How the Scimitar has an advantage over winglets

Alaska Airlines is the latest carrier to order the Aviation Partners Boeing Scimitar split winglets. Here is the press release. United Airlines was the launch customer for the Scimitar. Alaska Airlines image. The Scimitar provides additional fuel burn… Read More

Odds and Ends: Lessor announced for CSeries; Aircraft gap; Delta vs Alaska

Chinese Lessor for CSeries: Bombardier today announced the identity of a previously undisclosed customer for the CSeries, and it is important for two reasons: one, it’s a lessor, and two, it’s from China. CDB Leasing Co. signed a… Read More

American, US Airways respond to DOJ complaint

American Airlines and US Airways filed their responses to the DOJ lawsuit seeking to block the merger. The Dallas Morning News has this synopsis. The full, 50-page US Airways response is here. There’s one element that particularly caught… Read More

DOJ lawsuit vs AA-US reads like political document

Note: Some articles of interest: Robert Crandall, former CEO of American, has this op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal (via Google News, so it should be accessible to Readers). With the concentration of airline service that the… Read More

Flaws escape FAA certification

Bloomberg has a good story looking beyond the Boeing 787 issues at the FAA’s reliance on industry to certify airplanes. The story details a number of cases where flaws crept through the system, leading to deaths–a circumstance, of… Read More

PNAA Endorses Commercial Air Service at Paine Field

The Pacific Northwest Aerospace Alliance today endorsed commercial air service at Paine Field in Everett (WA). The move is highly controversial. The Snohomish County Council and the City Councils of Edmonds and Mukilteo, adjacent suburbs, oppose the service…. 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

Airbus, Boeing battle for US MAX-NEO market share

With the announcement by Alaska Airlines for 20 737 MAX 8s, 17 737 MAX 9s (and 13 Next-Generation 737-900ERs), Airbus and Boeing continue their battle for the US market. There are still a number of customers who have… Read More

LCC airline news: AirAsia bid draws scrutiny; WestJet goes upscale; M&A potential

There are two items of note for low-cost carriers that we find interesting: AirAsia’s bid to buy Batavia Air looks like it is to become a political football, according to this article in the Wall Street Journal. Canada’s… Read More

Odds and Ends: the cost of a 737-800; Planes take off despite ground mishap; ‘We know about this’

Boeing 737-800: Wells Fargo’s aerospace analyst team issued a note today that confirms its previous calculations that American Airlines is paying $40m-$41m for its 737-800s. Update, August 1: We received this note from Wells Fargo: What was confirmed… Read More