New battle breaks out between Airbus and Boeing–in advertising

A new battle has broken out between Airbus and Boeing, this time with a sharp (and perhaps unprecedented) advertisement by Airbus accusing Boeing of outright lying. (Click to enlarge.) We don’t remember ever seeing this direct assault by… Read More

Odds and Ends: A320 Sharklet tests better than forecast; Emirates and A350-1000

Back to work: Airbus flight tests reveal that its Sharklet is one-half percent better on long-range operations than had been forecast. . The company revealed that the A320 Sharklet 4% better fuel burn than the current airplane on… Read More

Odds and Ends: Bernstein: no 777X before 2020; Alaska, Frontier and Competition; A380 repair costs; Boeing labor challenges

No 777X before 2020: Bernstein Research, in a note issued today, says it doesn’t see delivery of the Boeing 777X before 2020. Also: on a recently completed trip to Asia, Bernstein wrote this: There’s clearly huge demand for… Read More

Odds and Ends: Air France v Rolls-Royce for A350; Virgin America rejigs; Last A340s sold; Heading South with SPEEA

Air France v Rollsr-Royce: The saga continues-see this Bloomberg story. We understand there is more to it than just maintenance. Rolls wants AF to order the Trent 1000 for the 787 order, too. Virgin America: This airline, headquartered… Read More

Odds and Ends: To fly or not to fly–CSeries; Qatar’s A350s; A320 production rates

CSeries: Bombardier’s sales chief says the CSeries might fly earlier than the six month delay announced on the earnings call. See this Reuters report from China’s Zhuhai Air Show. Qatar’s A350: Flight Global’s David Kaminski-Morrow reports Qatar switched… Read More

EU caves on ETS, for now–but says it didn’t really cave

The European Union caved in on implementing the carbon trading scheme known as ETS that would have taxed international airlines flying into Europe. The EU claimed it didn’t really cave to international pressure (Financial Times, free registration required)… Read More

Airbus, Boeing under price pressure

The Wall Street Journal has two articles about Airbus and Boeing being under price pressure. There is a third article by the WSJ about Airbus wanting its suppliers to consolidate. The two companies have accused each other of… Read More

EADS announces earnings: depressed by A380 wing costs, a US customer Ch 11 and political issues

Not a good day for EADS and Airbus: Reuters: Spat with Germany affects cash position BBC: Hawker Beechcraft bankruptcy costs Airbus Washington Post: A380 wing fix costs EADS; A350 program “challenging”  

United’s 787s delayed, but nobody is saying why

There appears to be a lot of focus on delays in delivering the next Boeing 787s to United Airlines–which has received one–but neither Boeing or United is saying what’s behind the delays. (Update, Dec. 1: one of the… Read More

KC-30 performing well for Australia; Boeing C17, Lockheed C130, Alenia C27J

The Airbus KC-30 is performing well, according to this article. Here is a PDF of the report referenced in the article: Airbus Tanker Proves Its Worth The same writer prepared this piece on transport aircraft, including the Boeing… Read More