A 16-percent operating cost improvement sounds like a formidable hurdle for any aircraft program, but even more so for one at its outset seen as a low-risk grab at a piece of a target market Boeing itself had dismissed as modest at best. But the 747-8 benefits from one thing that most other programs in the past haven’t–a new engine on which a much more expensive proposition rests in the 787 Dreamliner.
Boeing
June 16, 2007 - 5:58am
Flight-testing of the Boeing 787 electro-thermal wing ice-protection system, jointly devised by Boeing, GKN Aerospace and Ultra Electronics, is to begin following completion of ground trials in the Boeing research aircraft-icing tunnel. Used for the first time in a U.S.
June 16, 2007 - 5:55am
Dubai-based carrier Emirates has selected Goodrich electronic flight bags (EFBs) for its entire fleet of Boeing 747s and 777s and Airbus A310s, A330s and A340s. The system includes EFB software, two touch-screen displays and two laptop-docking stations. Goodrich will provide system supplemental type certification (STC) for each aircraft type. Deliveries are expected to begin after receiving the STC, which is expected later this year.
June 16, 2007 - 1:21am
The delivery this month of the first Boeing 747-400F cargo aircraft to United Parcel Service (UPS) comes as the package hauler mulls its next move.
June 14, 2007 - 9:33am
Leading French equipment maker Latécoère may take over one of the three sites for which Airbus is seeking a strategic industrial partnership under its Power8 plan. At the same time, it may also open a new division to manufacture composite panels for the European airframer’s new A350XWB airliner.
June 14, 2007 - 9:24am
Making its first appearance at a global aerospace exhibition since being acquired by Boeing last September, equipment and parts distributor Aviall (Hall 5 Stand A17) is promoting key elements of its range of general aviation, airline and military product lines. Exhibits here include Goodyear aircraft tires, Keddeg and PTI filtration products, Otto Instruments turbine engine wiring harnesses and batteries from Teledyne Battery Products.
June 14, 2007 - 9:20am
Boeing is confident that its HH-47 rotorcraft will be reconfirmed as the winner of the
potential $10 billion U.S. Air Force combat search-and-rescue (CSAR) competition. But even without adding the 141 helicopters required for CSAR, the evergreen Chinook looks set for at least two more decades of production for the U.S. Army and international customers.
June 14, 2007 - 6:29am
By all indications, the era of the “more electric” airplane suits Hamilton Sundstrand and its president, Dave Hess. Supplier of the entire primary power generation and virtually all of the power distribution on the Boeing 787 airliner, the Windsor Locks, Connecticut-based division of United Technologies (UTC) expects to generate $15 billion in revenue over the life of that one program.
June 13, 2007 - 12:15pm
Quite possibly the last member of the best selling family of airliners in the history of the industry, the recently certified Boeing 737-900ER has at once filled a void in the 200-seat-class market left by the production retirement of the 757, presented Airbus with its first direct competition to the A321 and provided the platform on which CFM International launched its Tech Insertion upgrade for the CFM56-7 turbofan.
June 13, 2007 - 11:58am
In recent years, engine manufacturers have shifted their emphasis from straightforward production of engines to the far more lucrative business of after-sales support.
Rolls-Royce is no exception. In the last decade, its TotalCare engines business has expanded by a healthy 10 percent a year, creating a business that by the end of 2006 was worth $3.9 billion–more than half the company’s total civil engines business.
