Single-aisle values, lease rates stable; smaller mainline jets struggle

Special to Leeham News and Comment By Gueric Dechavanne Collateral Verifications Feb. 8, 2015: Apart from a few unfortunate events, the industry has been moving along quite nicely so far in 2015. Used single-aisle aircraft values and lease… Read More

Odds and Ends: KC-390 first flight; A400M; AirAsia 8501; Bombardier credibility

KC-390 first flight: Embraer’s largest airplane ever built, the KC-390 tanker/transport, made its first flight today. We profiled the airplane last October following our visit to Brazil. The airplane fulfills needs for Brazil’s vast geography to supply its… Read More

Odds and Ends: AirAsia 8501; SkyMark Airlines bankruptcy; One year for MH370; Billy Bishop Airport; PNAA conference

Jan. 29, 2015: AirAsia 8501: The first report by the Indonesian government has been issued, per international rules, but the public portion is pretty uninformative if press reports are to be believed. At the same time, leaks indicate… Read More

First analysis of Mitsubishi Regional Jet, MRJ

Subscription required By Bjorn Fehrm Introduction 25 Jan 2015: Japan has not produced a commercial aircraft since 1973, when the last YS-11 twin engined turboprop rolled off the assembly line. The YS-11 was developed by a consortium of Japanese “heavies,”… Read More

Assessing turmoil at Bombardier: it doesn’t stop at CSeries

The Wall Street Journal takes a look at Bombardier.(Subscription required.) ““We did not fully expect and prepare” for the competitive response, said a Bombardier executive. Its studies concluded re-engining the A320 and 737 made no economic sense and… Read More

2015 a year of execution for Embraer commercial

Subscription Required Introduction Jan. 7, 2015: Embraer, the world’s #3 commercial airplane manufacturer, enters 2015 viewing this as a year of execution, says its chief commercial officer, John S. Slattery. There are three pillars: Continuing to fill out… Read More

Odds and Ends: 737 MAX order breakdown; Airbus to top Boeing; Embraer to PNAA event

Jan. 6, 2015: 737 MAX Orders: Boeing has broken down the 737 MAX orders for the entire program in response to our inquiry. The 737-8 has captured 87% of the program orders since launch in 2011. The MAX… Read More

Turboprops’ future is OK but not great as ATR corners market

Subscription Required Introduction Jan. 5, 2015: Conventional wisdom suggests that turboprops are making a bit of a comeback because these remain far more efficient for routes up to 400 miles than jets, particularly at high fuel prices. Even… Read More

Odds and Ends: AirAsia 8501, PNAA Conference, FWIW

Jan. 2, 2014: AirAsia 8501: Our friend Geoff Thomas has an interesting commentary about the AirAsia 8501 story. Also, an Airbus A330 pilot for a major US airline, offered these observations about QZ8501. A Linkedin profile suggests this… Read More

Looking ahead in 2015 in commercial aviation

Here’s a visualization of events to look for in commercial aviation in 2015.