Editorial opinion – Page 13
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Opinion
OPINION: Johnson's Skunk Works legacy is in safe hands
In 1986, a team of Lockheed engineers at the Skunk Works gathered around a board to invent what became the F-35 Lightning II.
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Opinion
OPINION: CSeries rescue on track, but hurdles remain
On 1 July, Airbus will add two new models to its range when it takes a majority stake in the Bombardier CSeries programme.
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OpinionOPINION: Serge Dassault's independent legacy
For the vast majority of people working in, reporting on or merely interested in the aerospace industry, Serge Dassault was a seemingly eternal force. That his death at the age of 93 came as he was working in his Paris office will come as little surprise to those aware of ...
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OpinionOPINION: Al Baker's crass comments should spur action
If IATA was hoping that its new chairman, Qatar Airways' Akbar Al Baker, would reveal a formerly hidden talent for diplomacy in his new role, then it has been left sadly disappointed.
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OpinionOPINION: The fading dream of an A380 secondary market
The spectre of the first Airbus A380s being unceremoniously scrapped has now become a reality, following the news that the owner of some grounded ex-Singapore Airlines aircraft has failed to secure new leases.
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OpinionOPINION: Why Bombardier's Global surprise was business class
Anyone who thought the challenge of bringing the CSeries and the newly-rebranded Global 7500 to market over the past five years had robbed Bombardier of competitive pluck in other markets was in for a big surprise as the EBACE show opened in Geneva.
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OpinionOPINION: Can MRJ70 win regional battle?
No sector of the aerospace industry is in more turmoil than the regional jet market, where Mitsubishi Aircraft must take on huge rivals with its MRJ.
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Opinion
OPINION: Business aviation must accept new normal
Finally, it seems, some good news in business jets; a decade on from the financial crisis, sales look to be firming up. It is of course no surprise that the most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression should have wiped out a nascent air taxi industry. Nor is it ...
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Opinion
OPINION: Latest WTO ruling should be a catalyst for change
In an increasingly imaginary ideal world filled with rational attorneys, reasonable industry leaders and responsible politicians, the entire dispute between Airbus and Boeing at the World Trade Organization that has dragged on for 14 years and now threatens to further expand a growing rift between the EU and USA could ...
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Opinion
OPINION: Disruptive Norwegian facing its own upset
Fox hunting, as Oscar Wilde characterised it, was the unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable.
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Opinion
OPINION: Trump's foreign policy pledges should worry Boeing
Airbus and Boeing are not victims of the US decision to unilaterally withdraw from a nearly three-year-old agreement with Iran.
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Opinion
OPINION: Aviation will muddle through capacity growth
One way to summarise aviation history is to trace two eras of development. Era 1 was about invention and technology; flight itself, all-metal structures, pressurisation and jets made for useful range, payload and speed. Era 2 has been marked by politics; starting with deregulation in the 1970s, rising wealth and ...
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Opinion
OPINION: Max success poses challenge for Poseidon
For many nations, the ability to perform effective maritime surveillance from the air is an essential requirement, and one that is likely to become even more critical where territorial disputes risk flaring up, such as in parts of the Asia-Pacific region.
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Opinion
OPINION: Higher narrowbody rates are inevitable, but come at a cost
Suppliers can call it “crazy” to even discuss right now (and they have a point), but it is inevitable: single-aisle production rates for Airbus and Boeing will continue to grow.
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Opinion
OPINION: Franco-German fighter pact promises much
World events can be so confusing. One day, French President Emmanuel Macron is engaging in high-profile – and surprisingly tactile – meetings with his US counterpart Donald Trump, and the very next, the defence industry champions of Berlin and Paris have gone all protectionist.
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Opinion
OPINION: Making safety briefings stick is new challenge
Social media’s ubiquity has provided some extraordinary insights into the way passengers behave during an emergency – to the point where cabin crew must wonder why they bother with pre-flight demonstrations.
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Opinion
OPINION: US defence contractors face battle on home front
Boeing and Lockheed Martin are locked in a high-stakes stand-off over costs with the US military.
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OpinionOPINION: On biometric data, air travel must heed Facebook lessons
There is no doubt that biometric tokens have the potential to fundamentally change the travel experience for passengers – for the better, in many cases.
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Opinion
OPINION: A330neo faces uphill battle in USA
American Airlines’ decision to opt for the Boeing 787 and ditch a stagnant order for Airbus A350s is something of an equaliser in terms of the three US majors’ recent long-haul fleet decisions.
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Opinion
OPINION: Boeing backing is vote of confidence in Reaction
For Britain’s storied but oft-embattled high-technology community there was good news last week, in another vote of confidence for Reaction Engines, the Oxfordshire engineering firm developing a radical air-breathing rocket engine that enthusiasts have billed as a “new Whittle moment” – harking back to the 1930s and Frank Whittle’s invention ...