Public pressure mounts on Airbus to launch A330neo

Public pressure is building on Airbus to launch a re-engining of its A330 medium-sector, twin-aisle, aging airplane as CIT Aerospace and Air Lease Corp. officials joined Delta Air Lines and AirAsia in their previous overt calls for development… Read More

Odds and Ends: S&P; C-17; AA-US merger (again); 777X wing work; WA aerospace future

S&P says don’t pay attention to our ratings: On the same day Delta Air Lines was named to the S&P 500, The Los Angeles Times had this article commenting on Standard & Poor’s legal defense of its investment… Read More

United returns 787 to service today; WSJ points to other issues

United Airlines is the latest carrier to return the Boeing 787 to service today, on a route from Houston to Chicago. UAL CEO Jeff Smisek is joined by Boeing CEO Jim McNerney on the flight. Meantime, the Wall… Read More

Odds and Ends: 777X ATO next month, says AvWeek; 787 and the FAA; A318

777X ATO: Aviation Week reports that Boeing’s Board will grant Authority to Offer the 777X at the next meeting, in April. Emirates Airlines has previously said it will order 100 or more of the X to begin replacing… Read More

Odds and Ends: Cathay cancels 8 777Fs, takes up 3 747-8Fs; soft cargo market a concern

Cathay cancels 777F order: Cathay Pacific Airways canceled an order for eight Boeing 777Fs. CX will instead acquire three 747-8Fs, trading in four 747-400Fs to Boeing. The cargo market remains soft and Boeing is struggling to sell 747-8Fs…. Read More

Odds and Ends: Narrowing the cause on 787s; 30-120 days grounding?

Narrowing the Cause: Aviation Week has a good article with some behind-the-scenes snippets about the grounding of the Boeing 787. Toward the end are comments from Japan Air Lines about narrowing the cause of the battery problems. The… Read More

Qatar wants to be first 787-10 customer; praises EU for ‘face-saving’ freeze of ETS

Akbar Al-Baker, the CEO of Qatar Airways, said he wants to be the first customer for the Boeing 787-10. He has some competition for this status. Boeing is talking with customers now for the new sub-type, which is… Read More

Airbus, Boeing battle for US MAX-NEO market share

With the announcement by Alaska Airlines for 20 737 MAX 8s, 17 737 MAX 9s (and 13 Next-Generation 737-900ERs), Airbus and Boeing continue their battle for the US market. There are still a number of customers who have… Read More

Odds and Ends: 787 fuel savings at ANA; Airbus will benefit from Boeing

ANA 787s: Market Watch quotes an ANA official saying the Boeing 787-8 is saving 21% in fuel over eh previous airplanes. The article didn’t ID the previous planes, but they were the Boeing 767-300ER. Note, too, that the… Read More

ISTAT Part 3: Lessors Panel: GECAS, ILFC, AWAS, Air Lease Corp

The final panel at the ISTAT meeting is the much-anticipated lessors’ panel consisting of: Jeff Knittle, president of CIT Aerospace, moderator; Henri Courpron, Chairman of ILFC; Ray Sisson, CEO of AWAS; Norman Liu, CEO of GECAS; and Steve… Read More