An airline with a sense of humor

No commentary needed. More photos after the jump. We don’t know the origin of these; we received them by email. Click on the photo to get a larger, more readable image.

Boeing announced 4Q, YE2009 results

Boeing announced its 4Q and year-end 2009 results today. Here is a link to the press release. The earnings call is at 10:30 EST. We’ll have our usual running account when the time comes.

Here are some initial takes from analysts:

Tanker Contract: Follow the law

Update, Feb. 1:

The newspaper The Hill, which covers Capitol Hill, reports the USAF plans to award a contract for the KC-X this summer, sticking (more or less) to the timetable originally projected. Secretary Robert Gates also plans to urge President Obama to veto any FY2011 defense bill that contains funding for the Boeing C-17, which Gates cuts from the proposed budget.

We believe cutting funding for the C-17 is a mistake. We also believe the Administration ought to take Stimulus funds, double the KC-X procurement from 12-18 tankers a year (resulting in retiring the ancient KC-135s a lot faster) and split the contract between Boeing for the KC-767 and Northrop Grumman for the KC-30. In addition to the only political solution that will work, there are solid strategic reasons for the procurement to be split.

Taking Stimulus money to establish a new aerospace industrial base in Mobile (AL) while supporting the existing 767 program is far more productive than giving Stimulus money to things like a California dinner train.

Original Post:

Here’s a commentary from an outfit we’d never heard of before, the Forerunner Foundation. This op-ed piece appeared in the January 11 issue of Aviation Week magazine. The writer, Jerry Cox, makes an interesting point over the campaign by Boeing supporters to exclude the Northrop Grumman (Airbus) bid for the KC-X tanker.

CSeries unites Airbus, Boeing

Airbus and Boeing are bitter rivals when it comes to government support for their respective airplane programs but they are united when it comes to the proposed funding for Bombardier’s CSeries, according to this article in The Wall Street Journal.

Boeing’s C-17 on budget chopping block again

Reuters has this report that the FY2011 defense budget once again proposes chopping the Boeing C-17 from procurement.

The C-17 has been cut from several successive budgets, with Boeing and its supporters able to override this in Congressional earmarks.