Leeham News and Analysis
There's more to real news than a news release.
Leeham News and Analysis
- Boeing wants to remarket China’s airplanes. It’s costly and time consuming. April 28, 2025
- Bjorn’s Corner: Air Transport’s route to 2050. Part 19. April 25, 2025
- How good is the C929? Part 2. April 24, 2025
- Boeing First Quarter Results Update: China is 10% of the backlog, with 500 in “Unidentified” April 24, 2025
- Boeing First Quarter Results: Tariffs, Return flights, $10.55bn asset sale April 23, 2025
Boeing sets 3Q for 787 delivery
Boeing just issued this press release:
EVERETT, Wash., Jan. 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Boeing (NYSE:BA – News) announced today that it expects delivery of the first 787 Dreamliner in the third quarter of this year. The new delivery date reflects the impact of an in-flight incident during testing last November and includes the time required to produce, install and test updated software and new electrical power distribution panels in the flight test and production airplanes.
Countdown on KC-X tanker award
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EADS CEO Louis Gallois went public today in Europe with his prediction that the USAF will award a tanker contract next month. The best and final bid will be submitted this month.
We previously noted that the final bids were due this month and a contract award expected next month.
Meanwhile, here is an interesting story on the tanker from KING5 TV in Seattle, with this piece.
As readers know, the competition is a price shoot-out. As the KING story notes, Boeing continues to be worried about the benefit EADS has from subsidies found to be illegal by the WTO on the ability to under-price Boeing, but as we noted in this post last year, WTO may not have the effect Boeing fears; the withdrawal of Northrop Grumman as a partner to EADS has a much larger benefit to EADS’ ability to price the airplane.
Boeing expects solid 777 order stream
Here’s a story we did for Commercial Aviation Online. Comments are still closed. Comments are re-opened but moderated. Read our new Comment policies.
Boeing 777 orders on the cards
| Date: | 11/01/2011 09:42 |
| Source: | Commercial Aviation Online |
| Location: | Seattle |
| By: | Scott Hamilton |
Boeing is likely to have a very good next few months for its 777 line.
CAO has learned that that company is probably going to announce several major orders for the airplane, predominately if not entirely for the 777-300ER. One order is said to be for 20 777-300ERs and could be announced within the next few weeks. As many as four major orders are anticipated in the next few months, CAO is told.
Boeing could launch 737 replacement this year: analyst
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Boeing is expected to decide this year to proceed with not one, but two new models to replace the 737, according to a prediction made by the aerospace analyst at Buckingham Research.
If Buckingham is correct–and it was the first we’re aware of to forecast Boeing would forego re-engining the 737–this would shake things up: Airbus believes Boeing would be “silly” to come out with a new airplane in this decade because officials don’t think engine and airframe technology is advanced enough to do so, which is why Airbus is going with an interim solution in its New Engine Option (NEO) program.
Boeing believes technology will be available by the end of this decade.
Who will be right will only be known a decade down the road.
Although the research note focuses on the 737 replacement, it predicts Boeing is putting off enhancing the 777 for one-two years or more because it believes Airbus will run into serious delays on the A350-1000, the competitor to the highly successful (and profitable) 777-300ER.
Here is a synopsis from the Buckingham note:
Focus on Rolls-Royce Trent engines
Plane Talking has an interesting think piece about the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine that powers the Qantas Airbus A380.
As readers know, a Trent 900 had an uncontained failure on QF32 that severely damaged the A380. Qantas still hasn’t returned the A380 fleet to full service while questions about the Trent 900 remain unresolved.
Rolls-Royce has been uncommunicative to Qantas, and to Airbus, according to both companies, adding difficulties to the recovery of the program.
This portends something that has greater implications.
US helps Boeing–and Europe helps Airbus. So what?
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Wikileaks struck again with cables revealing US diplomats and the President support Boeing is sales efforts. The cables made a lot of news headlines, with The Seattle Times pickup of a New York Times piece typical.
Our reaction is, So what?
That diplomats help Boeing and European officials help Airbus is nothing new nor surprising to those of us in aviation. Heads-of-State do it, too. It happened for McDonnell Douglas, with a sale for MD-11s and MD-90s to Saudi Arabia. Happened with Israel and Boeing. Landing slots for Airbus sales? No surprise here, either.
Much ado about nothing, in our view.
Looking ahead for the tanker award
Will it ever end?
This is the question about the interminable KC-X tanker competition.
Unofficial word is now that the USAF is to announce its award in February, after slipping from January, December, November, October and August.
US Sen. Carl Levin announced that he will hold a hearing by February. 1 into the snafu by the USAF over sending Boeing and EADS information about the performance of each other’s tanker. Levin, holding the hearing at the request of Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Boeing/WA), will try and determine if this is a harmless or fatal error to the procurement process. We have written before that mistakes like this happen and the government has set procedures for handling such errors, but in the highly charged competition, Boeing is taking advantage of the mistake to lay the groundwork for a protest should it lose.
Boeing resumes 787 testing (but not, it appears, continuous airborne tests)
Boeing issued the following press release on Christmas Eve Eve. A careful reading of the press release makes it apparent that actual continuous airborne flight testing is not yet ready to resume. This is a one-off flight test.
Here is the press release:
Senate hearing in tanker snafu appropriate
US Sen. Carl Levin announced yesterday that he will hold a hearing by Feb. 1 into the snafu by the USAF over sending Boeing and EADS information about each other’s KC-X tanker submission.
We think this is appropriate, as we have written before. The Air Force and EADS must come forward with a detailed timeline and information about the what-when-where-why about this. So that there is a full airing, so does Boeing, though let’s be clear: the burden here appears to be on the USAF and EADS.