Leeham News and Analysis
There's more to real news than a news release.
Leeham News and Analysis
- Pontifications: A Personal Note June 19, 2025
- Airbus books 148 firm orders as Boeing retracts from the Paris Air Show June 19, 2025
- AIN Media Group Agrees to Acquire Leeham News & Analysis June 17, 2025
- Five for Five: Air India crash points to systemic problems at Boeing that CEO Ortberg must fix June 15, 2025
- Airbus sees Boeing as medium-term competitor, with Comac next June 14, 2025
Boeing cash flows generously, KC-46A snarfs up some of it
By Dan Catchpole
July 25, 2018, © Leeham News: The cash keeps flowing at Boeing. The aerospace giant posted free cash flow of $4.3bn for the second quarter of the year, despite recording $426m in costs related to its delay-ridden KC-46 tanker program.
Despite posting strong earnings, the charge rattled investors, who drove Boeing’s share price down in early trading Wednesday.
Boeing continues to work on closing the business case for its New Midsize Airplane (NMA), a business case unlike any the company has done before, Boeing chief executive Dennis Muilenburg said in a conference call with reporters and investment analysts.
Esterline’s Mason Products broadens its civilian use of unmanned systems controls
July 25, 2018, © Leeham News, Farnborough: A unit of Esterline Corp. that supplies parts for all commercial airliners, including the cockpit for the Embraer E-Jet E2 is creating an advanced control system for Unmanned Systems to keep the US armed service members out of harm’s way.
It’s appropriately called Harm’s Way Controllers, or HaWC®.
Esterline’s Mason Products company of Sylmar (CA) is also gearing up to sell this system to the civilian world, beginning with law enforcement, fire departments and other public agencies, says David Tessier, president. The HaWC is used on UAVs, robots that scout dangerous situations, helicopters (providing live situational awareness) and other applications.
Eventually, Tessier expects that HaWC will migrate to uses in environmental surveys, agriculture and inspections for such industries as oil and gas.
Leahy, Kirby headline “Plane Truths” conference in Chicago Sept. 11-12
July 24, 2018, © Leeham News: John Leahy, who retired in January after 33 years at Airbus, and Scott Kirby, president of United Airlines, headline the Leeham Co. and Airfinance Journal conference, Plane Truths: The Next 12 Months, Sept. 11-12 in Chicago.
This will be Leahy’s first conference appearance since he retired from Airbus, where he was COO-Customers.
Plane Truths: The Next 12 Months focuses only on the key issues coming up in the next year. Click here for more information.
Officials of American Airlines, Cargolux, HiFly, Rolls-Royce, Skyworks Capital, Collateral Verifications, Embraer and Bombardier are among those who will participate.
More than 1,000 orders, commitments from Farnborough
July 23, 2018: More than 1,000 new orders and commitments were announced at the Farnborough Air Show last week, a final tally shows.
The value was more than $128bn.
Credit Suisse issued its post-air show note today with a complete listing.
Orders announced previously but were listed as Unidentified until the air show were not included.
First mover or not, that is the question: A321XLR vs NMA
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Introduction
July 23, 2018, © Leeham News: First mover or not first mover, that is the question.
In a pre-Farnborough Air Show interview with another publication, Airbus Group CEO Tom Enders said Airbus had the advantage of being the “first mover” by acquiring majority control of the Bombardier C Series program.
But when it comes to responding to the prospective Boeing New Midmarket Airplane (NMA, or 797), Airbus officials say they are content to wait and watch, willing to let Boeing make the first move.
At the same time, Airbus is proceeding with studies to further extend the range of the A321neo, in the form of the A321XLR. The airplane would have a range of 4,500nm, up from 4,100nm, according to information widely leaked at the air show.
Summary
- Airbus looks to squeeze Boeing from the bottom of the NMA market with A321neo improvements.
- Boeing sales chief dismisses A321XLR as a sub-set of a sub-set.
- But others see the basic A321 design as more flexible than the 737 MAX.
- Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury
Related stories
Pontifications: Digital transformation picks up steam
By Scott Hamilton
July 23, 2018, © Leeham News, Farnborough: Digital technology, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Digital Thread and Digital Factory technologies continue to gain momentum for aerospace production as companies throughout the supply chain strive to cut costs.
The consulting firm Accenture, in advance of the international air shows in Paris or Farnborough, identifies that it sees as the key stories that will come out of the show.
Accenture was on target for Farnborough.
Indeed, the show was low energy, with fewer orders than many past shows. The largest orders came from that ubiquitous company, Unidentified (though more than 200 airplanes are believed to be destined for China).
Some companies sent smaller delegations or didn’t come at all.
The headline out of United Technologies was about digital. It was just one example of the digital stories at Farnborough this year.
Bjorn’s Corner: Largest navigation change since radar, Part 6
July 20, 2018, ©. Leeham News: Last week we discussed how a TCAS (Traffic Collision Avoidance System) works and how ADS-B will improve the system.
Now we discuss other areas of aircraft navigation and separation which are enabled when all players have ADS-B and transmit their 3D position and where they are going.
Figure 1. Air traffic is getting denser and denser. Source: flightradar24.
Farnborough: Day 4 orders
July 19, 2018, (c) Airfinance Journal: Announcements at today’s show followed the same pattern as earlier in the week a fair amount of undisclosed orders. The first three days of the air show saw 292 aircraft orders undisclosed.
Of today’s total, undisclosed orders represented 125 Airbus and Boeing aircraft, while AirAsia X, Hawaiian Airlines, Vietjet and lessor Novus Aviation Capital announced commitments for 108 aircraft.
Farnborough: A320 engine suppliers roughly on recovery plan
July 19, 2018, © Leeham News, Farnborough: The engine suppliers for the Airbus A320 family are roughly keeping to their recovery plan designed to catch up late deliveries and fix technical problems, a top official said this week.
Guillaume Faury, is the new president and CEO of the Airbus Commercial unit in Airbus Group.
“We look at short-term, medium- and long-term. Short-term, we had an H1 (first half) that was OK for all programs, but the single-aisle was a difficulty with all the engines. We will have a very strong H2 and this is obviously very high on my agenda.
US seeks arbitration for Boeing “harm” in WTO subsidies case
July 19, 2018, © Leeham News, Farnborough: Without fanfare and with no announcement from Boeing or the US Trade
Representative, an official request has been filed with the World Trade Organization to commence arbitration in the 14-year trade dispute between the US and Europe over subsidies to Airbus.
In a short filing Friday, as the international press and international aviation community moved to Farnborough for the 2018 international air show, the US filed its request to begin arbitration.