Leeham News and Analysis
There's more to real news than a news release.
Leeham News and Analysis
- RTX Q1 2025 Earnings: GTF Talk Takes A Back Seat To Tariffs April 22, 2025
- Tariffs Tumult Takes Over GE Aerospace Q1 2025 Earnings Call April 22, 2025
- Boeing reports mixed results of latest employee survey, but middle management and officers remain key obstacles April 22, 2025
- Hopes for 1Q financial progress turns into bumpy ride for Boeing April 21, 2025
- Bjorn’s Corner: Air Transport’s route to 2050. Part 18. April 18, 2025
Laying the groundwork for a Boeing appeal on KC-X
Update, Dec. 1: George Talbot of The Mobile Press-Register has this interesting interview with Michael Wynne, a former top defense department procurement official, who suggests a solution to the KC-X quandary. Also, at 12:50pm PST: Bloomberg has this… Read More
Snapshot: EADS press conference, mainly on Tanker and USAF faux pas
We attended a press conference today in Washington (DC) with Sean O’Keefe, CEO of EADS North America, that covered a variety of issues but focused mainly on the KC-X tanker competition and most particularly the news last week… Read More
Tanker shortage cancels Red Flag exercise
Update, Nov. 17: EADS now is predicting the tanker contract award will slip to next year. This is entirely consistent with what we have been hearing (first quarter) and what we understand Boeing believes as well. Original Post:… Read More
Another KC-X deadline passes
Today was supposed to be the day the KC-X contract was to get its go-ahead, but as has so often been the case, another deadline has come and gone. The USAF suggests it will be done this fall,… Read More
Elections results and the KC-X
The election results could have a major affect on the KC-X tanker competition. The headlines are: The Republican takeover of the House means Norm Dicks (D-Boeing/WA) loses is chairmanship of the House Appropriations subcommittee on defense, a position… Read More
New delay likely in tanker competition
We have been told by two sources, including one that is very close to the competition, that the Air Force is likely to announce a new delay soon in evaluation and award of a contract in the long-running… Read More
Air Force chief ambiguous on tanker selection timing
The Hill, a specialty publication reporting on matters of “the Hill,” aka Congress, reports today that the chief of the US Air Force won’t confirm selection of the winner for the KC-X program will be selected this year…. Read More
EADS reveals its analysis of tanker fuel use; says KC-45 is more efficient than KC-767
EADS reveals its study–countering two Boeing-commissioned reports–about fuel usage of the KC-45 vs the KC-767; EADS says it delivers more bang for the buck than Boeing; Flight Global has a good story detailing some of Boeing’s KC-767’s technical… Read More
KC-767 cost advantage over KC-45
Boeing has released the results of a study it commissioned on the life-cycle cost advantage of the KC-767 vs. the KC-45, this time using a firm we’ve actually heard of and greatly respect: AeroStrategy. AeroStrategy analyzed 10 scenarios,… Read More
Tanker update
It’s been a while since we’ve talked about the KC-X tanker competition, which is coming to the forefront again with the issuance of the Interim Report on Boeing subsidies by the WTO. Flight International has this story citing… Read More