“We’ll be in a constant state of development for the next 10 years:” Boeing’s Fancher

Boeing may not be designing new airplanes to replace the 737 NG or the 777 family, but the head of Airplane Development says Boeing employees will be busy just the same. “We’re going to be in a constant… Read More

777X: Why it’s not a composite fuselage, and going with a derivative for the 737

Boeing defends 777X aluminum fuselage, reads the headline from Bloomberg News, reporting from the Paris Air Show. During the pre-Paris Air Show media briefings by Boeing, we asked Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of aircraft development,… Read More

Paris Air Show news begins from Sunday; some details on EMB revamp emerge

The Paris Air Show doesn’t start until tomorrow, but news is already being made. A sampling: Airbus Airbus battles for supremacy in twin-aisle sector Hundreds of orders seen this week Airbus seen pulling ahead in easyJet race Boeing… Read More

Airbus v Boeing on wide bodies

Airbus and Boeing don’t confine their comparisons to the A320 v 737. They are equally forthcoming in discussing the wide-body strategies. The pre-Paris Air Show briefings included contrasts in how Airbus and Boeing see the wide-body strategies. Airbus… Read More

Odds and Ends: A350 completes first flight-CSeries to come, with other program launches; passenger experience

A350 First Flight: given the time zone difference between Toulouse and Seattle, our readers are hours ahead of us in following first flight of the Airbus A350. As you could imagine, since it was overnight here, we weren’t… Read More

Odds and Ends: A350 pressures Boeing for 777X; the future of flight; FAA and 787; “one Boeing”

A350 Pressures Boeing: With the first flight of the Airbus A350 now scheduled for tomorrow (instead of today), Bloomberg News reports that the pressure is increased on Boeing to go forward with the 777X. The future of flight:… Read More

Wide-body airplanes get plenty of attention at IATA; Leahy comments on 777X, A350 and A380

The 69th AGM of IATA just concluded at Cape Town, South Africa, and wide-body aircraft drew a lot of focus in these articles from Bloomberg News and Reuters. We spoke with John Leahy at the end of the… Read More

Odds and Ends: Boeing moves jobs from WA State; CSeries FTV 1; A350 power up; 787-9 assembly; 777

Moving jobs out of Washington: The Seattle Times has a story about last Friday’s announcement that Boeing is moving more engineering jobs out of Washington. CSeries: Airliners.net had this photo over the weekend. The first flight is expected… Read More

Odds and Ends: Who’s John Wayne? Air Show musings; Restoring the Dornier 17

As we go into this Memorial Day Weekend, we’re feeling a bit irreverent. So we’re going to meander a bit. Who’s John Wayne? We were in a hardware store checking out. We often say, Thank you, Ma’am to… Read More

Odds and Ends: Dominating Wide-Bodies; Trying to save the 747-8; Delta waits; China OKs 787

Dominating Wide-Bodies: Boeing claimed at its investors’ day yesterday it will dominate the wide-body sector. This, predictably, caused some mirth among our Reader Comments. We agree with Boeing–for the next several years. The 777-9X will have a monopoly… Read More