Boom times leads to looming cash flow shortfall across OEMs

Subscription Required. Introduction Dec. 16, 2014: There have been record aircraft orders year after year, swelling the backlogs of Airbus and Boeing to seven years on some product lines, Bombardier’s CSeries is sold out through 2016, Embraer has… Read More

A look behind the headlines of Airbus’ Investors Forum

Subscription Required Update, 0530 PST Dec. 15: Aviation Week posted an article that indicates Airbus and Rolls-Royce are closing in on an engine deal that will lead to the A380neo and a stretch. Introduction Last week’s Airbus Global… Read More

Airbus stock hammered on airplane news, Boeing caught in the downdraft

Subscription Required. Introduction Dec. 10, 2014: As company investors’ days go, Day 1 of Airbus Group didn’t go well. Airbus stock traded off 10% on news that the A330 production rate, already to reduced from 10/mo to 9/mo… Read More

Airbus investors day Dec. 10-11: here’s our preview

The annual Airbus investors days are tomorrow and Thursday in London. Airbus will webcast the event; go here to link up. The presentations will include a mix of commercial and military, with John Leahy, chief operating officer of… Read More

Boeing retains net order lead going into last month of year

Dec. 5, 2014: Boeing retains the lead in net orders going into the last month of this year, although the gap has narrowed considerably–and there are a couple of public campaigns and commitments Airbus has announced or talked… Read More

Little progress on A330 production gap

Subscription required. Introduction With the end of the year a mere five weeks away, Airbus appears to have made little progress in closing its production gap for the A330. Summary Airbus still has a gap of approaching 150… Read More

Delta looks to double Seattle gates as wide-body decision nears

Delta Air Lines wants to double the number of its gates at Seattle, potentially allowing more than 300 flights a day, Bloomberg News reports. The story appeared just weeks before Delta will make its decision whether to order… Read More

Airbus poised to overtake Boeing in wide-body sector, bracket Boeing at both ends

Subscription required. Introduction Airbus is poised to produce more medium twin-aisle airplanes than Boeing by the end of 2017 and maintain the lead into the early 2020 decade, according to production rates that have been announced, unannounced and… Read More

Odds and Ends: A350 batteries; A350 V 1.0; Southwest schedule

A350 batteries: Flight Global has a detailed story about the Airbus approach to lithium-ion batteries in the A350. The approach is more conservative than Boeing’s for the 787. A350 Version 1.0: A blog called A350 XWB News has… Read More

BABC Conference Part 2: Airbus outlook

Barry Eccleston, president of Airbus Americas, presented the Airbus outlook at the British American Business Council Pacific Northwest conference today. Highlights: The A330 went on longer than we thought it would, and are going to nine a month… Read More