Odds and Ends: Narrowing the cause on 787s; 30-120 days grounding?

Narrowing the Cause: Aviation Week has a good article with some behind-the-scenes snippets about the grounding of the Boeing 787. Toward the end are comments from Japan Air Lines about narrowing the cause of the battery problems. The… Read More

Odds and Ends: Airbus’ frustration over A350 fallout–blame yourself; DC-10 grounding retrospective

Airbus’ frustration: Airbus says it has a Plan B for its lithium ion battery design and the CEO says he’s frustrated over the attention the A350 is getting as a result of the Boeing 787 issues. Airbus has… Read More

Airbus examines lithium battery safety, fire suppression

Note: The NTSB Sunday said it still doesn’t know what caused the lithium ion battery to catch fire on the JAL Boeing 787. Japan has shifted focus to a monitoring system, not the battery. The battery charger has… Read More

Reflections of a whirl-wind week in the news cycle

This is one of those moments where jet-lag induced sleep patterns give us a moment to catch our breath. What a week it’s been in the news cycle. We came to Europe on routine business and from the… Read More

It’s official: Boeing regains lead as No. 1 aircraft producer, sales king, but victory overshadowed by 787 crisis

On a day when Boeing would normally be celebrating its return as the world’s number one aircraft producer and retaking the order crown, the 787 crisis over shadow’s the Airbus 2012 Results review in which the European OEM… Read More

A380 has, A350 will have lithium-ion batteries

Focus on the Boeing 787’s mishap last Monday comes, naturally, on the fire involving the lithium-ion battery. The battery, or Li-ion for short, is considered hazardous in many applications and in air cargo shipping. Two Boeing 747-400 cargo… Read More

Looking ahead to 2013 in Commercial Aviation

Last year yielded a few surprises in an otherwise predictable year. Jim Albaugh shocked the aviation world when he retired unexpectedly at age 62. He was expected to remain in his position as CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes… Read More

2012’s Most Momentous event: were readers correct?

A year ago we asked the following question and received the results. Now that 2012 is all but over, do you agree with your own forecasts? What is the most momentous event you predict for 2012? Answer Percent… Read More

American to decide on merger Jan. 9, Bloomberg says

American Airlines’ Board of Directors will meet on Jan. 9 to decide whether to merge with US Airways, according to this report by Bloomberg News. The outcome, of course, has ramifications beyond those employees of both airlines. These… Read More

Odds and Ends: Picking up an A380; testing the 787; VLA backlogs

Picking up an A380: No, it’s not about lifting one. It’s taking delivery of one. CNN International Travel has this story about the delivery process. It’s not what you’d think would be your usual story from a travel… Read More