Leeham News and Analysis
There's more to real news than a news release.
Bjorn’s Corner: Aircraft Structures Part 3. New Alloys with Issues
By Bjorn Fehrm
May 29, 2026, ©. Leeham News: We do a series on aircraft structures and how these have shaped how our airliners can transport us around the world today.
We started the history of aircraft structures last week by observing that the development of structures is very much tied to the development of materials, with the crossover from wood to metal enabled by the discovery of copper-alloyed aluminum, which was originally patented as Duralumin.
We will now look at the stressed skin construction this enabled and the development of a second class of alloyed aluminum, the Zinc alloyed class, today classified as part of the 7000 series.
Figure 1. DC-3, the most influential stressed skin aircraft between the wars. Source: Silodrome.com
Airbus Next New Airplane Part 2. The neo Success.
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By Bjorn Fehrm and Scott Hamilton
May 28, 2026, © Leeham News: This is the third article in a series that will use Airbus’ history and present technology work to deduce how Airbus will develop its next new airliner. The company’s current statement is that this new aircraft, a single-aisle model that will replace the A320/A321 series, will begin deliveries to airlines in the latter part of the next decade.
We looked into Airbus’ history in the last article to understand its DNA when it comes to aircraft development up to the last new aircraft, the A350-900. Now we look at the development that has been done since, all upgrades and further developments of existing platforms. Can it keep the Airbus’ engineering capability sharp for the task of the next new airplane?
Ortberg: 737MAX at 47/mo, target is 63/mo in the future
By Karl Sinclair
Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg at the 737 production plant in Renton (WA). Credit: Boeing.
May 28, 2026, © Leeham News: “We’d like to get someday to 63 a month rate [on the 737 MAX], and so we’re looking forward to that. The market will support those higher rates. We’ve just got to get ourselves and our supply chain in a position to do that,” said Boeing CEO Kelly Orberg, speaking at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference today.
Boeing recently completed a capstone review with the FAA and is producing at 47/mo in its Renton (WA) production facilities. Ortberg said it will take months to stabilize production at the new rate before seeking to boost it to 52/mo. This was the rate in March 2019 when the MAX was grounded by regulators following the second of two fatal crashes five months apart. The grounding would last 21 months.
However, in order to move beyond 52/mo, which Ortberg targets as the next review point, the North Line in Everett (WA) will have to be brought on line.
Previously, the Renton FAL had been able to produce at 57/mo, and was preparing to boost production to this rate when the grounding happened. Ortberg is no longer willing to push the facilities to that limit.
“We don’t think we can sustainably with our current safety and quality processes do that in Renton. That’s why we brought the additional line on. It’ll give us the capacity of an additional line. It also gives us flexibility,” he said.
GE’s LEAP engines shipped today should match durability of the venerable CFM56, company says
By Scott Hamilton
May 27, 2026, © Leeham News: GE Aerospace says that CFM International LEAP engines being shipped now will match the durability of the venerable CFM-56.
This was a goal promised when the LEAP first went on sale, competing with the Pratt & Whitney GTF in 2010. PW also promised durability comparable to that of the International Aero Engines V2500. The CFM56 powers the Boeing 737NG exclusively and shares power with the V2500 on the Airbus A320ceo. The LEAP-1A shares power with the GTF on the A320neo. The LEAP-1B exclusively powers the 737 MAX. The GTF entered service in December 2015, followed by the LEAP-1A shortly thereafter. The LEAP-1B entered service in May 2017.
Both engines fell well short of the guaranteed on-wing time.
GE Aerospace’s testing regimen to improve durability for its major engine programs. Credit: GE Aerospace.
Poorer durability than expected for both engines means parts failed or wore out more quickly than expected. Degraded parts also increased fuel consumption. Higher maintenance costs, in some cases significantly higher, offset double-digit fuel consumption savings each engine achieved. PW’s problems exploded into an industry-wide operating crisis as upwards of 700 A320neos, scores of Airbus A220s, and a handful of Embraer E195-E2 were grounded (aircraft on ground, or AOG) awaiting engine repairs or replacements.
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CFM’s joint venture partners, GE and Safran, faced premature engine removals and a smattering of AOGs.
Airbus’ Next New Airplane Part 1.
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By Bjorn Fehrm and Scott Hamilton
Figure 1. Airbus will begin testing of CFM’s RISE Open Fan engine in 2029 on the company’s A380 test airplane. Credit: CFM.
May 25, 2026, © Leeham News: This is the first article in a series that will use Airbus’ history and present technology work to deduce how Airbus will develop its next new airliner. The company’s current statement is that this new single-aisle aircraft, which will replace the A320/A321 series, will begin deliveries to airlines by the latter part of the next decade.
What will its key benefits be, and how will Airbus develop and market such an aircraft? To understand this, we will conduct a historical sweep to examine what is in Airbus’ DNA regarding aircraft development, and what has changed in internal and external factors since the last new aircraft development, the A350-900, beginning in 2006.
Reader Comments-Open Forum, Week of May 25
LNA’s Comments Open Forum allows Readers opportunities to comment about any post (note, we said “Post”, not any “Topic”). All comments will be held for review and Moderation per our new policy. The Open Forum enables Readers to Comment on paywall articles (to the extent the paywall preview is open to all readers).
Maintain civility and follow Reader Comment rules.
A new Open Forum will be posted weekly.
ACAS X Is Already in the Cockpit. The AI-and-ATC Debate Is Three Years Too Late. Part 1.
- The FAA approved an AI-augmented collision avoidance system years ago. The current debate over SMART misses what the regulatory architecture already settled.
By Vincent E. Bianco III
ATC Correspondent, Leeham News & Analysis
Vincent Bianco III.
May 24, 2026, © Leeham News: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has already approved an artificial-intelligence-augmented collision avoidance system that takes authority away from Air Traffic Control (ATC) in critical moments.
It has been operational on commercial aircraft for years. Its decision logic was derived using machine-learning techniques. When it issues an instruction in a conflict event, the pilot follows the system, not the controller. The current hand-wringing in the popular media over whether AI belongs in air traffic management is therefore approximately three years late to a question the federal regulator has already settled. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is, with all due respect, late to the party.
Bjorn’s Corner: Aircraft Structures Part 2. The History is governed by Materials.
By Bjorn Fehrm
May 22, 2026, ©. Leeham News: We do a series on aircraft structures and how they have shaped the way our airliners transport us around the world today.
We start with the history of aircraft structures, as this is a good way to understand where we are today. Mankind has dreamt of flying like the birds. It was also the birds that inspired the first wing kits that were assembled by men like Otto Lilienthal. He put on bird-like wings and flew down a slope in Berlin in 1895, Figure 1.
Figure 1. Ott Lilienthal with his glider wings in Berlin, 1895. Source: Wikipedia.
Lilienthal and other pioneers studied how the birds flew and took ideas on wings and tail from these. They covered a wooden structure, often made of bamboo, with cloth to give the wings an aerodynamic shape.
GE’s foam engine wash aims to restore efficiency, improve fuel burn and durability
GE Aerospace developed a foam engine wash that is more efficient and thorough than the standard all-water wash used to clean the engine, restore efficiency, and reduce fuel consumption. Credit: GE Aerospace.
By Scott Hamilton
May 21, 2026, © Leeham News: Jet engines degrade in normal operating conditions compared with new deliveries.
Challenging environments, like the harsh Middle East, accelerate the degradation of parts and, with this, fuel efficiency. In the Middle East, fine dust particles are especially hard on engines.
But degradation also occurs in “normal” environments, as well as super-cold ones.
Volcanic ash can cause catastrophic failure. Note the 1982 incident in which a British Airways Boeing 747 with Rolls-Royce engines flew unknowingly at night into a high-altitude ash cloud. All four engines shut down due to ash ingestion and significant damage. The crew was finally able to restart the engines as the jumbo jet glided toward what seemed like a certain water ditching. The plane made a safe emergency landing.
Dust doesn’t have remotely the same effect. Its degradation to the engine occurs over time.
GE Aerospace has a new foam engine power wash that cleanses the engine. For an Airbus A320neo with a CFM LEAP-1A engine, the wash takes about four hours. Typical intervals for an active maintenance program are about every 250-500 cycles. Widebody engines take longer, about eight hours.
The foam wash replaces a water washing process that’s been around for decades. Pratt & Whitney introduced its water wash system in the early 1980s to clean JT8D engines used by Muse Air Corp’s McDonnell Douglas DC-8-50s and MD-80s.
GE’s foam system is currently used on only five commercial airliner engines: the CF34, LEAP, GE90, GEnx, and the Engine Alliance GP7200 made by GE and PW. The science may be applied to smaller engines used on business jets.
Airbus’ 27 year march to a new airplane
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By Scott Hamilton
Background
May 21, 2026, © Leeham News: We completed a multi-part series last month on Boeing’s 30-Year March to a New Airplane. Now, it’s Airbus’s turn.
It will be around 27 years between new airplane program launches, based on some moving targets.
The A350 was Airbus’ last all-new airplane design. (The A220 doesn’t count; this program was purchased from Bombardier.)
Figure 1. There is a plethora of new aircraft concepts and derivatives being discussed by various companies over the coming decade. Airbus has key decisions to make. Source: Leeham News.
In 2004, Airbus launched what would become the first version of the A350. It was an extreme makeover of the A330. Rolls-Royce Trent engines developed for the Boeing 787 were chosen for the new A350. A new composite wing replaced the A330’s metal wing. A few dozen A350s were sold, but it wasn’t long before Airbus realized this was going to be a loser.
After more false starts, Airbus launched the revamped A350 in 2006, called the XWB, for Xtra Wide Body. Since the A350 was Airbus’ response to the 787, the final version was slightly wider (hence the “Xtra Wide Body”), but narrower than the 777 fuselage. Airbus tried to straddle the 777 and 787 lines. The design was a compromise. LNA will discuss this further in our new series.
Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury previously said he expected to launch a new airplane program in 2030. This would follow about two years of testing the CFM RISE Open Fan engine, designed for the single-aisle replacements of the A320 and Boeing’s 737.
Engine testing was to begin in 2027. It now isn’t slated to begin until 2029. This means that a program launch is unlikely before 2031. That’s 27 years after the launch of the original A350. Whether 2004 or 2006 is the appropriate launch date, and if 2031 is good or a launch comes later, it’s still a long time between new airplane programs.