Odds and Ends: Air France/KLM trims cargo fleet; ExIm Bank countdown; BBD v EMB; More

Air France-KLM trims cargo fleet: Steve Wilhelm of The Puget Sound Business Journal reports that Air France-KLM group is sharply trimming its cargo fleet, with the company declaring the capacity continues to shift to the belly capacity of… Read More

Counting options, Letters of Intent

Should manufacturers be counting options and letters of intent toward program certainty? We’ve always thought this was pretty cheeky, but in reality there is a reasonable foundation and history for doing so. Years ago Boeing regularly ridiculed Airbus… Read More

British Air’s exit from dedicated cargo fuels doubt over 747-8F future

The decision by British Airways to exit the dedicated freighter business by returning three Boeing 747-8Fs to ACMI operator Atlas Air demonstrates the continued weakness of the global air freight market. Boeing is counting on the global freight… Read More

Caution flags waving as we enter 2012

As 2012 opens, we are concerned about the increasing signs global cargo traffic is softening. Cargo traffic is typically a leading indicator of passenger traffic, both on the decline and subsequent rise. Cargo traffic fell 25% globally at… Read More

FedEx orders 27 767-300Fs, defers 11 777Fs

Flight Pro (aka Flight Global) has reported FedEx ordered 27 Boeing 767-300Fs for delivery from 2014 through 2018 but at the same time deferred 11 777Fs within the 2013-2018 period as cargo demand softens. The 767s will replace… Read More

FedEx gets ‘best and final offers’ from Airbus, Boeing

FedEx is considering ordering the Airbus A330-200F or Boeing 767-300F. We learned at ISTAT that some at the company think the A330-200F is too much airplane in terms of range for US domestic service and would prefer the… Read More