Pontifications: A330neo, still struggling, nears 300 sales

June 27, 2023, © Leeham News: Airbus inked a memorandum of understanding with lessor Avolon for 20 A330-900s at last week’s Paris Air Show. When converted to a firm contract, this will bring the -900 order book to… Read More

Air Lease Corp.’s A220 order may be followed soon by others

By Scott Hamilton Nov. 16, 2021, © Leeham News: Air Lease Corp. added another 25 Airbus A220s to its backlog with Airbus. The letter of intent, announced at the Dubai Air Show, brings ALC’s A220 backlog to 75,… Read More

Pontifications: Southwest didn’t invite Airbus to bid

April 5, 2021, © Leeham News: Southwest Airlines didn’t ask Airbus to submit a commercial bid for the A220-300, three knowledgeable sources tell Leeham News. Southwest conducted an internal technical analysis of the A220-300 vs. the 737-7 MAX…. Read More

Pontifications: Transitions, clearing the decks and turmoil at Airbus

Nov. 26, 2018, © Leeham News: With the naming of CFO and COO officers-in-waiting, Airbus Group has completed the extreme makeover of its executive ranks. The full transition won’t be complete until April. It’s widely been reported that… Read More

Pontifications: Musical chairs at Airbus

Sept. 17, 2018, © Leeham News: The surprise resignation last week by Eric Schulz as Chief Commercial Officer for Airbus re-opened the door for the man who should have been named in the first place, Christian Scherer. Scherer… Read More

Pontifications: Scrutiny of HNA intensifies

Nov. 27, 2017, © Leeham Co.: Time for some catch-up in the world of commercial aviation. Scrutiny of HNA Group is intensifying as regulators in Switzerland claim the Chinese company provided false information in the takeover of a… Read More

New ATR CEO favors clean-sheet design turboprop

Subscription Required Part 1; Bombardier will appear next week. Introduction March 30, 2017, © Leeham Co.: Economics simply don’t support development of a new turboprop any time soon, an analysis shows. Low utilization by turboprop operators, the cost… Read More

Assessing ATR future

Subscription Required Introductions Feb. 27, 2017, © Leeham Co.: ATR today holds an almost monopolistic position in the large turbo-prop market with 87% of the backlog at YE2016. Bombardier, once the dominant turbo-prop manufacturer, has a mere 13%…. Read More

Airbus Innovation Days: synopsis of a lot of stuff

We’ve been at the Airbus Innovation Days in Toulouse, with about 200 others from around the globe. Here are some highlights: A380 wing rib issues: As reported previously in various media, Tom Williams, EVP-programs, outlined the issues with… Read More