Airplane Manufacturing Update

In what amounts to another rebuke for the Air Force, Defense Secretary Robert Gates is taking over  the process of buying a new fleet of aerial tankers, and partially opening it for rebidding. Last month, several comparatively small errors were found  in the original Northrop Grumman-Airbus joint venture's figures, switching the total cost calculus on the huge deal a few million dollars in Boeing's favor.

The original announcement of Airbus getting a piece of the deal, supplying the airframes, riled up many antagonists. This move, with political accountability involved, looks like a big victory for Boeing.

American Thinker Blog 

 

The global aircraft market will be boosted in the next two decades by demand for fuel-efficient jets as airlines replace old fleets to combat high oil prices, US plane maker Boeing forecast on Wednesday.The Chicago-based manufacturer made the prediction at a London press conference as it unveiled a 20-year outlook for the commercial aviation sector.
"We see a bigger demand for replacing older, less efficient aircraft," Randy Tinseth, vice president of marketing, told reporters.
Boeing said airlines were eager to replace their older fleets with new fuel-efficient aircraft -- such as Boeing's Dreamliner jet and the Airbus A380 and A350 -- amid record high oil prices that are pushing up the cost of jet fuel or kerosene.

AFP

Call it an understatement, or call it an overstatement, but we do seem to be in unprecedented times right now. The airlines are under pressure as we’re facing a weakening worldwide economy, surging oil prices, and slowing traffic growth.
It’s an extremely dynamic period for the commercial aviation industry. And it’s also, shall we say, an interesting and challenging time to be releasing our latest 20-year forecast.
I’ve just presented to journalists here in London the 2008 Current Market Outlook (CMO). And the bottom line is that the worldwide market for commercial airplanes is shifting to new, more efficient jetliners, as airlines replace older and less efficient airplanes.
In fact we’re seeing a much greater share of demand for replacement airplanes in the forecast: 43% in this year’s outlook compared to 36% in last year’s CMO. In a tough, competitive environment, airlines are looking for ways to cut costs. With high fuel prices, it certainly makes more and more sense for airlines to replace their old aircraft with new, fuel efficient airplanes, and we have reflected that trend in our analysis.

Boeing -- Randy's Journal

Boeing Has Released its market outlook that includes a review of their last projections and they seemed to do a pretty good job at it:

How’d we do? As you can see, our 2000 market outlook accurately projected the demand distribution by airplane type. The quantity of aircraft ordered is also in line with our projection. But we did slightly under-forecast the number of single-aisles needed and also under-forecasted the popularity of twin-aisles, while over-estimating the large airplane (747, A380) demand.

Boeing -- Randy's Journal

That all looks pretty solid for Boeing.
DKK


 

 

 

Boeing The Conservation Leader

With fuel prices at unprecedented levels, several U.S. carriers have elected to reduce capacity later this year. What we’re seeing is the removal of the oldest and least efficient airplanes from fleets - the MD-80 series aircraft as well as “Classic” 737 airplanes (737-300, -400, and -500).

You might ask, what does this mean for Boeing and for the industry as a whole? It means that airlines will continue to have strong demand for the world’s most capable and fuel-efficient commercial airplanes - such as the Next-Generation 737.

When you compare a 737-800 to an MD-83, for example, the 737-800 carries about 18 more passengers, has about 720 nautical miles more range, a 17% lower fuel burn per trip, a 27% lower fuel burn per seat, 19% overall lower cost per seat, and a 50% smaller noise footprint.

This is why there are 2,200 Boeing Next-Generation 737s on order right now. So, just how efficient is the Next-Generation 737? Some argue that it is as fuel efficient (or more) as a Toyota Prius. Check out this interesting piece.

My thought - if you were really to drive from New York to Los Angeles as they suggest in the story, it would take a couple of days by car nonstop instead of just a few hours by air. As the article points out, “if you have to be somewhere and you don’t want to waste a lot of gas” and if you don’t want to leave a big carbon footprint, a Next-Generation airplane is the way to go.

Earlier I had said I would get more information on Boeing vs. Airbus. I came across this and wanted to pass it along, it is from a Boeing Blog! I haven't received a reply from American Thinker's Thomas Lifson to the Email I sent.

DKK

Boeing -- Randy's Journal -- Challenging Times

Emirates Airline Bringing A380 To U.S.

Emirates airline said Monday it would launch nonstop service between Dubai and New York on August 1, the first service to the United States with the new Airbus A380 superjumbo.

"The United States represent a key focus area in Emirates' route development plans, and we are delighted to be the first airline to launch commercial A380 services to the continent," said Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, chairman and chief executive of the largest airline in the Middle East.

"We are confident that Emirates' customers traveling to and from North America will welcome the A380's additional space and capacity, as well as our luxurious onboard amenities which will provide a very high quality travel experience previously associated only with private jets."

Emirates has announced that it will start daily nonstop service from Los Angeles to Dubai on September 1 and from San Francisco to Dubai on October 26.

In addition to twice-daily service from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, the airline has daily non-stop service from Houston, Texas, to Dubai.

Emirates, the largest customer of the Airbus A380, announced last week that it would receive the first of 58 superjumbos in July.

It plans to deploy its first A380 aircraft on routes from Dubai to New York, London Heathrow and Sydney-Auckland.

AFP

Is the Emirates the only company that can afford to fly these beasts?

High fuel costs were expected to help Boeing and their two engine models, particularly the high tech upgrades and composites. I haven't been able to find anything recent published about this, but I found this pdf from 2006 that reinforced this opinion.

Thomas Litson at American Thinker Blog was doing Airbus/Boeing updates regularly but I haven't seen any recently -- If I get a chance I will Email him and see if he can update us.

DKK