Who needs a 747-8I? Air Canada puts 458 seats in 777-300ER

Holy crammed-in-coach, Batman! Air Canada has configured its latest Boeing 777-300ER with 458 seats, in three classes. How in the world? Airline Reporter tells how, and we wouldn’t want to be stuck in coach. We’ve been writing for… Read More

Odds and Ends: 787 fulfilling dream; Weather worsens for CSeries; Painting out logos; plane vs car

787 Opens New Routes: The Boeing 787 is still getting some negative headlines about dispatch reliability, but the plane is proving Boeing’s underlying message about opening new, “thin” routes. The Tacoma News-Tribune has this story detailing how the… Read More

Odds and Ends: S&P; C-17; AA-US merger (again); 777X wing work; WA aerospace future

S&P says don’t pay attention to our ratings: On the same day Delta Air Lines was named to the S&P 500, The Los Angeles Times had this article commenting on Standard & Poor’s legal defense of its investment… Read More

CSeries completes high speed test; Weather remains the variable for first flight

The Bombardier CSeries completed the high speed taxi tests this morning. This means the first flight should be just days away, weather depending—and the forecast is iffy. Bombardier tells us they “need” a clear, dry, calm day. Plans… Read More

FedEx takes first 767-300ERF; sources say readies 767-2CF order

FedEx took delivery of its first Boeing 767-300ERF yesterday. Boeing Photo As we reported way back on June 16, our market intelligence tells us FDX is lined up to become the first commercial customers of the 767-2C, the… Read More

CSeries first flight may be Sunday, says Reuters

The thrice-delayed first flight of the Bombardier CSeries may come Sunday, reports Reuters. We previously posted some thoughts on the pending first flight. We expanded on these thoughts in our e-mail newsletter Aug. 26. Below is the entire… Read More

Delta orders Airbus–a look back at the history between the two companies

Delta Air Lines announced an order today for 30 A321ceos and 10 A330-300 HGW. This is the first Airbus order from Delta in two decades; the only previous order was for nine A310-300s during the days of CEO… Read More

Odds and Ends: Slowing sales; Airbus in Japan; MRJ delay; Crandall on merger

Slowing Jet Sales: Within a few days, Bloomberg, Reuters and The Seattle Times each had stories about slowing jet sales. Here is the Bloomberg story, focusing on cargo sales. Here is the Reuters story. Here is The Seattle… Read More

Odds and Ends: MAKS summary; Airbus look; A350 launch aid; slow freighter sales

MAKS Air Show Summary: This account summarizes the orders placed at the Moscow Air Show, known as MAKS. It appears only Bombardier among Western OEMs made any commercial deals. Looking at Airbus: Aspire Aviation takes a long look… Read More

Irkut makes 10% fuel advantage claim over NEO, MAX for MC-21

Russia’s Irkurt claims its MC-21 mainline jet, a direct competitor to the Airbus A320/321neo and Boeing 737-8/9 MAX, will be some 10% more economical. Irkut claims the MC-21 will be up to 23% more efficient than the current… Read More