Boeing admitted yesterday that it has "found the need for some improvements" on the 787, specifically in the center wing box, and that the fixes are underway for those aircraft undergoing assembly. The company did not confirm whether the extra work would result in another delay. "It is a normal part of the development of a new airplane to discover need for improvements, and that is what we are experiencing on the 787," a Boeing spokesperson said in an e-mailed statement.

Alenia Aeronautica said yesterday that it "successfully completed" ultimate load testing of the 787's horizontal stabilizer. During the test, the stabilizer is subjected to aerodynamic loads that could be experienced by the aircraft during flight in the most severe circumstances. The Boeing supplier said the tests were a "key" hurdle cleared in the effort to get the Dreamliner ready for first flight and certification.

JetBlue Airways said yesterday at the JP Morgan Aviation and Transportation Conference in New York that it will sell four additional A320s this year, bringing to nine the number of the type it will sell in 2008. It also plans to sell an additional A320 next year.

Sukhoi SuperJet 100's first flight "is imminent," Superjet International CEO Alessandro Franzoni said yesterday at the SpeedNews Commercial Aviation Suppliers Conference in Los Angeles. To date, the 78/98-seat regional jet family has garnered 73 firm orders plus 46 options, the bulk of them from Russian customers (ATWOnline, Feb. 7). But after first flight, the company intends to make a major sales push to win US airline customers.

Delta Air Lines and United Airlines yesterday announced a domestic downsizing to help negotiate rising fuel costs and a slowing US economy, with each carrier planning to ground 15-20 mainline aircraft this year and DL also aiming to slash its workforce by approximately 2,000. UA plans to reduce domestic capacity by an unspecified amount later this year as it grounds 15-20 737-500s, while DL said it will cut domestic capacity by 10% year-over-year in the second half of 2008.

Honeywell was selected by Airbus to provide the FMS and Aircraft Environment Surveillance System for the A350 XWB. Honeywell said the contract would generate more than $1.5 billion in revenue over the life of the program. The AESS, which combines systems traditionally housed in up to eight boxes into two, according to Honeywell, already is certified and operating on delivered A380s and will be enhanced for the A350. It signed a $16.5 billion deal with Airbus last September to provide Air Management Systems and APU technologies for the A350.

Bombardier's proposed CSeries "is our entry into the mainline commercial aircraft business," Gary Scott, president-aircraft services and new commercial aircraft program, said at the SpeedNews Commercial Aviation Suppliers Conference yesterday in Los Angeles.

Neither Airbus nor Boeing will bow to today's record oil prices and consider bringing forward the launch of a more fuel-efficient successor to the A320/737 platforms, which has slipped over the past 12-18 months from a 2015 entry-into-service schedule.