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
Aeroflot, the route to a modern airline. Part 3
By Bjorn Fehrm
April 26, 2017, ©. Leeham Co: In our third article about Aeroflot, we cover the period from 2010 to today. During this period, Aeroflot started a strategic change. The airline decided to grow to a global world leader.
To get there, the group needed a multi-brand strategy. The top brand, Aeroflot, should develop into a top tier premium airline. To understand the considerable changes Aeroflot needed to go trough for this strategy, we talked to Aeroflot’s Deputy CEO Strategy and Alliances, Giorgio Callegari, about the transformation.
Callegari took us through the journey to a Four-star airline and the ranking of Aeroflot as the world strongest airline brand in its area of operation. To validate the improved ratings, we contacted Skytrax and Brand Finance, the issuers of the ratings. Read more
Airbus earnings preview: supplier issues depress deliveries
April 26, 2017: The Airbus 1Q2017 earnings call is tomorrow.
Problems with the Pratt & Whitney GTF and slower-than-expected ramp-up of the CFM LEAP affected A320neo deliveries in the quarter. Continuing problems with interiors supply depressed A350 deliveries.
We have earnings previews from two investment banks that cover Airbus.
Boeing earnings preview: doubts about Global Services target
April 25, 2017: Boeing’s first quarter earnings call is tomorrow. Focus is expected to be on its plans for expanding after-market services with its new business unit, Boeing Global Services.
Earlier today, LNC posted a Special Report from Kevin Michaels in which he believes it will be challenging for Boeing to meet its target of $50bn in revenues.
Separately, the aerospace analyst for Wells Fargo reached the same conclusion. His report is below, followed by other analyst previews of the earnings call.
Boeing’s BHAG: Is $50bn Service Revenue Goal Achievable?
Special to Leeham News and Comment
By Kevin Michaels, Managing Director, AeroDynamic Advisory
Business gurus Jim Collins and Jerry Porras coined the phrase “Big Hairy Audacious Goal” (BHAG) to describe a business objective which is highly ambitious,
Kevin Michaels
galvanizes the organization, and is often met with skepticism from outside observers. Boeing recently created a BHAG that could transform aerospace MRO. Its goal is to triple its service revenue to $50bn within the next decade, and it is taking decisive action achieve its vision.
A330 easier to re-lease than 777
This is the second of two Parts looking at the wide-body market
April 25, 2017, © Leeham Co.: When lessors face re-leasing wide-body airplanes as lease terms expire, they face a far narrower market than for single-aisle airplanes.
While there may be a thousand operators which can be targets for Airbus A320s and Boeing 737s, there may be only a hundred operators interested in the most popular wide-body aircraft. When you get to the Very Large Aircraft sector, the potential market declines to the figurative, and perhaps literal, handful.
Pontifications: Five-year slump in wide-body demand seen, says lessor
This is Part 1 of a series looking at wide-body aircraft demand.
April 24, 2017, © Leeham Co.: We’re in a five-year slump for wide-body aircraft orders, say veteran executives of a new leasing company.
By Scott Hamilton
This means airlines will hold onto Airbus A330s and Boeing 767s/777s longer than planned, deferring—but not canceling—orders for Airbus A350s and Boeing 787s.
Orders for Boeing 777Xs and even Airbus A380s will resume eventually—but not any time soon.
Ray Sisson, the chairman and CEO of the new lessor AVi8 Air Capital, and Ed Wegel, president of the company, told LNC in an interview last week that there is a solid market for the proposed Boeing 7M7 (the Middle of the Market airplane).
Sisson, who was CEO of the lessor AWAS until a large portion of its portfolio was sold, also sees a robust market eventually for the 777X.
A much more modest market is seen for the A380.
AVi8 to be ‘clearing house’ for lessors, OEMs, airlines
April 24, 2017, © Leeham Co.: AVi8 Air Capital is a new lessor with a different business model.
Instead of the standard operating lease model, Avi8’s mission is to buy groups of airplanes from other lessors and later sell them. AVi8 intends to be a clearing house for other lessors.
The company, which pronounces its name with the long “A” (as in aviator), was formed last year and expects to conclude its first transaction this year.
“The difference between AVi8 and other leasing companies is as follows,” says Sisson. “When I was running AWAS, I was told by a number of investment banks that you get economies of scale by getting between $12bn and $18bn in assets. You can be bigger than that, but when you get between $12bn and $18bn, you capture real economies of scale – you’re buying enough new aircraft from OEMs, financing aircraft in bulk in capital markets/bank syndicates/Export Credit agencies, and leasing enough aircraft to airlines globally.”
This, among other things, was important to the rating agencies, Sisson said.
Bjorn’s Corner: Keeping airliners operational
By Bjorn Fehrm
April 20, 2017, ©. Leeham Co: We expect our flights to depart on time and with 100% safety. At the same time, the aircraft is used up to 14 hours and flies up to 5-6 missions a day.
This means 1,800 flights a year. As airliners will last 25 years, we talk about 45,000 flights with 99.7% dispatch reliability and 100% safety.
It’s clear the aircraft must be cared for in a special way. We’ll discover how.
Figure 1. The first modern maintenance program was formed around the Boeing 747, here at the roll out in 1968. Source: Wikipedia.
Could an NMA be made good enough? Part 5
By Bjorn Fehrm
Subscription Required
Introduction
April 20, 2017, © Leeham Co.: After defining the fuselage and wings, it’s now time for the engines. We go through the sizing criteria for engines for airliners and find the size of engine that is needed for the NMA.
The NMA will need engines which are larger than the single aisle engines for Airbus’ A320neo and Boeing’s 737 MAX. But they will be smaller than the next size up for modern engines, the GEnx-2B for Boeing’s 747-8.
Figure 1. The NMA takes more and more the shape of a 767 replacement (A United 767-200). Source: United
This means the NMA will need new engines, at least 50% larger than the present engines designed for A320neo and 737 MAX.
Summary:
- An NMA engine will be sized by V2 safety speed or Maximum Continuous Thrust (MCT) criteria.
- The normal Top of Climb (ToC) sizing point will be less stressing for a twin engine airliner like NMA.
7M7 is key to Boeing’s future
Subscription Required
Introduction
An enthusiast’s concept of the Boeing 797. Image via Google.
April 24, 2017, © Leeham Co.: Boeing faces growing challenges this year as airplane sales slow, production of the 777 Classic declines, its new Global Services unit prepares to formally launch and a decision whether to authorize a sales offering for the New Midrange Airplane looms.
We’ve spent a lot of time covering slowing sales and declining 777 production. Tomorrow, we’ll have a special report on the ambitious Global Services strategy.
We’ve also spent a lot of time on the Boeing NMA. LNC’s Bjorn Fehrm last week presented number three in a paywall series on the NMA, looking at it from a technical viewpoint. We’ll take a look at it from a strategic point of view today.
Summary
Read more
6 Comments
Posted on April 24, 2017 by Scott Hamilton
Airbus, Airlines, Boeing, Leeham News and Comment, Middle of the Market, MOM, Premium
737-10, 737-9, 747-8, 787, 787-8, 787-9, 7M7, A321LR, A321NEO, A330-200, A330-800, A380, A400M, Airbus, Boeing