Odds and Ends: 777-8 “Lite”; group backs WA 777X effort; Asiana crash photos; a new 787 theory

Note: This Reuters article has some good detail about how Boeing gets the 777-9X to its advertised 20% economic gains over 777-300ER. 777-8 “Lite:” Boeing’s plan to launch the 777X in two versions, the ultra-long range 8X at… Read More

Svalbard Trip Report 1, and other random thoughts

We’ve finished our Svalbard trip, the first leg of a multi-stop venture. We’ve taken nearly 300 photos and it will take some time to sort through these. Below are some we took with our handy dandy Blackberry. Before… Read More

Odds and Ends: Evolution of the airline logo; Boeing 20 year forecast updated

Airline Logos: Mary Kirby posted this one. A bit off our usual beaten path, but we find this quite interesting. Speaking of airline logos: We just completed a series of flights on US Airways and asked in-flight and… Read More

Wide-body airplanes get plenty of attention at IATA; Leahy comments on 777X, A350 and A380

The 69th AGM of IATA just concluded at Cape Town, South Africa, and wide-body aircraft drew a lot of focus in these articles from Bloomberg News and Reuters. We spoke with John Leahy at the end of the… Read More

Odds and Ends: Airbus, Boeing trade barbs–again; Airbus raises order goals; first 787-10 commitment

More tit-for-tat: Airbus and Boeing are engaged again in their pointless trading of barbs. But it makes for entertaining reading. Here’s what Boeing had to say. The relevant excerpt is from the Bloomberg report: Airbus doesn’t “have an… Read More

Boeing’s McNerney: Interest in 787-10, 777X high; “our airplanes are better than theirs”

Boeing held an investors’ conference today that began at zero dark thirty PDT, so we weren’t up to listen to the webcast. The PDF presentations are here. According to news reports, McNerney said interest in the forthcoming 787-10… Read More

Comparing the 787, 777-200/300ER and the 777-8/9X

With a tip of the hat to Airliners.net, we came across this illustration. In case the visual doesn’t work well below, the direct link is here.

Assessing the A350 program

News from EADS that it is beginning to consider another Airbus A350 assembly line, or ramping up production more quickly than currently planned, to accommodate increasing demand for the -1000 validates a desire expressed months ago by John… Read More

Sizing up the 777X vs Airbus–and Boeing

It was no surprise that Boeing’s Board of Directors authorized the sales force to begin showing the 777X to customers for sale, as opposed to the concepts. As we’ve reported (and as did others), this move was expected… Read More

Odds and Ends: 777X ATO next month, says AvWeek; 787 and the FAA; A318

777X ATO: Aviation Week reports that Boeing’s Board will grant Authority to Offer the 777X at the next meeting, in April. Emirates Airlines has previously said it will order 100 or more of the X to begin replacing… Read More