Comparing 777 Classic, 787 Book:Bill in recent years

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Introduction

Jan. 11, 2017, (c) Leeham Co.: Future production rates of the Boeing 787 is a concern for LNC, which has been explained in detail here.

A little history provides some context.

Figure 1. Analysis from March 2014. Click on image to enlarge.

As far back as March 2014, we identified the growing production gap for the 777 Classic. In presentations in April and May 2014, we outlined this gap (Figure 1) and forecast that production rates would have to come down in the not-too-distant future.

The rest, as they say, is history.

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Aircraft list prices largely unchanged (Updated)

Update: Airbus Jan. 11 announced a 1% list price increase. The chart has been updated.

Jan. 10, 2017: Aircraft list prices are largely unchanged for 2017, the airline industry demand cools for new aircraft.

Sales in 2017 were down for the Big Two, Airbus and Boeing. Boeing announced orders for 688 aircraft, well off of last year, which also was a major decline from the year before.

Airbus announces tomorrow, with sales expected to be in a similar range.

Bombardier and Embraer announce later this month or next.

LNC compiled the current list prices from all the manufacturers, detailed in Figure 1 below.

Airbus and Boeing discounts typically range from 40% to 60%, depending on the customer, the airplane and the size of the order. BBD and EMB discounts may also be steep, depending on the campaign.

The balance of this article is for Subscribers only.

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Deferrals grow as airlines fight to keep bottom line

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Introduction

Jan. 09, 2017, © Leeham Co.: Airlines have deferred or are thinking about deferring more than 400 airplanes in the near term, a review of decisions and deliberations  that have been made during the last 12 months.

LNC tracked announcements last year of deferrals and statements by airlines that they are thinking about doing so.

We began identifying macro-level issues last week in our posts about emerging concerns for the 787 and LNC’s Outlook for 2017.

Reasons vary widely for the deferrals, these reports indicated. Low oil prices. Slowing economies. Declining financial results. Worries about two of the three top Middle Eastern carriers. A capital squeeze in China. Pressure on long-haul carriers from the emerging sector of low cost, long-haul airlines. Preserving capital expenditures to keep the bottom line in the black.

Today we detail the deferrals we tracked.

Summary
  • Deferrals of single aisle aircraft are less worrying than for wide-body aircraft
  • For wide-bodies, it depends on the program. For the Airbus A380, deferrals turns the program back into the red. For the A350, deferrals can help with delivery commitments.
  • For the Boeing 777, deferrals spells trouble, especially for the present generation.
  • The 787 is more resilient but the slow sales make the program sensitive longer term.

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Pontifications: Boeing’s book:bill shortfall draws market ho-hum

By Scott Hamilton

Jan. 9, 2017, © Leeham Co.: Boeing’s falling a little short of a 1:1 book:bill last year was expected and drew a ho-hum from the market.

The stock was up fractionally for the rest of the day after Boeing announced the year-end data at 11 am Eastern time, closing at $159.10.

Airbus announces its full year orders and deliveries Wednesday in a press conference (Boeing only issued a press release).

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Bjorn’s Corner: Turbofan developments in 2017

By Bjorn Fehrm

January 06, 2017, ©. Leeham Co: Before we finish of our series on airliner turbofan technology, let’s spend this Corner on what will happen on the airliner engine front during 2017.

While there is no totally new engine that comes into the market during 2017 there are a number of new variants of existing engine families that will be introduced.

Figure 1. GasTurb principal representation of a three shaft turbofan like our reference Rolls-Royce Trent XWB. Source: GasTurb.

 

If we start with the engines for regional/single aisle aircraft and then climb the thrust scale, we will cover the engines in climbing thrust class.

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2017, a tougher year for European airlines?

By Bjorn Fehrm

January 5, 2017, ©. Leeham Co: The last two years have seen increased profits for the airline industry. Lower priced fuel gave the industry time to breath and to finally earn a reasonable Return on Invested Capital (ROIC).

Earnings as a percent of revenue for the industry has been increasing from 5% on a worldwide basis in 2014 to around 10% for 2016, Figure 1.

Figure 1. Airline industry profits. Source; IATA presentation October 2016.

The US and European airlines have been topping the earnings with 18% on revenue for the third quarter of 2016. There are many signs this will not continue in 2017, especially for European airlines. Read more

Analyzing the Top Customers for Airbus and Boeing

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Introduction

Jan. 4, 2017, © Leeham Co.: The top 25 Airbus customers that are identified account for 63% for the current backlog, an analysis of the company’s order list shows.

For Boeing, its Top 25 customers account for 69% of its identified backlog.

Both companies have hundreds of Unidentified orders for which no customer is disclosed.

Summary
  • “China Inc.” is Boeing’s #1 identified customer and #3 for Airbus.
  • Two low cost carriers are the first and second top customer for Airbus.
  • Three low cost carriers follow “China Inc.” as Boeing’s Top Customers.
  • Boeing’s Top 3 wide-body customers are in the Middle East, where financial and traffic results are beginning to soften.
  • Three of Airbus’ Top 5 customers are also from the Middle East. The other two are from Asia.
  • Boeing has 54% of the market share among the Top wide-body customers. Airbus has a 54% market share in the narrow-body sector.

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Market, other factors emerging, creating Boeing 787 concern

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Introduction

Jan. 4, 2017, © Leeham Co.: Despite a rosy picture painted by Boeing about the future of the 787 and the ability to recover more than $29bn in deferred production

Boeing photo.

and tooling costs, there are signs that cause concerns over the next 3-5 years.

Summary
  • Near-term production outlook solid, weakness begins in 2020, big gap in 2021.
  • Boeing doesn’t see wide-body sales recovery until next decade.
  • Company foregoes increasing 787 accounting block; sales won’t support it.
  • Market talks about deferring 787s.

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Pontifications: Embraer, contrary to others, looks to momentum in 2017

By Scott Hamilton

Jan. 3, 2017, © Leeham Co.: Airbus, Boeing and Bombardier look toward 2017 as a bit of a punk year, as detailed in our Look Ahead for subscribers only. Not so by Embraer.

In an exclusive interview, John Slattery, the president of Embraer Commercial, said EMB will gain “momentum” this year. This is at a time where sales at the other three of the Big Four OEMs are expected to slow off an already slow 2016.

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2017: the year ahead

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Introduction

Jan. 3, 2017, © Leeham Co.: The New Year is here and it doesn’t look like a good one for commercial aerospace, if measured against previous outstanding years.

There are some troubling signs ahead, piling on to a slowdown in orders from last year that didn’t even reach a 1:1 book:bill.

This year looks to be worse than last. Airbus and Boeing will give their 2017 guidance on the earnings calls this month and next. Bombardier and Embraer earnings calls are a ways off, when each will provide its guidance.

But LNC believes the Big Two in particular will be hard pressed to hit a 1:1 book:bill this year and may even struggle to match 2016 sales.

Boeing’s year-end order tally comes Thursday. Airbus’ comes on Jan. 11.

Summary
  • Wide-body sales remain weak.
  • Narrow-body backlogs and low oil prices continue to inhibit sales.
  • China, Middle East concerns emerging.
  • United Aircraft MC-21 and COMAC C919 begin flight testing.
  • Airbus A330neo, Boeing 787-10, Embraer E195-E2 and Mitsubishi Aircraft MRJ-70 roll-out and begin flight testing.
  • Airbus A321neo and Boeing 737 MAX 8 EIS.

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