Leahy skeptical of Boeing plan to add 737 seats, vows to maintain 60% share of neo-MAX sector

 Airbus’ chief operating officer-customers, John Leahy, dismisses the idea that Boeing can add more seats to its 737 family to gain competitiveness over the A320 family.  In a press briefing in advance of the air show discussing the… Read More

Odds and Ends: Boeing jobs move; JetBlue’s trans-con plan; Airbus Innovation Days; BBD confidence

Boeing jobs move: We’re not a fan of Loren Thompson, but his commentary in Forbes yesterday is spot on. Boeing is moving jobs out of Washington State to bolster its Charleston (SC) cluster and simply to move to… Read More

737 MAX may share NG improvements still to come, which might include more seats

Boeing’s 737 MAX, still weeks away from design configuration freeze and still with lots of detailed design to come, may share improvements still to come on the current 737 NG. The head of the MAX program, Keith Leverkuhn,… Read More

Sizing up engine market share on the A320 family

While competition between Airbus and Boeing snares nearly all the headlines and all the “sex,” competition for engine orders is less sexy and receives less attention. Part of this is because of the increasing trend toward sole-sourcing. The… Read More

Washington State Senate budget kills Office of Aerospace; attention turns to House

The Washington State Senate budget adopted last Friday killed funding for the Office of Aerospace, which was created less than a year ago. The move was driven by the need to find more than $1bn to fund education… Read More

Single-Aisle backlog market share between the Big Two

The rivalry between Airbus and Boeing intensified in recent weeks with Airbus landing another major order from a previously exclusive Boeing customer, LionAir. Boeing announced another major order just a day later, Ryanair, retaining exclusivity with this customer…. Read More

Odds and Ends: Post-SPEEA Vote; LionAir and RyanAir; ANA skeptical of Boeing timeline

Post-SPEEA Vote: The ratification of the contract offer by Boeing by the SPEEA technical workers is welcome news. It gives Boeing and its stakeholders certainty at a time when the 787 issues remain outstanding and the developmental programs… Read More

Odds and Ends: AF 447 resurfaces; Racing toward 2,000; A400M; beating back anti-droners

Air France 447: More data has surfaces on Air France 447, the Airbus A330 that plunged into the Atlantic on a flight from Brazil to France several years ago. In a cooperative post-investigation that included Airbus and Boeing,… Read More

Odds and Ends: Refusing to fly 787; 787 AD was wrong; KC-46A cost analysis; Battery fix certification?

Refusing to fly 787: This is a stunning survey by the website Travel Insider: 32% of frequent fliers will refuse to fly the 787 even after it is fixed for the first year or two and another third… Read More

US Airways’ 757 problem

Notation: Lan Chile has canceled Boeing 787 flights through June. US Airways has a large fleet of aging Boeing 757s it needs to replace. The problem is, a carrier official says, neither the Airbus A321neo nor the Boeing… Read More