Leeham News and Analysis
There's more to real news than a news release.
787-9 first flight today
The first flight of the Boeing 787-9 is scheduled for 10am PDT today. The Weather forecast is cloudy but no rain until this afternoon. Landing is about 3pm. The first flight will be webcast here. We’ll be on-site… Read More
USAF considers scrapping KC-10 in sequester
KC-10 scrapping: The US Air Force is considering scrapping the KC-10 aerial tanker fleet as a result of budget cutbacks in the sequester, The Army Times reports. This is stunning news, considering the seven year battle to recapitalize… Read More
Implications for the 787-9’s first flight
The first flight of the next member of the Boeing 787 family, the -9, is coming soon and this has greater implications than usual for what would be called a minor model variant. . Boeing has been making… Read More
Replacing Air Force One: will 747-8 production remain open, or can 777-300ER become AF One?
Bloomberg has this story about the prospect of replacing Air Force One “early in the next decade.” Aviation Week has this story as well. The Aviation Week story links to the Dayton Business Journal, and reports that the… Read More
New life for old airliners
New life has been created for an airliner that wasn’t considered a particularly successful airliner. The British Aerospace 146/Avro family is being converted to an aerial firefighting tanker and also an aerial refueling tanker. The 146 and follow-on… Read More
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: 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