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 28. June 27, 2025
- Parent agency, FAA often at odds as politics outweighs safety June 26, 2025
- Electric Flight and the Ugly Duckling June 25, 2025
- Engine makers tout “Plan A” but have “Plan B” backups in R&D June 23, 2025
- Bjorn’s Corner: Air Transport’s route to 2050. Part 27. June 20, 2025
Dissecting the 737-10 numbers
Analysis
June 19, 2017, © Leeham Co.: Boeing’s launch of the 737 MAX 10 on its face was a surprisingly strong showing here at the Paris Air Show.
Kevin McAllister, CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, and Dennis Muilenburg, CEO of The Boeing Co., announced there were 240 orders from more than 10 customers when they confirmed the show’s worst kept secret: that the launch was here.
The 240 orders were more than had been expected—and less than advertised.
Boeing launches 737 MAX 10 with 240 orders/Update with orders
Update: Early order announcements at the end of this post.
June 19, 2017, © Leeham Co.: Boeing made it official today: the 737 MAX 10 was launched at the Paris Air Show with 240 sales.
More than 10 customers–to be identified later–ordered the airplane, said Kevin McAllister, CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
The MAX 10 challenges the Airbus A321, which has outsold the 737 MAX 9 by a factor of three or four to one, depending on how orders are measured.
Mitsubishi and ANA show MRJ commitment
June 18, 2017, © Leeham Co.: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) CEO Shunichi Miyanaga and the Vice Chairman of ANA Holidings, Osamu Shinobe, gave the full backing to the MRJ program today, when presenting an ANA liveried test aircraft at the Paris Air Show.
Airbus confirms A380plus study
June 18, 2017, © Leeham Co.: Airbus today confirmed what’s been reported for the better part of two weeks: it’s studying aerodynamic and other improvements to the A380 to make it more attractive to airlines.
LNC first detailed the prospect of a new winglet and interior improvements June 12.
Airbus calls the study for an enhanced airplane the A380plus. With the aerodynamic changes, the most notable of which is the 4.7 meter high winglet, plus more seating, Airbus projects a 13% economic improvement.
Early results show MAX performance better than forecast
June 18, 2017, © Leeham Co.: It’s too soon to draw conclusions, but early indications of in-service operations of the Boeing 737-8 MAX are that it’s slightly bettering performance expectations.
Boeing delivered its first 737-8 MAX May 16 to Lion Air’s Malindo Air subsidiary.
Malindo Air Boeing 737-8 MAX. Photo via Google.
Keith Leverkuhn, VP and GM of the MAX program, said the long-range delivery flight of Malindo’s first MAX impressed the pilots with how little fuel was burned, but the in-service, short-haul operation is too young to draw any definitive conclusions about fuel consumption.
However, early indications are that fuel burn is better than forecast. The engines are the new CFM LEAP-1B.
Dispatch reliability is also meeting plan, he said.
Leverkuhn made the remarks in advance of a media tour of the new MAX 9 and the Boeing 787-10, both on display for the first time at the Paris Air Show.
Commercialized C-130 beats rivals, crew says
June 18, 2017, © Leeham Co.: The commercial offering of the venerable Lockheed Martin C-130J, the LM-100J, is here at the Paris Air Show, along with its rivals, the Embraer KC-390 and Airbus A400M.
The crew with Lockheed Martin waves off the competition.
Neither competitor can match the LM/C-130, they say.
A view around the Paris Air Show
June 17, 2017, (c) Leeham Co.: It’s surprising that many hall and chalet exhibits are still in a state of construction as LNC walked around the Paris Air Show Saturday, but we’ve noted this before.
Meanwhile, here are a few photos:
Bjorn’s Corner: Keeping airliners operational. Part 9.
Bjorn Fehrm
June 16, 2017, ©. Leeham Co: This week we finish our analysis how an operator would keep our tentative airline operational. By now we know the maintenance of the fleet is a critical part of running an airline.
If we miss a beat from our approved operator’s maintenance plan, our airworthiness authority can ground us.
We now finish the series with looking at how some cost-heavy parts are kept fit. We then summarize our costs for keeping our Airbus A320s flying.
Figure 1. The first modern maintenance program was formed around the Boeing 747. Source: Wikipedia.
LNC is off to the Paris Air Show
June 15, 2017, © Leeham Co.: Leeham News and Comment is off to the Paris Air Show.
Coverage will begin Sunday, with several events in advance of the show’s official opening Monday. We’ll be there through Thursday, with the end-of-show press conference by Airbus.
We provided a full preview May 22 for our paywall customers.
Here’s an update, in an abbreviated version:
MC-21 and C919 compared. Part 3.
By Bjorn Fehrm
Subscription required.
Introduction
June 15, 2017, ©. Leeham Co: We continued the comparison of Irkut’s MC-21 and COMAC’s C919 last week with an analysis of the cabins and systems. The week before, we compared project time plans, structures and aerodynamics.
Now we finish with an analysis of the economics of the aircraft.
Summary:
- The MC-21 is the more advanced aircraft of the two. It uses carbon composites for the wings and empennage.
- Coupled with more refined aerodynamics, the MC-21 offers a higher efficiency than the more classical C919.