was part of the price Machinists paid to ensure the 777X would be assembled in Everett. For the first time since the summer of 2008, the two sides will sit down at a bargaining table with the union having the ability to call for a strike.
What happens between now and January 2024 will pretty much decide the future of Boeing in Washington state. If the players are clear-eyed and rational, we could see a return to the days when high-skilled workers built high-quality planes that created handsome profits for Boeing shareholders and family-wage jobs for Boeing workers.
Bjorn’s Corner: 737 MAX ungrounding, ANAC’s and EASA’s decisions
By Bjorn Fehrm
November 27, 2020, ©. Leeham News: After the lifting on the grounding order by the FAA, ANAC (Brazils regulator) followed in the week, and EASA issued its plans for public comment.
What are the differences in the ungrounding conditions, and what are the reasons for any differences?
Figure 1. Circuit Breaker placement for the 737 NG and MAX. Source: Leeham Co. and Flightdeck737.be
Enhancing the Dreamliner, Part 8: Wrap Up
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By Bjorn Ferhm and Vincent Valery
Introduction
Nov. 26, 2020, © Leeham News: After analyzing the three members of the Dreamliner family on several routes out of San Francisco to Asian destinations, we conclude the series with a wrap- up of what we learned.
Summary
- A guinea pig for new technologies and processes;
- After a long slough against problems, a resounding commercial success;
- Size-wise, ideally-positioned for the post-COVID world;
- Future enhancements.
Boeing 737 MAX changes beyond MCAS
By Bjorn Fehrm
November 24, 2020, ©. Leeham News: Last week, we went through the core MCAS changes the FAA demanded from Boeing to lift the grounding of the 737 MAX 8 and 9. As the investigation into the MAX crashes deepened, changes were added beyond the core MCAS related changes.
A single sensor failure, like the Angle of Attack failures for Lion Air JT610 and Ethiopian Airlines ET302, triggered a multitude of failure warnings. These warnings absorbed the crew’s concentration, invalidating FAA certification assumptions on crew reaction times for critical trim failures. As a result, the FAA required additional crew alert and procedure changes for the MAX.
Updating Airbus and Boeing Orders At Risk
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By Vincent Valery
Introduction
Nov. 23, 2020, © Leeham News: It’s time to update the analysis on Airbus and Boeing orders at risk for delivery under the “weak customer” doctrine.
Under a US accounting rule known as ASC 606, Boeing must identify the number of orders that are unlikely to be delivered because the customer’s financial condition is weak. Airbus does not do this because there is no ASC 606 rule in Europe.
LNA wrote a few months ago an article that attempted to apply ASC 606 adjustments to Airbus’ order book.
Boeing publishes an estimation by the program of orders subjects to material cancellation risks, or ASC 606. The tally increased from 183 to 782 for the 737 between the end of 2019 and October 2020.
While Boeing has disclosed 1,020 net orders year-to-date canceled or subject to ASC 606 (393 canceled without accounting for ASC 606 adjustments), Airbus lists 308 net new orders. Airbus’ tally does not reflect a European equivalent to ASC 606 adjustments. The European OEM only publishes an overall outstanding value of its order book that accounts for customer risks in its annual report.
Despite last week’s news about progress on developing a COVID-19 vaccine, LNA’s Judson Rollins wrote that the timeline of a return to normalcy remains elusive. The lingering pandemic means that more airlines will run into financial difficulties, resulting in more orders that will be deemed risky.
LNA provides an updated tally of the orders at risk for both Airbus and Boeing, with minor changes to the methodology.
Summary
- Identifying customers at risk;
- Explaining differences with Boeing’s ASC 606;
- Applying adjustments to Airbus’ order book;
- Estimation of adjusted market shares;
- A digression to tariff exposures.