Commercial airliner programmes: up in the air?

As the industry emerges from the pandemic, its lead airframers face some familiar – and newer – challenges. In our special report on commercial airliners, we focus on seven key programmes or market segments, where decisions in the next few months could be crucial.

For Boeing, these include how to breathe new life into the 787 as the type approaches a decade in service, whether it can push the 777X on a market that has fallen out of love with ultra-large widebodies, what its strategy could be to counter long-range versions of the Airbus A320neo family, and whether its 737 Max is over the worst.

Its European rival is enjoying success with the A220 – how much more potential is there for the former Bombardier CSeries? Meanwhile, Airbus’s lack of a dedicated freighter has seen it lose ground in the cargo market. Is an A350F on the cards?

Finally, for Embraer, after delays and rejections, does the smallest member of the E2 family have a future?