To paint or not to paint, that is the question

To paint or not: We’re in Chicago for an industry event called Chi-Stat (essentially a big party) and one of the topics of discussion is whether Bombardier should take a few days out of its test schedule to… Read More

Bombardier firms up CSeries order, reveals undisclosed customer

Bombardier firmed up a large order for the CSeries with Russia’s Ilyushin Finance Corp., which previously signed an MOU for up to 42 of the new aircraft design. BBD also revealed a long-standing, undisclosed customer, Gulf Air, which… 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: BBD’s CSeries leader; Antarctica; Irreverent

Bombardier’s head of CSeries: The Toronto Globe and Mail has this interview with Rob Dewar, the head of the CSeries program. Separately, the last of the CAST safety tests has been completed. Diverting from aerospace: CNN has this… Read More

Odds and Ends: Fixing the 787; PW GTF; ANA to retire 747s

Fixing the 787: Avionics magazine has a long article on fixing the Boeing 787 battery issues. PW GTF: The Hartford Courant has a piece profiling the quiet nature of the Pratt & Whitney Geared Turbo Fan engine. While… Read More

Boeing gets launch order for MAX 7

Boeing finally got a launch order for the 737-7 MAX, from Southwest Airlines. Southwest converted 30 737-700 orders to the 737-7. The 7 MAX competes with the Airbus A319neo and the Bombardier CSeries.

Taking care of business at the airframe OEMs

The news yesterday the Boeing resumed delivery of the 787 is good news, not just for Boeing and the airlines, but for all the stakeholders. Although Boeing did not stop or slow production of the aircraft during the… Read More

Odds and Ends: 777X features; progress on A350, 787-9 and CSeries

777X features: More details are emerging about the planned features of the Boeing 777X. Progress, Progress, Progress: The CSeries prototype gets its tail number, the Boeing 787-9 is taking shape, and the first A350 has been painted. Richard… Read More

Conservatives attack ExIm Bank again; Embraer v Bombardier

Conservative tax groups are once again attacking the US Export-Import Bank and its funding of US exports, including Boeing aircraft. ExIm was created during the Great Depression to support US exports. It get attention because Boeing is the… Read More

Odds and Ends: Avoiding risk; Avoid 787 goofs with 777X; Anticipation for the 777X; CSeries expectations

Avoiding Risk: Jetmakers avoid risk by revamping existing models. Avoid 787 goofs with 777X: This Reuters article reports how challenging the brand damage has become with the 787 issues, and it’s not the first time we’ve heard the… Read More