Latest

A350

Afghans surround a Kam Air Airbus A340 at Hamid Karzai International Airport. Wakil Kohsar / AFP via Getty Images

Three Points: A reflection on Afghanistan, Embraer’s turboprop rethink, A350’s paint headache

Jon Ostrower·August 17, 2021

Afghanistan is lost. Beyond the crushing enormity of the human tragedy unfolding there, the jarring images from Kabul Airport capture not only the desperation to escape the Taliban, but the very essence of what aviation represents as a path to the future. Embraer heavily revised its turboprop concept and with it the company is shifting its focus from Asia squarely to North America. Qatar Airways has pulled 13 A350s from service on the order of its home regulator, but what's paint issue facing the aircraft?

Airbus pivots A350 to cargo to fix its freighter fortunes

Jon Ostrower·June 23, 2021

Seeing an opening with uncertain Boeing product strategy, Airbus advances toward an A350 freighter. Possible buyers urge consideration of an engine from GE.

Archer in June 2021 unveiled its Maker technology demonstrator on the heels of its merger agreement with Atlas Crest Investment Corp. and backed by a partnership with United Airlines that helped fuel the company’s lucrative public offering.

Three Points: CFM’s RISE strategy, Archer’s Maker unveil, a return to flying

Jon Ostrower·June 14, 2021

GE Aviation and Safran laid out their post-pandemic strategy, a broad technology development plan called RISE aimed at low-emission propulsion for commercial aviation in the 2030s. In a ceremony befitting the cinematic legacy of Southern California, eVTOL entrant Archer unveiled its Maker technology demonstrator. The well-funded start up is part of an industry gold rush that looks a lot like aerial entrepreneurs of the 1920s. Your humble correspondent returned to flying again after 470 days on the ground. But who's counting?

Three Points: Airbus supplier reintegration, 737 Max grounding grounding, a swift U.S. refleeting

Jon Ostrower·April 27, 2021

Airbus is bringing its biggest aerostructures suppliers home as part of a far-reaching strategy to deeply integrate both its design and supply chain architecture together for future aircraft. A batch of more than 100 recently-delivered Boeing 737 Max aircraft remain grounded following a design change that inadvertently interrupted safe electrical discharge inside areas of the flight deck. And since the start of the pandemic the U.S. has led new aircraft ordering globally by a large margin.

The Airbus A330 is lost in the pandemic’s economic Twilight Zone

Courtney Miller·March 17, 2021

The A330, Airbus's venerable twin, is stuck between aircraft that are better at being old and those that are better at being new.

737 Max recertification risks becoming pawn in U.S.-China fight

Jon Ostrower·October 21, 2020

Deteriorating U.S., China relations loom over Boeing and its 737 Max recertification.

Germany plays economic architect to stabilize its aerospace industry

John Walton·September 21, 2020

The industrial and social dynamics differ radically from those in the United States and elsewhere. The U.S. has provided limited payroll support for its airlines, loans for small businesses, and funds for national security-oriented aerospace companies. Meanwhile, France has offered unprecedented cash injections to its aviation industry, the U.K. has maintained furlough schemes — but Germany has gone considerably farther. Ultimately, the goal is a different outcome for its businesses and its people through the pandemic.