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Sunday, November 26, 2017

Could Boeing Exceed 1,000 Net Orders For 2017?

A very interesting questions as per usual answer. "It depends". Boeing is moving forward with several big orders as we read. First, it is best to mention it already has booked 662 net orders to date for this year. It is also important that it has several big deals not yet booked but already counted as "sold" transactions. It will be interesting how or when those transactions will be reported by Boeing. 

First is the 225 flydubai orders for the 737 Max signed for at the Dubai Airshow. Then there is the 787-10 order for 40 Emirates signed at the same show. The 662 net orders added to the 265 just mentioned, and not booked yet by Boeing, comes to a total 927 net orders if it is added by December 31, 2017. There remains another 73 orders needed for adding during December to make an even 1,000 Boeing aircraft by year's end. The occurance of this happening becomes "very possible".

Otherwise, if it doesn't come out during 2017, its 662 net orders already booked is a very good year for Boeing. On the flip side, is the year 2018, which should include any airshow orders not booked during 2017. Anyways, that would make for a decent 2018 starting point. Airbus has in its hip pocket 430 NEO commitments just announced for a multiple of airlines through a purchasing consortium, Indigo Partners. 

It may take some time to firm up those airline orders. Even if Airbus does book the 430 NEO's by year's end, it will not catch Boeing in units booked for 2017. There remains a few surprises before year's end for both manufacturers. 

Friday, November 24, 2017

The A-380 Is Looking For The Exit

Not waiting for a bouncer exercising his duty for a toss, Airbus seeks a gracious way out the door. Boeing recognized its own problem ten years ago when floating the 747-8 concept. The new mega bird would give Boeing a quiet exit out of the market pit. 

Airbus did not want to follow nor could it believe they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Pride cometh before the fall was an "American only thing" and certainly not a "Euro thing", as Airbus needed to show up any American idea that only a short French man would consider. Having a "Euro Personality Complex", Airbus built the A-380 and its nemesis Boeing built a jumbo freighter pairing it with its dying four engine passenger version through renovating its technology borrowed from the 787. 

Boeing would not risk its reputation and it looked for the 747-8 exit in the mean-time with about 100 orders for its frame having two functions (Cargo and Passenger).

The A-380 was about to be bounced out when someone said again, "Pride cometh before the fall". Dubai 2017 was the moment the Emirates bouncers entered the event while Airbus was not paying attention to the room, but it only remained fawning with its circle of customers at the show. Airbus did not get the Boeing memo ten years earlier. In fact after Airbus cancelled its A350-800 freighter version, it continued jumping the A-380 passenger shark as if it were some college prank.

Emirates ordered 142 of the A-380 in a vast move long ago to corner the Jumbo  market. Boeing sat still and just blinked at that deal  long time ago. The Boeing corporate thinking aligned with thoughts on its just conducted studies, revealing the A-380 will be on life support in ten years. Those years have just flown by and now Airbus is working on saving face with its A-380 failure rather than saving the A-380 itself from collapsing under its own weight. Emirates has 42 more for delivery which will take another ten years for order fulfillment when completing the original order. A twenty year span in aviation compares with a 500 hundred year span of time during the dark ages for improvements. 

The A-380 cannot compete with airplanes having less mass and size. If technology exist for the A-380 to out perform the twin aisle aircraft, then the twin aisle concepts will also have that same technological advancements for themselves. 

The A-380 hung itself out on a very skinny limb and Airbus cannot place a big enough net under the skinny limb for an A-380 fall. Boeing smirks sort of, "I forgot to tell you so!"

The 777X is the current checkmate move against the top end of the Airbus family of aircraft. The A-350 and A-380 game pieces are in jeopardy. One is to be taken the other "Check-Mated" and all by the 777X. 

Airbus will not concede the game. It only seeks silent humiliation for its family of aircraft. Boeing is helping them with the humiliation status. The American based manufacturer currently has a ten year lead over Airbus WB airplane ideas.The A-380 is King of the skies but didn't see the Queen of the skies coming in for its checkmate. Airbus can't leave the room fast enough, it will just be bounced.

Thursday, November 23, 2017

China-777X and Pigs Flying

"When Pigs Fly" is an old adage for it will not happen ever. This Thanksgiving day dinner saw three turkeys and  big slabs of ham to make a complete quartet. In this case the pig flew off the counter and onto the plate. 

China or its region has the 777-300-ER well in its fleet. The Chinese cadre of airlines are expanding with the 777-ER and have a newly maturing fleets of aircraft. The 777-300-ER is present and accounted for the next 10 years. 

The current goal is for going with medium wide body with a variety of A-350's and 787's. The 777X has a 326 unit backlog and has not been even assembled or tested yet. China can wait for a 777X type of order. In the mean time, the 777-300-ER is a great fit for its fleets. An airplane service life within its fleet status is about 10 years or a few years longer depending on the business plan. The 777-300-ER averages 4 years old within the Chinese fleets.

Having this little information about China's big wide body fleet status would indicate its airline fleets would need order placement for 777X's by 2025 for replacing its classic 777's. In fact, additional orders for the 777-300-ER may occur over the next three years. By 2022, the 777X backlog would start reducing with a estimated 50 unit a year delivery pace. The Chinese competing long distance fleets would need the 777X by 2025. Orders for those types could be expected by 2022 or in the next four years.

The 777X test phase and entry into service should reach completion by the end of 2020. The Boeing 777X book should have more orders coming from world-wide customers after the initial deliveries establishes its performance in the market place. The buying customer has learned from the 787 and A-320 lessons that rushing new technology has higher risks. 

Airlines, shelling out billions for new models having its first entry into service, have become more risk adverse. 

Additionally, data is not yet available if the 777X's can pay for themselves when operating current routes and the 777-300-ER price is currently favorable when expanding an airlines long distance fleet. Boeing will stay the course forward with this program from lessons learned from the 787 experience. After the 777X wing build, Boeing should have the program under its control with all its new technology installed on the new airplane. 

The China region could order another 50 777X's by 2025. Now that Pigs have flown pass the potatoes. 

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Boeing Slowly Works Its Order Book

Recently, at the Dubai Airshow, Boeing announced 225 737 Max with flydubai and another 40 787-10's with Emirates. Then there were other orders during the show. However, after the show there were more orders firmed with Avolon leasing for 55 737 Max 8's and 20 Max 10's. The Boeing order book now stands at a gross 787 units ordered and a net total  of  662 units ordered after cancellations and changes are made, Below is a Winging It chart calculating what Boeing has booked in a week by week effort for keeping it accurate. In one instance Winging It plugged some numbers to match what totals Boeing reported even though there was no reference given by Boeing why two NG 737's had to be deducted and 6 737 Max had to be added to equal its total orders. Those mystery changes are missing from Boeing's report on its website but are part of its totals. Therefore there is a plug number on 11-17-2017 for balancing Boeing's own numbers.



Another note or observation, Boeing is capable of booking more than a thousand orders for 2017 exceeding its book to bill ratio goal of 1 by some degree. Having not booked most of the Dubai airshow orders to date, a final number becomes a speculative exercise as 225 Boeing's single aisle and 40 WB remain in a state of limbo until these orders are finalized. 

However, Boeing has made its order point this year, as it has demonstrated it can go toe to toe with Airbus in the single aisle division, and exceed Airbus wide body aspirations by a long mile. Whatever order hold back Airbus has for announcing only until December 31, 2017, it should not even approach what Boeing will announce by year's end.

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Dubai Deer Jet Dreamliner Video

Enjoy what private can do for you on a Dreamliner. The only one in the world so enjoy the peeping lens and say you've "been there, seen it, done it!" The Dubai Airshow side-bar.


What Was Learned At Paris Last June Concerning The 797

The year of the 797 is 2018. The 797 honors the laws of physics and is not competing with Airbus with this offering. The 787 may have been announced in 2003 and first delivered in 2011 eight years later, but the smaller 797 or NMA will complete itself within five years instead of eight years suggesting a 2024 entry into service.

A take from the Paris Airshow from "Aviation Week": June 2017

"At the show, Boeing did, however, confirm several new configuration details, including the use of a fifth-generation composite wing, a “hybrid” composite fuselage, next-generation digital architecture and super efficient, very-high-bypass turbofans. A conceptual graphic and side-view profile also showed a 757-size aircraft  clearly displaying a meld of 777 and 787 design features."

Even though considerable  homage was paid to the 757 configuration, going twin aisle makes the 797 go wider than a single aisle and is narrower than a 787 ,as mentioned by several Winging It postings. The reference of a hybrid composite fuselage becomes an enigma for most aviation geeks. It sounds like the body will have design aspects which will lend to using composites in critical areas for strength, especially around window areas and then inserting aluminum alloy panels in non critical strength areas. The imaginary view implies a panel construction similar to the Airbus A-350 presentation but have a "C"shape panels in a critical window area allowing for its width at a mid-body key point.

The "aluminum alloy" panels will shape the remainder of the body. The over-all weight reduction will make this mid model the most efficient it can be when using hybrid design points as well as hybrid parts points for the 797's body outcome. The lifting surfaces should all be composite. An estimated 50% composite body including wings is the "hybrid" outcome.  

Boeing Books Since Paris

Back in June of 2017 Boeing had amassed a lot of paper airplanes. Those are good intentions (LOI) or promised airplanes via MOU's with some contractual commitment, but what about booking those orders? 

How many and how much is it worth coming from a Paris handshake? Winging It kept records from the show and classified those records with the following sub groupings. 

A solid green color indicated a purchase, or a conversion from one previously ordered type into a firm order at the show for another type. A star by customer's name indicates a new firm order converted from the previous Paris airshow MOU/LOI status. A starred name has been converted into a solid green color purchase condition where any remaining MOU's or LOI's remain a light green color on Winging It's main chart and is not pictured above and is not shown with this posting. A purchase-conversion may have been an MOU at the show but it could be a firm order today and is booked by Boeing. 

A previous posting listed the remaining Paris Airshow MOU's and LOI's and briefly discussed what should happen to those MOU's before year's end.

Below is an indication for how busy the Boeing marketing team has been working. Not only finalizing deals from Paris but currently adding flydubai for 225 Max aircraft, Avolon's 75 Max aircraft, and a slug of wide bodied aircraft from various customers totaling about 45 787's and several 777's as an example.

The below Chart list the prior MOU's and LOI's agreed upon during the Paris Airshow 2017 and are now booked as firm orders for Boeing.

Boeing's backlog of MOU's signed since Paris eclipses Boeing's Dubai Show both in units ordered and in value. The two airshows combined value adds significantly more than $150 billion gross to Boeing's book at list price. The Cumulative Paris order Book is charted below from Winging It data. It includes both those orders during the show and those orders firmed after the show from its MOU status*.

The gross list price value exceeds $100 billion from both shows. This is the Paris List Below at $97 Billion The Dubai Airshow was close to $50 billion.

* represents a prior intent/MOU and is now a booked Booked order on Boeing's website.

Monday, November 20, 2017

The Unannounced 797 Announces Its Program Engineer?

Boeing who has fooled no one at this time has moved chief 777X project engineer, Terry Beezhold, over to a new privately run sweat shop with no apparent project on its drawing board. No one saw this coming, least of all Norwegian Air Shuttle (NAS) who commented...

"Yes, we definitely want to be first in line," said Bjørn Kjos, Norwegian Air Shuttle CEO in Seattle.

The 797 doesn't exist and Boeing isn't going to tell even if does exist. It only moves chess pieces around its massive manufacturing chess board without further adieu. The only mystery remaining is 797 launch customer's and where it will be assembled (built).

Bloomberg: "McAllister said Boeing is ready for the challenge:
“We spend an awful lot of time in our position looking at the chess board of moves in the market. I’m very comfortable with where we sit today,” he said. “There is no change in our strategy as a result of this. I say game on!”

It remains for Boeing to whittle down to a one, two, three program process.


  • Launch the 777X
  • Deliver the 737 Max -10
  • and sell about four hundred 797's before the next airshow.


There are many usual suspects vying for the coveted launch customer trophy. Usually this honor goes to a Boeing "favorite" or some customer's massive order announcement. 

The China market is ripe for a 797 and Norwegian Air Shuttle has stuck its foot in Boeing's big factory doors. Boeing analyzes everything, including who will be launch customer and when. Typically a launch announcement will contain a surprise or two. Speculation on who it might be becomes an insane adventure not for those with feint hearts.

"Winging It" is a candidate well suited for speculating because...


  • Insanity is its core value
  • Its heart has no temperature
  • and its pay grade is low enough for the risk.


Boeing would like placing an Airbus insult by having a European launch customer and NAS is ripe for its task of making Airbus stammer without a John Leahy in the room. However, a mega order coming from the far east could be in the works and a launch customer trophy is within China's grasp.

Boeing reports (CNBC): "Boeing has forecast that Chinese airlines will buy 7,240 commercial aircraft worth $1.1 trillion between now and 2036.

Being a 797 launch customer is in a prime position and within China's numerous airline customers.

A 797 launch will include an Asian, American, and European cadre of 797 launch customers. One will be out of a massive order, while another will come to a favorite customer, and finally the last launch customer will come from Europe such as NAS. 

The battle for each region is vicious and it would be difficult to hone in on three top candidates for 797 launch customer trophy. Any Asian favorites emerges from many options. An airline capable of a really big order becomes a complex process in citing a potential launch customer. One could lean towards China Southern or with Lion Air being a possible counter to anything China Southern does. The order number would be a minimum of 100 units.

Image result for china and europe wrestling

An American offer coming from North America or its neighbors to the southern continent are possibilities. A surprise and insane launch customer goes to Delta. United is too booked with single aisle and Delta has big plans for bigger aircraft than its single aisle fleet. The buy-in for any launch customer is 100 units or higher.

The European launch was mention at the top goes to NAS. It too could go all-in with a 100 or more with its European business model. 

The Boeing announcement threshold would be for 400 or more units from about a dozen customers in one show. The follow on orders from other customers could swell the ranks by another 400 during one year's time after announcing the 797 launch. It would take a 800 unit backlog to risk 10-15 billion development dollars.

Sunday, November 19, 2017

Remembering Paris 2017

The Paris airshow had so many MOU's 737-10's ordered and now the year is closing to its end. The chart below has been updated as best  as possible from the information provided by Boeing's order book postings. The remaining MOU's should be closed off by year's end and here are a list of Paris orders not yet firmed . There remains about 85 aircraft in MOU status from the Paris Airshow for an estimated list value for about $10 billion US. The key to this is the number and value of aircraft which could be added to Boeing's purchase haul for 2017. Today an order for from Avolon was firmed for 75 Max which numbers 55 Max 8's and 20 Max 10's. The order/MOU originated from the Paris Airshow last June and now $11 billion has been added to Boeing's books which will be recorded at a future date by Boeing.


Remaining MOU's from Paris Airshow 2017


Friday, November 17, 2017

Dubai Summary And Conclusion

The Dubai Airshow is completed for 2017. Numbers and opinions remain in some sort of sandstorm sweeping in after the show, when every maker claims victory per its respective PR department. No one's opinion is valid, this case becomes clear. Over a $ hundred billion of aircraft were sold having a 1990's style annual order book total emerging in just one single show.

Image result for waking in a sand storm





What can be said, Airbus took in more orders in units and value over Boeing. Boeing stole a customer from Airbus for the tune of 15.1 billion dollars. Airbus did not book wide body orders. Boeing stretched its wide body order book out by another 51 units ordered. The Airbus mega order caught everyone's wind from its breath. The single aisle show dominated the attention of cursory watchers.

The real show from all the Airbus showmanship was the Boeing/Emirates deal indicating a change in the region had occured. Even though Airbus caught up its single aisle order book to Boeing's single aisle order book with one customer and one order, Boeing still leads Airbus with its 2017 single aisle sales. It also leads Airbus with duo aisle sales. Many other MOU/LOI's for both makers will have completion before the end of the year. 

Boeing lost a battle in the middle of its own 2017 order surge. Airbus is losing the 2017 order war and is likely the defeated during 2017. An important observation is the momentum going forward into 2018. Boeing has that momentum. One Airbus order and one Airbus customer is not a long term solution for Airbus's order plight. Boeing has laid a strong Middle East connection for its family of Aircraft which Airbus just lost. The flydubai single aisle deal was more important than the Indigo Partner order. Even though the Indigo Partner has multiple customers in its portfolio and risk is spread out among its own customers, there remains a likely hood several or one of its customers will cancel out from it order burden. Not all business models will succeed and not all orders will be completed. The 430 A-320's orders may shrink over time. On the other hand, flydubai has a ripe market and financially sound benefactor supporting its regional plan. It's not saying all 225 orders will be filled but the risk of order reduction is considerably less for flydubai  than Indigo Partner's position.

The main focus of the show is on the Emirates order as it once again rebuffs Airbus when choosing Boeing's offering of 787-10's. Emirates said no to its first order for 70 A-350-900. It would review  the Airbus case extensively before reopening the order conversation with Airbus. It has been many years since that cancellation for 70 and Airbus has much time to address Emirates concerns. With that, Emirate can talk to many Airbus owners over how the A350-900 is working for them. Boeing only had a testing model for the Emirates comparison when proposing its wide body. In the end the 787-10 beat out the A-350-900 the during the second time for the A-350-900. The reason why is multi faceted but the main reason it the 787-10 was built for high density flying going 6-7,000 miles with the cheapest seat mile expense ratio in the market. The A-350-900 was over built for the Emirate mission. It wasn't a hard decision by the UAE but was a respectful decision as it had promised Airbus long ago, a second look which it gave will honestly as a Airbus solution. Boeing won the world wide body market with this order.