Tit for tat on KC-X

Stephen Trimble of Flight Global has EADS’ opening shot on talking point in Congress. It is brutally frank and takes off the gloves often kept on by Northrop Grumman in the KC-X competition.

We’ve seen–but do not yet have–Boeing’s resp0nse. We’ll post it when obtained.

Update: Boeing’s response is after the jump:

Profile of 737 Lean Production

MSNBC has this long profile of the 737 Lean production system. This is a nice follow-on to an unrelated piece about 777 Lean production.

787, A350 “way over-ordered,” says UBS

In an analysis that might create heartburn for any number of people at any number of levels, David Strauss and his aerospace team at UBS Securities issued a report Tuesday (April 27) that concludes the next-generation of airplanes–the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350–are “way” over-ordered.

The “good” news (tongue-in-cheek, for those who don’t pick up on our odd humor) doesn’t stop there. UBS concludes that the Boeing 777,  Airbus A330 and Airbus A320 are also over-ordered.

The Boeing 737 is under-ordered, in the UBS view,  but this doesn’t relieve the concerns about this order-book, either, according to UBS.

KC-X: price dumping and assessing risk

Now that EADS said it will bid after all for the KC-X contract, questions have been raised about the possibility EADS will offer pricing that is below its costs (or “price-dumping”) to win the contract. Boeing supporters, and Boeing itself, have raised this concern.

On the other side, EADS is focusing on the fact its KC-45 is in production and in flight tests while Boeing’s proposed KC-767 NewGen is a conceptual airplane that is a riskier prospect.

How are these two particular concerns dealt with?

IAM threatens Boeing strike in 2012

Bloomberg has this long story looking at the 787 development since last June, when Boeing officials then predicted the airplane would make its first flight by June 30. Only two days later, Boeing announced another delay for the troubled program that ultimately stretched to six months.

Bloomberg’s story is an interesting look at the 787 program and other challenges facing Boeing as it recovers and prepares for new competition with Airbus in the 737 and 777s arenas.

But what caught our eye most was this excerpt: