Boeing details 737 improvements

With a tip of the hat to Jon Ostrower and his Tweet, here’s a link to some detail about the improvements to the Boeing 737. Given the Airbus write-up in its advertisement about the MAX, we thought this… Read More

Ad wars, continued–Airbus fires Round Three

This week’s issue of the trade magazines has Round Three of the Airbus response to Boeing ads. Click to enlarge.

Odds and Ends: Progress on the KC-46A; Southwest and AirTran; British Air’s A380

KC-46A Progress: National Defense magazine has this update on progress of the Boeing KC-46A tanker. According to the article, progress is proceeding well. Southwest Airlines and AirTran: Southwest Airlines is the USA’s legacy low-cost carrier, and it has… Read More

Odds and Ends: SPEEA says strike is likely; CFM LEAP update

SPEEA v Boeing: The Seattle Times reported that there is a very high chance of a strike by SPEEA against Boeing come February. This is, of course, bad news for all concerned. SPEEA is already talking about a… Read More

Airbus v Boeing: another round of what the customers tell us

With the recent spat upping the media war between Airbus and Boeing over whose airplanes offer better economics, we’ve been once more asking customers what their analyses conclude. Nothing has changed from our earlier conversations. As recent media… Read More

Odds and Ends: Bombardier lands Delta’s RJ deal; 787 events in perspective; Airbus/China; Enders victory

Delta Air Lines: Bombardier, in a welcome development, landed a major order with Delta for 40+30 CRJ900s, beating out Embraer’s E-Jet proposal. Delta has a large, installed base of CRJs and EMB wasn’t too optimistic, in management-analysts meetings… Read More

SPEEA, Boeing suspend talks at Mediator’s request

Boeing and its engineers’ union, SPEEA, suspended talks Dec. 4 until after the first of the year at the request of the federal Mediator. Boeing and SPEEA issued terse statements citing the Mediator but adding no comment of… Read More

Airbus’ A330 improvements aimed at maintaining market position vs 787

Airbus last week announced additional gross weight upgrades and improvements to the A330-200/300 that increase range and reduce fuel burn. Aviation Week has this story about the enhancements. This is the latest in a series of improvements taking… Read More

Random thoughts about Airbus, Boeing and related issues

We’ve been traveling on business all week and naturally the conversation was all aviation. We spoke with lessors, aerospace analysts, hedge funds and private equity. In what amounts to a data dump, here is what is being discussed… Read More

Boeing, SPEEA talks take a turn for the worse

Labor contract negotiations between Boeing and SPEEA took a turn for the worse (and things were bad already) when Boeing asked for federal mediation. If this request is granted, SPEEA won’t be able to strike while mediation is… Read More