Leeham News and Analysis
There's more to real news than a news release.
Pontifications: Catching up on the KC-46A, KC-30A
April 11, 2016, © Leeham Co.: The Government Accountability Office (GAO) concludes that the Boeing KC-46A aerial refueling tanker for the US Air Force has “challenging testing and delivery schedules” ahead in its annual review of the program…. Read More
Trends in cabin amenities
By Bjorn Fehrm 05 April 2016, ©. Leeham Co: We are at the Aircraft Interior eXpo, AIX 2016, to check out what’s new where the aircraft meets the passenger. We got to the expo in Hamburg on a… Read More
Alaska, Virgin confirm merger
April 4, 2016, (c) Leeham Co.: Alaska Air Group and Virgin America confirmed weekend reports that they reached a deal to merge. The replay of the Alaska webcast/conference call, with slide show, is here. Rationale includes what LNC outlined… Read More
Boeing has lost neo/MAX battle; time to refocus goals
Subscription Required Introduction April 4, 2016, © Leeham Co.: Boeing should forget about competing with Airbus for market share. The Airbus A320neo. Airbus has won the single-aisle battle between the neo and Boeing 737 MAX. Boeing needs to… Read More
Pontifications: Boeing’s 8,000 employee reduction isn’t nearly enough
April 4, 2016, © Leeham Co.: Boeing’s plans to reduce head count at Boeing Commercial Airplanes by 8,000 jobs this year dominated the news last week. Comparing employment figures with Airbus Commercial shows this reduction isn’t nearly enough. BCA… Read More
Bjorn’s Corner: Flight control, Part 4
1 April 2016, ©. Leeham Co: Last week we described the computer augmented flight controls that are possible with Fly-By-Wire (FBW) systems. We described the most common flight control laws by discussing the two most common control law… Read More
Airbus only one reason for Boeing cost-cutting
The bigger danger at Boeing is not Airbus pricing, but the potential for up to 15,000 early retirements this year by engineers, technicians and touch-labor. See Scott Hamilton’s column at Forbes online. Job cuts drive margin at Boeing, analyst… Read More
Middle of the Market or Mirage of the Market: Boeing’s lose-lose situation
March 30, 2016, © Leeham Co.: Boeing is unlikely to develop a Middle of the Market airplane for a sector that could be a “mirage,” write two aerospace analysts. Buckingham Research, in a note issued yesterday, did a… Read More
Airbus increases A350-900 range to 8,100nm
By Bjorn Fehrm Introduction March 30, 2016, ©. Leeham Co: Airbus has changed the A350-900 website data to now show the 280t Max Take-Off Weight (MTOW) as the standard MTOW. This weight variant was only reserved for the A350-900ULR… Read More
Sales slowing for larger, Airbus, Boeing twin-aisle jets
Subscription Required Introduction Boeing 777. Photo via Google images. March 28, 2016, © Leeham Co.: A downturn in the order cycle, low fuel prices and backlogs extending to 2020 and beyond combine to reduce the likelihood of much… Read More