Bjorn’s Corner: Aircraft drag reduction, Part 21

March 16, 2018, ©. Leeham News: In the last Corner, we looked at the drag of an airliner during cruise. We could see the thrust required to counter the drag in the thin air of 37,000 feet was low,… Read More

Pratt & Whitney’s Indian trouble

By Bjorn Fehrm March 14, 2018, ©. Leeham Co: India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) grounded Airbus A320neos equipped with Pratt & Whitney GTF engines with faulty compressor seals Monday. Airbus, Boeing respond differently to engine problems. Affected… Read More

Norwegian’s creative accounting

By Bjorn Fehrm March 07, 2018, ©. Leeham Co: In our February 14th article about Norwegian Air Shuttle’s operational losses, we used straightforward calculations to show the airline was losing around 2bn NOK or $300m in the fourth quarter,… Read More

Bjorn’s Corner: Aircraft drag reduction, Part 19

February 23, 2018, ©. Leeham Co: In the last Corner we wrapped up the discussion on different drag types by discussing some less dominant drags. To finish the series we will go through a typical mission for an airliner… Read More

Airbus group 2017: The A320 is the group moneymaker despite problems

By Bjorn Fehrm February 15, 2018, ©. Leeham Co in Toulouse: Airbus Group presents better results for 2017 than predicted, despite challenges in several programs. Profit was up 34% on flat revenues. The underlying driver for the strong performance… Read More

2018 an important year for wide-bodied airplanes

Subscription Required Introduction Feb. 5, 2018, © Leeham Co.: This will be an important year for wide-body sales in commercial aviation. It would be overstating to say 2018 will be a pivotal year for wide-body airplanes, but there… Read More

Pontifications: Airbus easily leads narrow-body backlog, Boeing ahead in wide-bodies

Feb. 5, 2018, © Leeham Co.: Two thousand seventeen is over and the numbers are in. Airbus continues to have a commanding lead over Boeing for single-aisle, neo v MAX backlog. Although Airbus got pounded by Boeing in… Read More

Airbus delivers record 718 aircraft amid strong sales

By Bjorn Fehrm  January 15, 2018, ©. Leeham Co: Airbus announced record 2017 airliner deliveries of 718 aircraft today. It was the 15th consecutive year of increased production, this time with 30 aircraft over 2016. Fabrice Bregier, the Chief Operating… Read More

Boeing’s special needs in the next decade may be solved by Embraer

Subscription Required Introduction Jan. 8, 2018, © Leeham Co.: Key factors may play into the prospective business venture, however it’s defined, between Boeing and Embraer that have gotten little notice. Boeing’s need for engineering talent from Embraer has… Read More

United Aircraft’s and COMAC’s eventful year

By Bjorn Fehrm January 03, 2018, ©. Leeham Co: Both United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) and COMAC got their single-aisle airliner projects into flight test during 2017. The MC-21 and C919 had their first flights within less than a month… Read More