Odds and Ends: KC-390 first flight; A400M; AirAsia 8501; Bombardier credibility

KC-390 first flight: Embraer’s largest airplane ever built, the KC-390 tanker/transport, made its first flight today. We profiled the airplane last October following our visit to Brazil. The airplane fulfills needs for Brazil’s vast geography to supply its… Read More

Airbus A400M; how good and how late?

Subscription required By Bjorn Fehrm Introduction 01 Feb 2015: Six years ago Tom Enders, then-CEO for Airbus (when the parent was named EADS), threatened to stop the A400M project. He then played hardball to get eight European states… Read More

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

Embraer’s big bet on its largest airplane yet

Introduction Embraer is days away from the roll-out of its biggest airplane project yet and one that has the potential to make its biggest inroads yet into the global defense market: the KC-390. The airplane, with a fuselage… Read More

New and Derivative airplanes: Some good, some not; Part 1

First of two parts. Earlier this year, Airbus officials said they will concentrate on improving existing airplanes once the A350 enters service. Boeing followed by saying it would not take any “moonshots” and develop new airplanes, at least… Read More

Odds and Ends: KC-46A update; A440M in the US; A320neo first flight; Southwest no longer an LCC

KC-46A update: Aviation Week has an update on the status of the Boeing KC-46A tanker. Among other things, first fight has now been moved from June to November at the earliest. A400M in the US: Airbus thinks it’s… Read More

Odds and Ends: A330neo decision could be near; KC-46A; Countdown to Superbowl; A400M

A330neo decision: Aviation Week reports that a decision to proceed with the Airbus A330neo could be “imminent.” The report also discusses the advocacy by Tim Clark, COO of Emirates Airlines, to re-engine the Airbus A380. As with the… Read More

Airbus to cut new airplane R&D, focus more on derivatives

Airbus is going to cut back its new airplane research and development spending and redirect efforts more toward derivative airplanes, EADS CEO Tom Enders told aerospace analysts at the EADS Global Investors Forum. Buried in a Bloomberg News… Read More

Odds and Ends: CSeries concludes second flight; Boeing’s impact on WA State

CSeries second flight: It was two weeks and one day to the second flight of the Bombardier CSeries, quite a bit longer than the Boeing 787-9 and the Airbus A350. The lengthier time was subject to a fair… Read More

Dropping EADS for Airbus Group

The move to drop the acronym EADS for Airbus Group is being made out by some media to be a major step that better positions Airbus to compete with Boeing. This is a stretch. The name change simply… Read More