Plane Nation

Boeing is hinting that it might have to rethink its slow-selling and delayed 747-8 aircraft, amid the continuing failure to land a second airline for the passenger model combined with a slowdown in demand for cargo aircraft.
Boeing has 106 orders for the 747-8F and a further 28 for the 747-8I: 20 for Lufthansa and the [...]

p style=”clear: both”>Information from Boeing indicates that a batch of 15 787 aircraft has been cancelled and removed from the company’s backlog./p>p style=”clear: both”>In its full-year 2008 financial figures, released today, Boeing puts its net 787 order total at 895 aircraft./p>p style=”clear: both”>This is 19 fewer than the 914 gross orders for the 787 booked [...]

Boeing reported its 2008 orders on January 8 and the headlines screamed that they were less than half 2007’s record number.
The 668 orders–while falling short of Airbus’ total is still nothing to sneeze at.
Boeing’s orders were depressed by the fall-off in the 787’s recent years because of the delays and the fact that no [...]

Airbus announced its 2008 order book today, with 777 net orders, reflecting cancellations of 65 A319s from bankrupt US discount airline Skybus, the last of the original A350 orders and a few others.
The tally is the fourth best Airbus posted going back through 1995, that last data immediately available from the company.
Gross orders were 900.
Airbus  [...]

At the new ground breaking cerimony of the A350 assembly plant a model was revealed showing the final outline of the new plane.  An Airbus computer graphic shows the same design.

Planes can float, but the US Airways Airbus A-320 that crashed into the Hudson River Thursday had a better chance than most.
That’s because it was equipped with a special device unique to Airbus planes that increased the likelihood it would stay on top of the water.
The device, called a “ditching switch,” effectively seals the plane [...]

Air Austral, the airline based in Saint Denis, La Reunion, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Airbus for the purchase of two A380s in a single-class configuration. In such a configuration, the A380 will offer unprecedented level of fuel economy, further emphasising the eco-efficient nature of the aircraft.
In a single-class configuration the aircraft will [...]

Today, Airbus started construction work on the final assembly line for the A350 XWB, the new highly efficient wide-body aircraft scheduled to enter service in 2013.
The 74,000 m2 factory will house the first stages of final assembly for the A350 XWB: the joining up of the fuselage and wings. Aircraft testing and cabin equipping will [...]

Boeing has announced sales and production figures for 2008 showing commercial aircraft orders plunged 58% off a record year and deliveries declined nearly 15%.
The 662 orders  last year mark a five-year low for Boeing’s sales team, which had achieved four straight years of 1,000-plus aircraft orders.
Scott Carson, Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and CEO, notes the [...]