AirAsia 8501: two weeks later, still looking for the voice recorder

Jan. 11, 2015: It’s now been two weeks and two days (local time) since AirAsia Flight 8501 crashed into the Java Sea. It took nearly two weeks just to locate the tail section of the airplane, which was… Read More

Assessing turmoil at Bombardier: it doesn’t stop at CSeries

The Wall Street Journal takes a look at Bombardier.(Subscription required.) ““We did not fully expect and prepare” for the competitive response, said a Bombardier executive. Its studies concluded re-engining the A320 and 737 made no economic sense and… Read More

Aging Boeing 757 engines skew operating expenses

Jan. 8, 2015: Engines on the aging fleet of Boeing 757s are a key reason operating costs of this rather unique airplane are between 20% and 30% more than a Boeing 737-9 or an Airbus A321neo. “The thing… Read More

2015 a year of execution for Embraer commercial

Subscription Required Introduction Jan. 7, 2015: Embraer, the world’s #3 commercial airplane manufacturer, enters 2015 viewing this as a year of execution, says its chief commercial officer, John S. Slattery. There are three pillars: Continuing to fill out… Read More

Odds and Ends: 737 MAX order breakdown; Airbus to top Boeing; Embraer to PNAA event

Jan. 6, 2015: 737 MAX Orders: Boeing has broken down the 737 MAX orders for the entire program in response to our inquiry. The 737-8 has captured 87% of the program orders since launch in 2011. The MAX… Read More

Boeing 2014 orders: 1,550 gross, 1,432 net

Update, 8:45am PST: Boeing sent us this breakout of 777 and 737 orders: 777-300ER: 49 777 Freighter: 14 777X: 220 737 MAX: 891 Original Post: Boeing received 1,550 gross orders and 1,432 net orders in 2014, one of… Read More

Turboprops’ future is OK but not great as ATR corners market

Subscription Required Introduction Jan. 5, 2015: Conventional wisdom suggests that turboprops are making a bit of a comeback because these remain far more efficient for routes up to 400 miles than jets, particularly at high fuel prices. Even… Read More

Odds and Ends: AirAsia 8501, PNAA Conference, FWIW

Jan. 2, 2014: AirAsia 8501: Our friend Geoff Thomas has an interesting commentary about the AirAsia 8501 story. Also, an Airbus A330 pilot for a major US airline, offered these observations about QZ8501. A Linkedin profile suggests this… Read More

Odds and Ends: Wrapping up 2014 in the news

Dec. 31, 2014, just under the wire: 2014 is over and there was some news unrelated to the loss of AirAsia flight 8501: Bombardier: The company received a firm order for 24 CRJ900s from an unidentified customer (we… 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