PNAA Conference: Aboulafia on CSeries, 777X, 787-10 and A350

Bombardier has an uphill battle selling CSeries in part because of the production might of Airbus and Boeing, says Richard Aboulafia of the Teal Group. With the two big OEMs each producing the single-aisle airplanes at rates of… Read More

Airbus may drop lithium batteries from A350; BCA CEO appeals to SPEEA members

Airbus may drop Lithium batteries: Bloomberg reports that Airbus may drop lithium ion batteries from the A350 in the wake of the problems encountered by Boeing. Reuters has this report. A switch to standard batteries would delay the… Read More

Odds and Ends: Narrowing the cause on 787s; 30-120 days grounding?

Narrowing the Cause: Aviation Week has a good article with some behind-the-scenes snippets about the grounding of the Boeing 787. Toward the end are comments from Japan Air Lines about narrowing the cause of the battery problems. The… Read More

Odds and Ends: SPEEA talks; 787 Update; Bombardier raises $2bn

SPEEA Talks: Boeing and SPEEA both issued brief statements late yesterday that talks resumed and will reconvene today at 9 am PT. The absence of any rhetoric of any kind suggests the absence of tension in yesterday’s session–or… Read More

Embraer selects PW GTF for E-Jet RE; concept clarity comes at last

It’s official: Embraer selected the PW GTF to re-engine the E-175, E-190 and E-195. In doing so, it looks like the E-170 will be allowed to wither on the vine. This is a huge win for PW and… Read More

2012’s Most Momentous event: were readers correct?

A year ago we asked the following question and received the results. Now that 2012 is all but over, do you agree with your own forecasts? What is the most momentous event you predict for 2012? Answer Percent… Read More

Odds and Ends: CSeries and London City Airport; new life for BAe-146; SPEEA’s next step

It’s Christmas Eve but there is some news despite this being a slow day. CSeries and London City Airport: The downtown airport is a highly challenging one. Aircraft have a challenging approach. The runway is short. British Airways… Read More

Odds and Ends: CSeries picks up; Air Canada’s Rouge; A380 v 747-8; Allegiant Air

CSeries picks up: Bombardier is ending the year with some upbeat news for the CSeries. First was an LOI for up to 30 CS100s from an unidentified customer. Next the wings arrived to be assembled onto FTV1 (Flight… Read More

Some retrospective thoughts of 2012

As the year winds down, we look back and view the year as somewhat anti-climatic. We thought Boeing would make a decision on what to do about the 777X. Hasn’t happened. We thought there would be a formal… 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