Leeham News and Analysis
There's more to real news than a news release.
Leeham News and Analysis
- China bans Boeing, US parts imports in tariff war April 15, 2025
- Boeing welcomes COMAC competition as Asia-Pacific demand soars April 15, 2025
- How good is the C929? April 14, 2025
- Bjorn’s Corner: Air Transport’s route to 2050. Part 17. April 11, 2025
- Uncertainty plagues airline, aerospace, lessor industries over tariffs April 10, 2025
Airbus’ A330 improvements aimed at maintaining market position vs 787
Airbus last week announced additional gross weight upgrades and improvements to the A330-200/300 that increase range and reduce fuel burn. Aviation Week has this story about the enhancements. This is the latest in a series of improvements taking… Read More
Odds and Ends: Air France v Rolls-Royce for A350; Virgin America rejigs; Last A340s sold; Heading South with SPEEA
Air France v Rollsr-Royce: The saga continues-see this Bloomberg story. We understand there is more to it than just maintenance. Rolls wants AF to order the Trent 1000 for the 787 order, too. Virgin America: This airline, headquartered… Read More
787-10 decision anticipated very soon, perhaps within days
Boeing’s Board is expected to be asked very soon, perhaps at its meeting in October, to grant Authority to Offer the 787-10 to customers, according to two sources. A Boeing spokeswoman said that ATO for the 787-10 is… Read More
Air France A350 contract stalled; here’s the way forward
Bloomberg News has this report that the Air France-KLM talks for 25 Airbus A350s remain stalled over the long-running dispute between the company and Rolls-Royce over AF’s desire to overhaul the Trent XWB engines. The Air France-KLM group… Read More
Cash cows at Airbus and Boeing
Eyes are on Boeing over the prospect of a 777X. Chatter doesn’t cease about the prospect of an Airbus A330neo. Boeing is in no hurry to proceed with the “7X” and an A330neo is unlikely any time soon,… Read More
Odds and Ends: RR vs Air France; Kingfisher Airlines; Phuket
RR vs Air France: We’ve written about this before–Air France wants to maintain the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines on the Airbus A350s it wants to buy, but RR wants to maintain the engines. The dispute has been holding… Read More
Odds and Ends: Designing 737 MAX; RR & PW; CFM
737 MAX: Boeing Frontiers Magazine has a long article with lots of pictures describing the designing process of the Advanced Technology Winglets. RR-PW on big engines: Aviation Week has this article speculating on the prospect of Rolls-Royce and… Read More
Odds and Ends: Airworthiness Directives and sloppy headline writing
Airworthiness Directives: The New York Times has a good piece about ADs that should put many general assignment reporters to shame. The rhubarb over the ADs applied to the Airbus A380 spurred Nicola Clark’s reporting. This is a… Read More
Odds and Ends: Revisiting a 757 crash; Boeing-WTO appeal due this week
Boeing 757 Crash: In 1996 a Birgenair Boeing 757 crashed into the sea, following discrepancies with the pitot tubes speed indications. This story revisits the circumstances. Boeing WTO appeal: The appeal of the WTO panel findings that Boeing… Read More