Post-Farnborough thoughts: why so few orders, PR overkill and more

The Farnborough Air Show is over. Here are our thoughts: For all the pre-show buzz about expected orders, with names and quantities identified, this show was a bust. Airbus was said to be shooting for 250-300 orders; it… Read More

It’s official: United orders 150 firm Boeing jets (100 Max, 50 900ERs)

Press conference Jeff Smisek, CEO United 100 737 Max 9 50 737-900ERs, replaces 757s flown domestically. Jim McNerney, CEO The Boeing Co. Thanks to UA for putting trust in us. Boeing and United go back a long, long… Read More

But what of the runway performance?

Dominic Gates of The Seattle Times has this story in which he has the following observation: Wyse revealed that Boeing, through structural efficiencies, has also beefed up the allowed maximum take-off weights for the three MAX variants. Each… Read More

Future materials: aluminum lithium, standard metals or composities

The Farnborough Air Show isn’t just about orders, though these get all the sex and headlines. While we weren’t at the show, we had a telephone interview with a company called Constellium, previously known as Alcan. Constellium spoke… Read More

Farnborough, Day 1: Orders, Price Calculator and other stuff

McNerney rejects “price war.” A quote from a Financial Times story (see below). He rejected suggestions that a price war had broken out between Airbus and Boeing over the A320 Neo and 737 Max but confirmed the US… Read More

No plateau on 737NG: Boeing

“There is no plateau in interest on the 737NG,” says Boeing’s Beverly Wyse, VP and GM of the stalwart program. “Even though there are a lot of challenges in the industry, the growth, particularly in the single aisle… Read More

Airbus and Mobile: Implications and analysis

Before getting to the meat of things, a couple of key stories: Mobile Press-Register, June 30. Details of the plan. Wall Street Journal: Boeing complains. It’s now one of the worst-kept industrial secrets: Airbus will announce at 10am… Read More

737 MAX vs A320 neo: The debate continues

Here’s the next round in the continuing debate. Bernstein Research published this chart detailing how Airbus and Boeing differ on the performance improvements they predict. There is, of course, no way to know who is correct until the… Read More

Odds and Ends: Price vs Price in Indian contest; China theat; 787 financial impact on Boeing

Price vs Price: More on the price war between Airbus and Boeing in the A320 v 737 contest. Dominic Gates of The Seattle Times has this analysis of hot contest to win an order from India’s Jet Airways,… Read More

A320 build rate, Alabama presents proposal to Airbus

Airbus won’t increase the production rate on the A320 family until introduction of the NEO and it’s now become public that Alabama has presented a proposal to Airbus for an assembly plant there. Airbus disclosed the plan to… Read More