Odds and Ends: ANA, Airbus and Boeing; Era of the jumbo jet; Repo wars

ANA to stay with Boeing? After losing Japan Airlines to Airbus, analysts are split over whether ANA will also defect. Some say JAL’s order will give ANA cover to defect. Others say JAL’s order will increase the pressure… Read More

Odds and Ends: ANA to be battle royale; Boeing’s top salesman; Delta and the A380

All Nippon Airways Wide-Body Battle: Having lost a bombshell order to Airbus at Japan Airlines, the focus in Japan now turns to ANA, reports Reuters. Will Boeing shift work from Japan? Reuters has this story. Boeing’s Top Salesman:… Read More

Odds and Ends: Contrary views of Mulally; Cathay considers 420-seat 777-9X; Long haul flight log; a walk in the park

Contrary views of Mulally: With increasing media speculation about the prospect of Alan Mulally returning to Seattle to take the helm of Microsoft, a company in need of strong and creative leadership, two interesting and contrary views of… Read More

Odds and Ends: Airbus 20 year forecast; Boeing in WA State; water bombing a fire; Rolls-Royce’ Classic Airliners

Airbus forecast: Airbus announced its 20 year forecast update today in London (Boeing’s update came in advance of the Paris Air Show in July). Here are links to the update: Reuters, via Fox News The Star of Malaysia… Read More

Replacing Air Force One: will 747-8 production remain open, or can 777-300ER become AF One?

Bloomberg has this story about the prospect of replacing Air Force One “early in the next decade.” Aviation Week has this story as well. The Aviation Week story links to the Dayton Business Journal, and reports that the… Read More

Who needs a 747-8I? Air Canada puts 458 seats in 777-300ER

Holy crammed-in-coach, Batman! Air Canada has configured its latest Boeing 777-300ER with 458 seats, in three classes. How in the world? Airline Reporter tells how, and we wouldn’t want to be stuck in coach. We’ve been writing for… Read More

Key leaders hit back at Boeing “exodus” assertions; CSeries competition for the Big Two; A380 uses; Boeing hikes prices

Boeing’s WA ‘exodus’: Three key leaders in Washington State responded to the drumbeat from State. Sen. Mike Hewitt (R-Walla Walla) that Boeing is in an “exodus” from Washington. Read the article here. We agree that the use of… Read More

Odds and Ends: The risk on airborne fires; C919 delays; A380 v 747-8I

The Risk of Fire: FlightGlobal has this story about the risk of fires on board (free registration required). The news article is alarming about the risks of lithium-ion batteries, combined with the new composite technology. The page for… Read More

A380 has “Lite” versions, too

The announcement by Airbus that it will offer Lite versions of the A330 and A350 families caused a much larger stir than we would have thought. As we previously noted, Boeing will offer a Lite version of the… Read More

Dropping EADS for Airbus Group

The move to drop the acronym EADS for Airbus Group is being made out by some media to be a major step that better positions Airbus to compete with Boeing. This is a stretch. The name change simply… Read More