Airbus has put together an expansive 46-page competitive analysis of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, according to FlightGlobal.com’s blog. The blog, called FlightBlogger, obtained a copy of the report and linked to it in its story.
The report, titled Boeing 787 Lessons Learnt, was gleaned from Boeing proprietary information and from sources inside of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner’s supply chain and presented internally in October.
The presentation examines in detail key design, weight, engine, certification, production and schedule problems facing Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, and the issues that led to delays.
Cirrus Design Group held a conference call for reporters today updating them on its personal jet now in development. I admit I got in the call late and then had some technical difficulties.
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association had better luck. Click here for the update by AOPA.
I blogged earlier about automakers deciding to put their corporate jets up for sale after the companies took it on the chin by Congress when their CEO’s traveled in separate jets to ask Congress for a bailout.
This time, the three are going to drive to Washington. I ran across this Detroit News story that compares the cost of driving versus flying in a business jet. The results might surprise you.
Executive Airshare, founded in Wichita, has ordered 44 Phenom 100 and four Phenom 300 business jets from Brazil’s Embraer for its fractional ownership program. It has options for additional planes.
The company released its pricing for Phenom 100 today.
A 1/16th share of the Phenom 100 very light jet will run $299,500 and allow buyers 20 days and 50 flight hours of use a year.
A quarter share costs $1.18 million and give buyers 80 days and 200 flight-hours of use a year.
Executive AirShare says its the only established fractional aircraft ownership company in North America to offer both models of Phenom jets. The Phenom 100 will enter service in the second quarter of 2009.
Boeing and Airbus are wanting to make sure order delays or cancellations from airlines don’t turn into “white tails,” the term used when a plane is built without a buyer in the wings. The two jetliner builders are managing their orders books carefully. A new Associated Press story gives details.
When the heads of the nation’s top three automakers flew separate business jets to Washington to ask for a government bail-out, Congress balked. To state the obvious, this was probably a time the three should have flown the airlines or flew in on one corporate jet, rather than three. Or drive.
Now, Ford says it will sell off its five corporate jets, and GM will sell four of its seven jets. Chrysler said it doesn’t own jets, but leases them as needed.
The three companies unwittingly helped fuel a perception problem about the use of business jets. As one industry expert said, “it’s a gaffe of major proportions.”
In response, the National Business Aviation Association has crafted a letter and a fact sheet to clear up misperceptions about the use of general aviation aircraft for business purposes.
The NBAA points out that business jets are used to access communities with little or no airline service, to help reach multiple destinations quickly, to support the travel needs of a number of company employees, to move equipment, to have schedule flexibility, to increase productivity and provide security and to stay in contact.
