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Boeing

With China recertification, Boeing pivots to ramp 737 Max output

Jon Ostrower·December 9, 2021

The industry is closely watching Boeing’s progress as a bellwether for its own health and that of the disrupted global supply chain. While its build rate will accelerate to 31 early next year, the company will need to advance its delivery rate well over that level in order to burn down its enormous inventory of 737 Max aircraft built and stored during the grounding.

CAAC clears 737 Max, but aviation in China is different 33 months later

Jon Ostrower·December 2, 2021

Yet, even with this key development, the jet will return to a transforming Chinese aviation ecosystem that bears little resemblance to the world just before the Max was grounded in March 2019. Since then, the dynamics between the U.S. and China have shifted considerably, along with a pandemic that has reshaped its logistical relationship with the world. And all this against the backdrop of major shifts in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s approach to western business.

Airbus tees up early A350 freighter orders with Air Lease

Jon Ostrower·November 14, 2021

Log-in here if you’re already a subscriber Release DateNovember 14, 2021Airbus tees up early A350 freighter orders with Air LeasePurchase...

Three Points for the 2021 Dubai Air Show

Jon Ostrower·November 13, 2021

The 2021 Dubai Air Show is a test of the new normal and the first large-scale civil international air show since COVID-19 ravaged aviation. Yet, Dubai is set against the backdrop of a world that is not as flat as it used to be. Freight has kept the civil aviation business alive through the pandemic. The A350 is set for launch here, the 777XF is coming, too, but not yet. Russia’s MC-21 is making its debut in Dubai. It’s a project that represents the geopolitical tension disrupting once open east-west supply lines, but its biggest opportunity may be at home where domestic air travel is booming again.

Climate challenge to aviation sets huge expectations for sustainable fuels

Dan Catchpole and Jon Ostrower·October 5, 2021

Airlines rally new climate targets at IATA’s annual meeting, puts onus largely on sustainable fuel production to meet 2050 carbon neutrality goal.

X-Wing comes to light as major new Airbus demonstrator program

Jon Ostrower·September 16, 2021

The Air Current has focused recent months extensively reporting on Airbus’s, until now, secret research effort to completely re-wing a Cessna business jet and rapidly accelerate a suite of new advanced flight control technologies -- including a foldable wingtip designed to flap freely in turbulence and maneuvers.

787 suppliers hold shipments with Boeing assembly line ‘saturated’

Jon Ostrower·September 13, 2021

While Boeing announced it would slow the rate at which it builds 787s in mid-July below five per month, some suppliers have halted work and deliveries of large structural sections by at least one major supplier won’t restart until at least October 26.

Boeing’s Max lands in China amid a fog of political uncertainty

Jon Ostrower·August 11, 2021

Challenges from logistical to geopolitical permeate every level of the Boeing’s 737 Max visit to China. ATR's struggle to certify its own turboprop is a template for Boeing's uncertainty.

Three Points: Airbus & Boeing freighters, swappable aircraft batteries, Cockpit Casual

Jon Ostrower·August 2, 2021

Airbus has launched its A350 freighter and the move is kicking off an arms race with Boeing, which has enjoyed a near-monopoly in the segment for decades. What if you could swap a battery between flights on an electric airplane? Tecnam thinks they may have the solution to speed up turn times for its P-VOLT commuter. Globetrotting ferry pilots document life in the air and what it's like flying through a pandemic when business is booming. Cockpit Casual is finally here and its worth every moment of your time.

A question of profitability again hangs over Boeing’s 787

Jon Ostrower·July 27, 2021

Dogged by languid demand for twin-aisle aircraft and a spate of inspections, rework and manufacturing quality issues on already-built 787s, a question of the program’s long-term profitability hangs over Boeing. In its decade of deliveries, Boeing has earned back about half of the more than $28 billion in 787 production costs it has consistently reassured Wall Street it will recover.

TAC Explains: What’s program accounting and how is it used by Boeing?

Jon Ostrower·July 27, 2021

With a method called program accounting, long blessed by both the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and its auditor, Deloitte, Boeing spreads its high early costs of jetliner production over a roughly 10-year block of deliveries, enabling it to book future earnings in times of steep cash usage. Ultimately the intent is to balance out the enormous costs of producing a jetliner and recognize the long-term rewards of a successful program.

Boeing grapples with a ‘Pandora’s box’ on 787

Jon Ostrower·July 15, 2021

Even as Boeing works to explain its detailed statistical analysis to the Federal Aviation Administration of its inspection findings on its fleet of undelivered 787 Dreamliners, the company continues to disclose new issues with its aircraft that further disrupt its path toward resetting its production system and restarting deliveries.