There’s been a flurry of news out of the Paris Air Show, so here is a round up of Wednesday’s most interesting stories:
Airbus and Boeing considering new airplanes: Both the Boeing Co. and Airbus Group have several new airplanes derivatives in development — Boeing: 737 MAX, 787-10 and 777X, Airbus: A320neo, A330neo and a couple A350 variants. Nonetheless, both airplane makers are talking with airlines and airplane lessors about potential new airplanes, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Airbus is thinking about making even bigger versions of two airplanes: its A350 and A380. Both moves would be meant to compete with Boeing’s 777X, the Journal reports.
Boeing is considering a medium-range jetliner to succeed its out-of-production 757. The plane would be bigger than the biggest 737 MAX and smaller than the 787.
That middle-of-the-market — shortened to MOM by industry insiders — airplane has become the talk of the air show, reports Bloomberg’s Julie Johnsson and Rick Clough.
Boeing would have to spend about $10 billion to bring an all-new — or ‘clean-sheet’ — airplane to the market, Airbus CEO Fabrice Bergier said.
Hard facts from an air show insider: Airplane lessor Aercap CEO Aengus Kelly is one of the biggest players when it comes to buying airplanes. On Tuesday, he announced Aercap was buying 100 737 MAXs. (In contrast, I bought a ham sandwich. See the difference?) In a great interview with Dominic Gates from the Seattle Times, Kelly gives an insider’s perspective on buying commercial airplanes. Lesser players can easily get intimidated and overspend while buying aircraft from Boeing and Airbus, he says.
Kelly is more a financial genius than an aviation one, Gates writes.
Stay of execution for the 747: Boeing’s 747 airplane line got a little bit more breathing time Wednesday when the company announced it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Russian cargo airline Volga-Dnepr Group for 20 747-8 freighters.
That is enough to keep the 747 assembly line working at least another year. There has been much speculation from aerospace analysts that Boeing may have to close the line soon after it delivers replacements for Air Force One to the U.S. Air Force later this decade.
Boeing is decreasing the line’s production rate in September from 1.8 a month to 1.3 airplanes a month.
Boeing officially launches biz jet version of 737 MAX-9: Boeing officially launched its BBJ MAX 9, a business jetliner based on the 737 MAX-9, on Wednesday at the air show, reports Flightglobal.
Last year, it launched its BBJ MAX 8, which is based on the 737 MAX-8. All its business jets — the BBJ, BBJ2 and BBJ3 — will be replaced by newer MAX-based versions.
A320neo success pushes back successor: Airbus execs said Wednesday that the success of the company’s A320neo has pushed back the need for an all-new successor to 2030.
Dan Catchpole: 425-339-3454; dcatchpole@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @dcatchpole.
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