Pontifications: Passenger experience and the WOW factor

June 29, 2015, © Leeham Co. Back on June 1, I wrote in this column I had yet to experience traveling on the Airbus A380, which entered service in 2007. The A380 doesn’t serve Seattle, where I live, and… Read More

Pontifications: USA to the World: “We want to fly everywhere. Period.”

Two of the Big 3 Middle Eastern carriers launched a PR counter offensive in Washington DC today. Below are my thoughts. I haven’t weighed in on the current battle between the Big 3 US airlines and the Big… Read More

Odds and Ends: CSeries; Mitsubishi MRJ; Air France; Saving airlines

CSeries: Bombardier provided a short update from program head Rob Dewar in advance of its 2014 earnings call Thursday. The flutter test has been completed, CS300 is moving toward joining the flight test fleet and the fleet has… Read More

Real time tracking, FDR transmission needs to happen now

As time passes following the Dec. 28 crash of AirAsia flight 8501, it has become even more apparent that the need for real time tracking of the position of a commercial flight and real time transmission of flight… Read More

AirAsia update, Dec. 30: Key questions in the investigation

Dec. 30, 2014: With the apparent discovery of the main wreckage of AirAsia Flt 8501 in about 100 ft of water, recovery of the airplane and its black boxes should be a relatively straight-forward operation. Our previous posts… Read More

Regulators dither on real-time tracking as another airplane goes missing

Air France 447. Malaysia Airlines MH370. AirAsia QZ8501. Dec. 28, 2014: Each flight disappeared over water. Search parties had a general idea where to look for AF447, but it still took five days before wreckage was spotted in… Read More

Odds and Ends: MAS MH370, Day 3; Qatar on A380; A330neo; New Small Airplane

MAS MH370, Day 3: The dominant news last week and over the weekend was, of course, the mysterious disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, a Boeing 777-200ER. It didn’t just crash (which is the assumption): it vanished, with… Read More

Implications of the Dubai Air Show orders

With the Dubai Air Show wrapped up, it’s time to assess the events and the implications.   Boeing launches 777X Boeing launched the 777X at the show with orders and commitments for 182 777-9s and 43 777-8s, the… Read More

Paris Air Show, Day 3: A320, 737 production rates of 50+ seen

Highlights from the show, as we see it: Boeing said the entry-in-service for the 737 MAX will be accelerated from the fourth quarter 2017 to the third quarter. Southwest Airlines of the USA is the first operator. Bloomberg… Read More

Odds and Ends: Who’s John Wayne? Air Show musings; Restoring the Dornier 17

As we go into this Memorial Day Weekend, we’re feeling a bit irreverent. So we’re going to meander a bit. Who’s John Wayne? We were in a hardware store checking out. We often say, Thank you, Ma’am to… Read More