"They will try to get close to a 'me-too' aircraft, but not quite get there," Airbus sales chief John Leahy said at the Airbus Innovation Days in Hamburg. "Boeing has not named the aircraft yet, but we have: We call it the Mad MAX."
“Rate 60 is enough for what we see today,” Chief Operating Officer Tom Williams said on Monday. “There is no real serious work going into anything beyond this.”
The Airbus A350 program was “in a big crisis” at the beginning of the year because of serious delays in the supply chain, Airbus head of programs Didier Evrard concedes, but he believes that “delivery targets for the year remain absolutely achievable.”
Using the CFM International Leap-1A engine on a stretched version of the Boeing 737 MAX would lead to a “full loss of commonality” within the family, Airbus A320 program chief Klaus Roewe believes.
“We have been building gliders for the first part of the year,” Airbus Chief Operating Officer Tom Williams said. But he pointed out that new standard PW1100G engines are about to arrive at the Airbus final assembly lines.
Boeing is studying the potential use of the larger CFM Leap-1A on a further stretch of the 737 MAX as part of efforts to counter the growing sales lead of the competing Airbus A321neo.
The only U.S. cabotage route got another extension May 26, when the Transportation Department lengthened for 30 days Polynesian Airlines’ right to operate between Pago Pago and the Manu’a Islands in American Samoa.
The FAA this summer will begin full-motion Boeing 737-800 simulator testing with airline crews in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The testing is to determine if certain cockpit visual aids can take the place of expensive ground infrastructure for takeoffs in lower-than-standard visibility conditions.
Operators of stretched Bombardier CRJs must inspect engine pylon fasteners, after several reports of issues prompted the manufacturer to release new maintenance instructions—which authorities have mandated.
BRUSSELS –The European Commission will have just three years to finalize comprehensive air transport agreements with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates when granted the mandates in June, Aviation Daily has learned.
Security screening wait times at Chicago airports have improved significantly from early May, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA) and the Transportation Security Administration.
At the end of March, the world’s airlines had roughly $575 million trapped in Nigeria that they could not repatriate, according to IATA. But the trade group is “optimistic a solution can be found,” a spokeswoman said.
BOSTON—The Transportation Department (DOT) said it needs more information before it decides whether to approve antitrust immunity for a proposed joint venture between Delta Air Lines and Aeromexico.
BRUSSELS—Aegean Airlines widened its losses in the first quarter, but the Greek carrier is confident its investment in fleet enlargement and international-network expansion will pay off in summer.
AUCKLAND—Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB) says promising signs in the first quarter indicate the carrier is on track to achieve its financial turnaround targets.
AUCKLAND—AirAsia is continuing to prove it has put last year’s financial concerns to rest, with the parent company and its offshore affiliates reporting impressive gains in first-quarter results.
AUCKLAND—While Hawaiian Airlines is in no hurry to start retiring its fleet of Boeing 717s, the carrier is at least considering the Bombardier C Series as an eventual replacement.
LOS ANGELES—United Airlines’ top finance executive called the carrier’s margin gap relative to its peers “the elephant in the room,” and said improving it is a priority for the airline, as it tries to transform itself under new CEO Oscar Munoz.
