Sunset of the Quads, Part 3

Subscription Required By Vincent Valery Introduction   Aug. 20, 2020, © Leeham News: Last week, we compared the economics of the 747-400 and the A380 on the Los Angeles to Sydney route. We now turn our attention to Airbus’… Read More

Pontifications: bleak near- to mid-term future for Rolls-Royce engine unit

June 15, 2020, © Leeham News: The jet engine division of Rolls-Royce faces an uncertain future because of its own problems, exacerbated by the impact of COVID-19 on commercial airlines. Beset by problems with its Trent 1000, Boeing… Read More

Understanding Rolls-Royce’s financials

Subscription Required By Vincent Valery Introduction   Dec. 2, 2019, © Leeham News: Rolls-Royce continues to be in the spotlight for the Trent 1000 durability issues, with no end in sight. The engine manufacturer recently increased the total disruption… Read More

Bjorn’s Corner: Aircraft engine maintenance, Part 1

March 3, 2017, ©. Leeham Co: We will now go through how airline turbofans are maintained. First, we will describe the typical work which is performed, then look into the markets for engine maintenance. In the markets for engine… Read More

Bjorn’s Corner; Turbofan engine challenges, Part 7

December 16, 2016, ©. Leeham Co: After the turbine comes the engine’s exhaust system. This is where the thrust characteristics of the engine are formed. It is also the environment that defines the back pressure for the fan and… Read More

Bjorn’s Corner: hot summer, hot engines

17 July 2015, ©. Leeham Co: It is summer in south of Europe and we have had over 30°C/86°F for weeks. It makes one realize the conditions where the engines have to work over their flat rating point in… Read More

Rolls-Royce plans for new single-aisle, twin-aisle airplane engines

Rolls-Royce may not be at a cross road but it’s certainly at a fork in the road. RR sought to be a dual-source supplier for the Boeing 777X, competing with GE Aviation for the privilege; it was generally… Read More

Malev, Spanair shutdowns add to parked aircraft

Today’s shutdown of Hungary’s Malev Airlines and the recent cessation by Spain’s Spanair adds to the number of parked aircraft and will make it just a little bit more challenging to remarket Boeing 737s and Airbus A320s. As… Read More

Rolls-Royce, PW may be feuding but extend IAE to 2045

The feud between Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney over patent infringements is nasty and in court, and the Rolls-Royce view that it doesn’t think much of the PW Geared Turbo Fan technology is well known, but speculation that… Read More

Eco-Aviation in the US

Eco-Aviation continues to gain ground in the US. Environmental forces in Europe have been targeting aviation for several years, and very aggressively. In the US, the issue has been much slower to catch on. Airbus and Boeing have… Read More