Leeham News and Analysis
There's more to real news than a news release.
Leeham News and Analysis
- The Boeing 767 Cross Section, Part 1 November 24, 2022
- Movie Review: Devotion November 21, 2022
- China will accelerate development of its commercial aerospace sector November 21, 2022
- Bjorn’s Corner: Sustainable Air Transport. Part 46. eVTOL comparison with helicopter November 18, 2022
- The economics of a 787-9 and A330-900 at eight or nine abreast November 16, 2022
Podcast: Paris Air Show, A Look Back
Addison Schonland, Richard Aboulafia and I did a podcast late yesterday, talking about the commercial orders at the Air Show, Airbus, Bombardier, the tanker program, UAVs and last but not least we took bets on whether the first flight of the 787 would happen on June 30. The answers are very interesting in light of this morning’s news.
Launch aid for the A350
This is the seventh in a series of reports from the EADS media day and the Paris Air Show.
It is becoming increasingly clear that Airbus is almost certain to tap launch aid from its member states (France, Germany, Britain and a miffed Spain) of $4bn-$5bn for launch aid for the A350.
787 FF June 28: Aviation Week; Umm, June 30: Flightblogger
Aviation Week magazine today reported that Sunday, June 28, is the likely day for the first flight of the Boeing 787. Read the story here.
Bloomberg has a good piece on “the $15 billion dilemma” faced by Boeing to respond to the Airbus A350. This story may be found here.
Update, June 20: Flightblogger reports June 30 now targeted for first flight.
Bits and Pieces
This is the sixth of a series of posts from the EAD media day and the Paris Air Show….
There are always bits and pieces picked up at these things that don’t fit anywhere else.
Boeing KC-7A7 tanker briefing
This is the fourth in a series of reports from the EADS media day and the Paris Air Show. We will be off-line Wednesday while returning to to USA.
Source: Winds of Change. Rendering of the KC-767 and KC-777.
Source: Catch 4 All: Comparisons of KC-777, KC-30, KC-767, KC-135 footprints.
Boeing held a dedicated tanker briefing Tuesday (June 16) to add detail to the announcement Monday by IDS President Jim Albaugh, who said the company’s tanker program has been remained KC-7A7. This designation reflects the ambiguity of what airplane Boeing will offer: a 767-based or a 777-based aircraft.
Deja vu all over again
The third in series of articles from the EADS media day and the Paris Air Show….
Your competitor has designed a new airplane that promises to be 20% more efficient than yours. You are involved in a costly new airplane program already that is billions of dollars over budget and years late. So hoping to avoid taking on another entirely new airplane program you decide to re-wing yours and hang some new-generation engines on it to be competitive.
That’s what Airbus did when Boeing announced its 787. The popular A330 received a new wing and new engines and called the A350. It was a dud.
KC-777 ready to go?
Update, 6:00PM Paris Time:
By now readers probably have seen the news from the Air Show on this topic: Boeing is prepared to offer either a 777-based tanker or a 767-based tanker, depending on the RFP requirements. Bloomberg News has a good summary of the IDS briefing on this topic. It may be found here. As far as the factual reporting goes, we don’t have anything to add to the Bloomberg piece. There is a full tanker briefing tomorrow, at which the media has been promised more detail.
Barring any more downpours like we had today to further dampen the spirits of aviation, we will be there..
Original Post:
This is the second in a series of articles from the EADS Media Day and the Paris Air show….
There was an interesting buzz at the Aerospace Journalist of the Year Awards dinner on the eve of the launch of the Paris Air Show.
Word was circulating that Boeing will announce at its Integrated Defense Systems briefing at 11 am June 15 that the company is prepared to offer the USAF a tanker based on the 777-200F should the new Draft Request for Proposals outline requirements for a larger medium tanker than Boeing’s previous KC-767-200AT offering.
Airbus delivery level in 2010, 2011 questionable
The first in a series of reports from the EADS media day and the Paris Air Show…..
Airbus will deliver about the same number of airplanes this year as it did in 2008–roughly 480–but the numbers for 2010 and “perhaps” 2011 are much less certain, said EADS CEO Louis Gallois and the company’s annual media day June 13.
Off to the Paris Air Show
We will be attending the EADS Media Day June 13 and the Paris Air Show on Monday and Tuesday. Watch for our reports from each event.
Performance, delays will be factors in KC-X rebid
The US Air Force is gearing up to issue a new request for proposals, perhaps as early as July, for Round 3 of the KC-X aerial refueling tanker competition. Pentagon officials hope to award a contract by year end.
The contest is widely expected to be a rematch of the battle between the Northrop Grumman/EADS/Airbus KC-30 and the Boeing KC-767AT. Although nobody knows what specifications will be in the RFP, the belief is that it will largely reflect the technical requirements of those in the Round Two RFP won by Northrop.
Boeing successfully protested the award, saying the USAF gave extra credit to the larger KC-30 while telling Boeing that it would not—thus prompting Boeing to stick with its KC-767 proposal. Boeing hinted that had it known of the USAF preference for a larger airplane, it might have offered a tanker based on the 777-200F.