Mary Kirby and I have teamed up once again to anchor Flightglobal’s social media coverage of the 2010 Farnborough Air Show, and we’ve put together a quick video overview of next week’s show. The whole Flightglobal team will be on the ground in London starting on Saturday morning covering the show wall to wall. Beyond our brief rundown, Flight International Magazine’s Farnborough “Fattie” is packed with features covering the industry end to end. Here’s some more on our view of the industry’s goings on.
A shaky recovery?
Air shows are an interesting beast. The annual international gathering provides a snapshot in time of the state of the industry. Farnborough will be no different, representing a barometer of the health of the global economy and its bright spots, uncertainties, and potential surprises around the corner. Orders are inevitable, but an order boom only tells part of the story. What goes on behind the scenes at the countless meetings that will take place away from the glare of the camera and press releases is the real story of the air show. How real is this recovery and has it gone global?
787’s International Stage
Since its absence at the 2008 and 2009 summer shows, the presence of the 787 Dreamliner is a major moment for Boeing and its supply partners, which will, for the first time, will show off its carbon fiber jetliner to the world media. With all the fanfare that will accompany the Dreamliner to the UK, there are still big questions for Boeing and its new jetliner.
A350 Timetables
Boeing won’t be the only one discussing timetables for its composite aircraft. Airbus has the spectre of the company’s last clean sheet design, the A380, imposing itself on the A350 XWB program. Program delays have become the rule not the exception in aircraft development, and Airbus must demonstrate how it will recover its lost margin and/or a way to avoid schedule slippage for the A350. MSN001 will be in final assembly a little over a year from now, and how Airbus gets from here to here is essential to demonstrating it can meet its 2013 entry into service goal.
Bombardier’s 40 frame order from Republic Airways represented a major victory for the CSeries, but can its success be replicated in markets around the world with blue chip customers. Boeing is anticipating at least one new market entrant will be successful, will it be the CSeries? While an order from Qatar and a Chinese customer appear likely, is the expectations game working against Bombardier? Also, will the program begin to provide more technical detail about its new 100 to 149-seat jet? The industry is hungry for details.
For both Boeing and Airbus, their largest products are secondary conversations at the show, but are vitally important to the health of each airframer. Have the A380 production issues been resolved as a smooth production ramp up has eluded Airbus? Will 747-8F meet its goal of delivering to Cargolux by the close of 2010 without further unexpected flight test discoveries, and will its new passenger jumbo escape the struggles its freighter sibling has seen?
Re-Engining or Replacement?
A year after its debut in Paris, the Sukhoi Superjet appears poised to make a big splash with a big order from North America and Asia, but can the Russian/Italian collaboration demonstrate it’s ready to support the new 100 seater in service while deliver enough engines to support production?
What about Embraer?
This post was originally published to the internet between 2007 and 2012. Links, images, and embedded media from that era may no longer function as intended.
This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.