Airbus’ McArtor on VLA, 777X, 757 replacement and Airbus future products

Airbus Americas Chairman Allan McArtor. Allan McArtor believes there will always be a market for the Very Large Aircraft (VLA), but he’s not surprised Boeing cut the production rate of the 747-8. McArtor, who as chairman of Airbus… Read More

Airbus sequence shift of A350s coming, reports customer. Airbus says ‘no’

Airbus will likely shift the sequence of the entry-into-service of the A350, a customer tells us. Other sources report the same, with another customer calling the prospect of a shift “inevitable.” A tantalizing clue may have come from… Read More

Latest twin-aisle orders shift market share; Plus Odds and Ends

The flurry of orders in September and this month from Lufthansa Airlines and Japan Air Lines tightens the wide body race between Airbus and Boeing. Airbus and JAL on Monday announced a firm order for 31 A350s and… Read More

Odds and Ends: RR, Airbus milestone; C919; first flight videos

Rolls-Royce, Airbus Milestone: Aviation Week reports that the two companies reached a design milestone for the engine on the A350-1000. C919 nearing ‘critical’ stage: Flight Global reports that the COMAC C919, China’s bid to challenge Airbus and Boeing… Read More

Airbus adds to information about A330/A350 “Lite”

Airbus provided some answers to some (but not all) of our additional questions posed in our post a week ago about the A330 and A350 “Lite” versions. We noted that Airbus had provided Direct Operating Cost (DOC) comparisons… Read More

Analyzing the Airbus plan to offer A350, A330 “Regional” aircraft

Note: The Blog by Javier takes an analytical look at the 20 year forecasts for the twin-engine, twin-aisle aircraft here. Airbus will offer “Regional” versions of the A330-200/300 and the A350-900 that will reduced the Maximum Take Off… Read More

Svalbard Trip Report 1, and other random thoughts

We’ve finished our Svalbard trip, the first leg of a multi-stop venture. We’ve taken nearly 300 photos and it will take some time to sort through these. Below are some we took with our handy dandy Blackberry. Before… Read More

Odds and Ends: Airbus, Boeing trade barbs–again; Airbus raises order goals; first 787-10 commitment

More tit-for-tat: Airbus and Boeing are engaged again in their pointless trading of barbs. But it makes for entertaining reading. Here’s what Boeing had to say. The relevant excerpt is from the Bloomberg report: Airbus doesn’t “have an… Read More

United returns 787 to service today; WSJ points to other issues

United Airlines is the latest carrier to return the Boeing 787 to service today, on a route from Houston to Chicago. UAL CEO Jeff Smisek is joined by Boeing CEO Jim McNerney on the flight. Meantime, the Wall… Read More

Assessing the A350 program

News from EADS that it is beginning to consider another Airbus A350 assembly line, or ramping up production more quickly than currently planned, to accommodate increasing demand for the -1000 validates a desire expressed months ago by John… Read More