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 20. May 2, 2025
- Supplier Howmet exceeds expectations despite tariffs May 1, 2025
- Airbus 1Q2025 results: So far, so good, but US tariffs make future results unpredictable May 1, 2025
- Does an Airbus A220-500 need a new wing and engines? May 1, 2025
- Teamsters, Boeing have a new contract April 29, 2025
Why is Airbus A330-800 not selling?
By Bjorn Fehrm
Introduction
November 02, 2017, © Leeham Co.: Airbus A330neo flew its first test mission two weeks ago. The test aircraft was the bigger A330-900, the neo version of the A330-300. For the present A330, the sales and delivery of A330-300 (the 290-seater) and the A330-200 (the 246-seater) is almost even, 720 versus 650 (including 70 MRTT and Freighters for the -200). But sales of the -300 in recent years far outpaced the -200, for which sales virtually dried up.
For the A330neo version, the A330-800 is not selling at all. Six aircraft are on order for Hawaiian Airlines while 211 are ordered for the A330-900. Why?
A330-900 during its first flight. Source: Airbus.
We decided to use our performance model to understand why the smaller, longer range A330neo has fallen from grace.
Summary:
- The A330-800 flies longer and with lower fuel burn than the A330-900.
- But the differences are not large. And fuel costs are no longer a dominating cost in the overall cost picture.
- For other costs, the types are too similar. The A330-800 doesn’t have any scale advantages over the A330-900; only range, and the A330-900 is flying longer and longer.
New pictures of the changed Sharklets for A350
By Bjorn Fehrm
November 01, 2017, © Leeham Co: We exclusively revealed last week that Airbus is working on new winglets for the A350 series. The new Sharklets were caught during flight-testing on Airbus A350 test aircraft, MSN001.
Jujug Spotting in Toulouse has provided us with new, better photos of the tests. With these, one can better estimate the changes and their effect.
Figure 1. A350-900 test aircraft MSN001 flying with larger Sharklets. Source: Jujug Spotting.
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Airbus group 3Q results: Revenue stable but orders plunge
By Bjorn Fehrm
October 31, 2017, ©. Leeham Co: Airbus Group presented its third quarter results this morning. Revenue was stable at €43bn, but orders were down 31% compared with the first nine months of 2016.
Operating profit was down 25%, mainly because of less A320neo deliveries, as engines are scarce.
A330neo during first flight 19 October 2017. Source: Airbus
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Suppliers conference in Mobile focuses on US aerospace sector in Southeast
Click on image for an enlarged, crisp view.
Oct. 31, 2017: A new event, the Southeast Aerospace and Defence Conference (SADC) scheduled for June 25-27 in Mobile (AL), will examine the commercial, defense, space and corporate aerospace sectors in the US Southeast.
The conference is organized by Airfinance Journal and Leeham Co., the first joint venture between the two companies.
The US Southeast is a growing aerospace center. Defense and space clusters have decades-long histories in the Southeast. Corporate and commercial clusters are more recent developments, albeit in some cases now well within a second decade.
Airbus’ A320 family Final Assembly Line in Mobile opened in September 2015. The FAL is producing 3.5 A320s per month and will reach its initial target of 4/mo by year end, slightly ahead of schedule. There is land capacity to expand to 8/mo.
Earlier this month, Airbus and Bombardier announced that their new venture will establish an FAL in Mobile.
Aviation journalist Ben Sandilands passes
Ben Sandilands
Oct. 31, 2017: Ben Sandilands, the cranky, crusty curmudgeonly writer of Australia’s Plane Talking (Crikey), died Friday after a long illness. He was 73. Cancer was the cause of death.
We only met Sandilands on a couple of occasions but avidly followed his blog for years.
He was controversial in Australia. Sandilands was a long-time critic of the Australian Transportation Safety Board and of Alan Joyce, CEO of Qantas Airways. His persistent criticism won him no friends in officialdom.
But having writing aviation for 60 years, Sandilands had sources through Australian aviation and often wrote penetrating pieces about whatever topic he happened to be pursuing at the time.
Bombardier’s “fatal error” in trade dispute
Oct. 30, 2017, © Leeham Co.: Bombardier made a fatal error in the Boeing/US trade dispute that almost certainly precludes a negotiated settlement and which the Airbus-CSeries joint venture is highly unlikely to cure, an expert trade lawyer says.
William Perry, of the Seattle law firm Harris Bricken, focuses on anti-dumping and countervailing duty cases, the two issues at the heart of the Bombardier CSeries
William Perry. Photo via Google.
case. He previously worked for the US Department of Commerce on trade cases.
He also was an attorney for the US International Trade Commission, where Commerce’s decision to impose tariffs of 219% on the CVD element and 79% in the anti-dumping case goes for judgment.
Perry says flatly, Bombardier will lose at ITC.
Why?
Assessing Alaska Air Group’s fleet requirements
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Introduction
Oct. 27, 2017, © Leeham Co.: Alaska Airlines Group (AAG) acquired Virgin America (VA) and with it, Virgin’s exclusive fleet of Airbus A320ceos with orders for A320neos and A321neos.
With Alaska Airlines (AS) being an all Boeing 737 operator, the question immediately arose: what will AAG do with the Virgin fleet.
AAG CEO Brad Tilden strongly hinted the Airbuses will eventually go away. But on earnings calls, officials say they’re studying the matter and there’s plenty of time before they must decide since the first leases don’t begin rolling off until 2019.
Even if AAG decides to consolidate around the 737—an issue still very much in doubt—it won’t be any time soon.
The A320 leases continue to 2024. The leases for the new A321neos go longer: these are 12-year leases and they are non-cancellable. The A321neos will be around at least until 2030.
Pontifications: Going to space through Mississippi
By Scott Hamilton
Oct. 30, 2017, © Leeham Co., Hancock County (MS): The US Space Shuttle program ended in 2011 and NASA is sending US astronauts to the International Space Station using Russian-made rockets.
But officials want to end reliance on those launch vehicles and are working with US companies to supply the boosters and prepare for a mission to Mars.
Last week, I wrote about Boeing’s efforts to develop the Space Launch System (SLS). I spent the week of Oct. 9 going from Mobile (AL) through the I-10 corridor in Mississippi and ending in New Orleans, gaining a high level understanding of the aerospace footprint in the US Southeast.
The Mississippi portion was arranged by the Mississippi Development Authority. I’ll provide additional reporting in the coming weeks. This week, I focus on NASA’s John C. Stennis Space Center in Hancock County (MS), an hour’s drive east of New Orleans.
US ponders Russia sanctions, some affecting US aerospace
Oct. 27, 2017, © Leeham Co.: The US is considering new trade sanctions against Russia, and Russia is considering retaliatory sanctions, that could have major implications in US aerospace—including on Boeing.
The US sanctions would be for meddling in the US presidential election in 2016 and for activities in Eastern Europe. The Russian sanctions are a tit-for-tat retaliation if the US sanctions are adopted.
Among the Russian companies that may be targeted:
Bjorn’s Corner: Aircraft drag reduction, Part 2
By Bjorn Fehrm
October 27, 2017, ©. Leeham Co: After a detour over Airbus’ A330neo first flight last Friday, we now continue with aircraft drag. We divided drag in two classes last time: drag from size and drag from weight.
These drag effects were not discovered at the same time. To make it more informative, we will mix in how aircraft designers uncovered these drag types over time. It took them centuries to understand what held their flying devices back.
Figure 1. The first aviator, Otto Lilienthal, with his glider 1895. Source: Wikipedia.