Op-Ed Columnists – Page 10
-
Opinion
OPINION: Time for Boeing to control 787 costs
Boeing has spent a lot of money on the 787 programme. How long will it take to make a profit on the project, and do investors care if accounting rules allow it to declare a unit profit now?
-
OpinionOPINION: Keeping psychology out of the cockpit
Last year 537 people died on two separate Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 flights. One of them – flight MH17 – was definitely not an accident, and the other, MH370, may not have been accidental either.
-
Opinion
OPINION: Will Lockheed cope with F-35 production rate hike?
A complex global supply chain, unfamiliar structural materials and aircraft systems, a history of supplier bottlenecks and serial breakdowns on the assembly line: are we talking about the Lockheed Martin F-35 or the Boeing 787? Frustratingly, the answer is both.
-
OpinionOPINION: Oil's well for the airframers
When Airbus and Boeing opted to launch re-engined versions of their A320 and 737 families rather than develop all-new narrowbodies, their logic was that – while the industry was happy with the design, reliability and capacity of their current single-aisle offerings – long-term high oil prices would spur a rush ...
-
OpinionOPINION: Airbus in it for the long-haul with A321
The future of the long-haul narrowbody market is now slightly clearer. Airbus has officially launched a 4,000nm (7,400km)-range version of the A321neo that can match or exceed the Boeing 757-200, including the niche role of flying from the US East Coast to secondary cities in western Europe.
-
OpinionOPINION: After Indonesia AirAsia crash, hand-wringing is not enough
Modern airliners should not fall out of the sky, so why did an Indonesia AirAsia Airbus A320 do so with no emergency call? Unless it was some form of terrorism or sabotage one can only look to previous experience for answers.
-
Opinion
OPINION: Airbus delivers great wide hope; but what next?
A year ago, Airbus’s widebody strategy looked ragged at best. At one end of its offering, the A330 was a two-decade-old programme with a depleting backlog (its thirsty A340 sibling having already been killed off). At the other, the A380 was struggling to expand its appeal beyond Emirates. In the ...
-
OpinionOPINION: Are Gulf VIP airlines a First Class folly?
How elastic is an airline brand? Two of the big three Gulf airlines have built on their reputations for innovative customer service with VIP charter spin-offs to tap a market beyond their top-end scheduled products.
-
OpinionOPINION: Nowhere to hide from UAVs?
Civilian unmanned air vehicles – usually very small ones – are already big business, and the industry is growing apace. For that reason, not only the aviation industry but also society as a whole have to decide how best to take advantage of the advances these aircraft can bring, but ...
-
OpinionOPINION: Lessons must be learned from 787 battery fires
A pair of lithium ion batteries on the Boeing 787-8 – which should have been risk-assessment afterthoughts compared to the overall electrical system – became unexpected safety problems. Luckily, nobody was hurt and the aircraft escaped heavy damage. Why?
-
OpinionOPINION: Where next for Rolls-Royce?
London investment bank Investec has called for a thorough strategy review at Rolls-Royce. The company’s directors may not take up the suggestion but, if they do, they may well conclude that their strategy is just fine as it is. But to propose other options is to raise serious questions for ...
-
Opinion
OPINION: Airbus goes back to the drawing board with A350 training
With the imminent entry into service of the Airbus A350, another modern aviation development comes to fruition – not just the A350 hardware or software, but the “liveware”.
-
Opinion
OPINION: Typhoon radar deal to revive European dogfight
Last week was a pretty good one for two of Europe’s remaining fighter manufacturers, as the continent’s four Eurofighter nations at last committed real money to provide the Typhoon with a new-generation radar, and as Saab received strong and long-term backing from new customer Brazil.
-
OpinionOPINION: Virgin Galactic crash shows that big dreams mean big risk
Tragedy has struck space tourism a most cruel blow. First, the 31 October crash of SpaceShipTwo took the life of test pilot Mike Alsbury. Then, images of the in-flight break-up cast a calamitous cloud over the industry’s biggest and most important player – the Virgin Galactic/Scaled Composites team.
-
Opinion
OPINION: Embraer must deliver on KC-390 promises
One month ago, Embraer’s suggestion that its KC-390 military airlifter would be flown before year-end seemed the height of optimism, judging by an assembly line image of its first prototype example.
-
Opinion
OPINION: Business jet builders must catch up on new designs
A clean sheet of paper can get surprisingly expensive and even risky – especially in the business jet sector. Seven clean-sheet designs of aircraft or families have been unveiled since 2007, when Bombardier launched the composite-skinned Learjet 85. That aircraft is now two years behind schedule and faces an ...
-
Opinion
OPINION: Airbus and Boeing are right to have great expectations for China
Austerity-gripped European countries would love China’s problems. As Beijing turns down the inflationary heat, Asia’s biggest economy will grow about 7% this year – much less than the double-digit rates of recent years, but eye-watering by Western standards.
-
OpinionOPINION: The crucial task of tackling Europe’s labour issues
It’s been a tough few months for Alexandre de Juniac. Just two days into his strategy to restructure short-haul, the Air France-KLM boss had to make a mid-air turnback – perhaps after instructions from the French government.
-
OpinionOPINION: Why aviation should stub out e-cigarette threat
Until now, the debate around electronic cigarettes has centred on their health credentials. While their makers – and many medical experts – claim they are a safe and effective method of quitting tobacco, others fret that so-called vaping is as antisocial as smoking and can be a gateway into that ...
-
OpinionOPINION: Gulfstream ups stakes in large cabin battle
Twelve months ago, the biggest mysteries in business aviation were the strategies and designs beneath the cloak of secrecy covering Dassault’s “SMS” project and Gulfstream’s “P42” programme. With the twin unveilings of the Gulfstream G500 and G600, the market finally has answers – along with a few more questions.