Editorial opinion – Page 25
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Opinion
OPINION: Can aerospace sustain record performance?
The world’s aircraft manufacturers were not without reasons to celebrate as 2015 came to a close. Their key customers in passenger-carrying airlines had shrugged off slower than expected economic output and – buoyed by shrewder management and plunging oil prices – expected to report record-breaking profits globally, in excess of ...
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OpinionOPINION: HondaJet secures FAA approval
After a lengthy 13-year development effort, Honda Aircraft’s HondaJet finally crossed the finishing line on 9 December, when the US Federal Aviation Administration awarded full approval for the light business jet.
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OpinionOPINION: Despite impressive figures, Boeing is still playing catch-up to Airbus
Another new Boeing 737 rolled out of the factory in Renton on 9 December. But this time around, the airframer should not assume narrowbody market dominance – or even parity, it appears
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Opinion
OPINION: C-17's departure hands strategic opportunity to Airbus
Aircraft production was officially waved into history at Boeing’s Long Beach site in Southern California on 29 November, as the company’s last ever C-17 took off, for final pre-delivery completion in Texas.
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Opinion
OPINION: Indonesian crash report shows AF447's lessons not learned
This month marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of writer Rudyard Kipling, whose works included The Secret of the Machines – a discourse on modern technology which warned of fatal consequences if the operator made “a slip in handling us”.
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Opinion
OPINION: Second time lucky for UK defence?
Life experience tells us that after making a mistake, it takes guts, humility – or both even – to recognise it and put things right.
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Opinion
OPINION: Airbus narrowbody strategy delivers Neo success
We have become so used to charting catastrophic programme delays – from the A380 to the 787 and CSeries – that when a new type makes certification as advertised, it can come as a surprise.
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Opinion
OPINION: Why playing safe is the best approach
On the surface, the rule is deceptively simple: if the runway can’t be seen, abandon the approach. But it is a rule that doesn’t account for the spectre of temptation. Cloud is a visual siren, beckoning pilots to come a little closer, promising them the comforting view of their destination ...
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Opinion
OPINION: Textron Aviation's bold advance is good news for Wichita
Long before Textron Aviation there was Travel Air. Travel Air launched in 1925 when Clyde Cessna and Walter Beech – two Wichita-based aircraft designers – teamed up with Lloyd Stearman to produce the Model A biplane. When Curtiss-Wright acquired Travel Air four years later, its value had risen by a ...
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OpinionOPINION: Dubai air show sees lack of commercial sales from Middle East
In terms of commercial aircraft orders, this year’s air show was a shadow of its former self, but the region’s airlines may simply be between courses, rather than at the end of the meal.
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Opinion
OPINION: Boeing and Airbus put faith in supply-chain for rate-60
From 2019, the big two airframers will be churning out a total of 112 single-aisle aircraft each month. Airbus believes that rate-60 is sustainable, but headwinds could yet blow it off course.
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OpinionOPINION: Comac and Mitsubishi look to spread their wings
China and Japan are poised to make significant steps on their roads to aerospace prominence.
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Opinion
OPINION: USAF desperately needs LRS-B birth to be pain-free
It has been a long time coming, but the US Air Force has finally picked the manufacturer for its next-generation strategic bomber. But with the B-52 showing its age, time is not on its side
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OpinionOPINION: Does Bombardier's financial housekeeping go far enough?
The CSeries programme has cost the Canadian airframer dearly - and it still can't afford anything to go wrong
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OpinionOPINION: How Superjet can stay in the game
The Sukhoi Superjet has achieved much - but not sold in sufficient number to be counted a success
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OpinionOPINION: Is Canadian air defence policy credible?
In opposition, Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party pledged to withdraw the nation from buying the budget-straining F-35. Now he must weigh up the military and industrial consequences
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OpinionOPINION: Can US Army afford its helicopter vision?
When the US Army exited the Vietnam War, there was a vision for its aviation branch. A breakthrough, high-speed helicopter – Lockheed’s AH-56 Cheyenne – was already cancelled, but the seeds of a comprehensive modernisation strategy had already taken root. Within a decade, it fielded the Sikorsky UH-60 and Boeing ...
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OpinionOPINION: Will MH17 investigation report mean justice for all?
Formal confirmation that Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was downed by surface-to-air missile may comfort some, but Moscow’s intransigence leaves little hope of finding those to blame
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Opinion
OPINION: USAF bomber decision to threaten industrial balance
Northrop Grumman’s status as the US military’s third source of stealthy combat aircraft is doomed, whether or not it wins the $55 billion long-range strike bomber (LRS-B) contract from the US Air Force. At least, that’s an argument that’s been making the rounds for several months.
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Opinion
OPINION: Are Bombardier's woes getting serious?
Until the late hours of 6 October, matters seemed relatively under control in Montreal, where a new leadership team at cash-strapped Bombardier seemed to have opened some financial breathing space.