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Boeing and Saab AB have signed a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) to offer a solution for the US Air Force's (USAF) T-X trainer requirement, the companies announced on 6 December. Boeing will lead the effort to develop and build a replacement platform for the USAF's aging fleet of Northrop T-38C Talon aircraft, with Saab acting as the primary partner. "We will invest in development of this completely new aircraft design over the coming years," Saab President and CEO Håkan Buskhe said in a statement. As noted by Bushkhe, and reiterated to IHS Jane's by a Saab spokesperson, the new aircraft...

777 plant in Greensboro?

This is the terrifying moment a plane almost landed sideways as ferocious winds hit the UK yesterday (Thurs). Passengers told how they watched the drama unfold on the TV screens on the plane. Some started vomiting as the pilot struggled to control the 777.

Boeing has issued a formal request for proposals (RFP) to 15 locations around the United States that will bid for the work of building its forthcoming 777X jet, according to a source close to the discussions. Washington state is one of the 15 sites under consideration. The others include both existing Boeing locations and new “greenfield” sites, the source said. Boeing spokesman Doug Alder confirmed Saturday that the RFPs were sent out late Friday afternoon and into the evening.

Seattle’s newly elected Socialist councilwoman accused aerospace and defense giant Boeing on Monday of “economic terrorism” and told Boeing machinists they should consider taking “over the factories.” “The workers should take over the factories, and shut down Boeing’s profit-making machine,” Kshama Sawant told a group of activists in the city’s Westlake Park. Sawant’s comments were made at a rally organized by machinists after they rejected a deal that would reduce pensions for union members in return for guaranteed jobs in Everett, Wash., building 777X Boeing airliners for eight years. Now Boeing is considering taking those jobs elsewhere. “That will be...

Here’s the inevitable follow-up on the election of a Socialist to the Seattle City Council — although perhaps sooner than anyone would have thought. Boeing has tried working for years with its unions in the state of Washington, but still cannot reach agreements on labor contracts for its manufacturing facilities. The aerospace giant has looked for other regions in the US to build its planes, which has angered the unions and the Obama administration. It’s also provided an opportunity for Seattle’s newest councilmember to launch her anti-capitalist agenda, and she’s wasted no time in doing so … even before officially...

A Boeing Dreamlifter cargo jet, with a cargo hold among the largest by volume, accidentally landed at the wrong airport in Kansas Wednesday night, and was unable to take off due to the short runway. According to KWCH News, this type of plane requires 9,200 feet to take off whereas the runway at the airport is only 6,101 feet.

An advertisement placed in The Seattle Times on Wednesday by a group hoping to encourage Washington state to keep up its fight to secure the coveted work on the new Boeing 777 includes a notable miscue. At the top of the full-page ad, under the all-caps text "The Future of Washington," is pictured not a Boeing jet, but rather an A320 from archrival Airbus.

WASHINGTON — The United States is battling to win Qatar’s multi-billion-dollar fighter-jet competition. Industry sources said the administration of President Barack Obama has been lobbying the Gulf Cooperation Council emirate to select a U.S. warplane for Doha’s largest combat air project. The sources said the administration has succeeded in delaying Qatar’s tender, which included proposals from Britain and France. “After Saudi Arabia, the Qatar project will be the biggest aircraft procurement for years to come,” a source said. The sources said Qatar, which established an evaluation panel, was moving slowly in a tender for up to 72 advanced fighter-jets, a...

SEATTLE — Seattle City Councilmember-elect Kshama Sawant told Boeing machinists her idea of a radical option, should their jobs be moved out of state “The workers should take over the factories, and shut down Boeing’s profit-making machine,” Sawant announced to a cheering crowd of union supporters in Seattle’s Westlake Park Monday night.

Shares of Boeing (BA) climbed into the green early Monday after the jet maker unveiled fresh orders for its upcoming 777x and struck a new supply deal with a major firm in the United Arab Emirates. The Chicago-based Dreamliner maker racked up roughly $100 billion in orders with Middle Eastern carriers on the first day of the 2013 Dubai Airshow. The 342 orders in the fast-growing market doubled those awarded to rival Airbus.

With the news last week that Machinists’ union members employed by Boeing in Puget Sound overwhelmingly rejected a proposed contract that would have meant years worth of work on the new Boeing 777X, much of the attention was focused on what it would mean for union members’ future and where the work would go following their rejection. As the long-term contract they voted down had numerous concessions, it is understandable that it would have been a hard sell to get the members to accept it. Yet, that hard sell by local union leaders did not take place. In fact, the...

DUBAI—Emirates Airline on Sunday placed a $76 billion order with Boeing Co. BA +0.73% at the Dubai airshow for 150 of the manufacturer's new 777X aircraft, helping make the model the largest product launch in commercial jetliner history. The Dubai-based carrier, which is the world's largest international airline by capacity, is the biggest scalp so far for Boeing as it is the largest operator of the manufacturer's current 777 fleet, with more than 120 in service. Qatar Airways, meanwhile, placed an order for 50 Boeing 777X worth $19 billion, and Emirates said it had purchase rights for a further 50...

On August 27, Boeing flew the Advanced Super Hornet demonstrator for reporters and visiting delegations from Denmark and Brazil at its St. Louis facility. Visible are the Northrop Grumman conformal fuel tanks on the upper fuselage and Boeing-build centerline enclosed weapons pod. The sunset could be farther off than thought for the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, the mainstay of the U.S. Navy’s carrier-based fighter fleet. With initial operational capability of the F-35C Joint Strike Fighter that will eventually replace the F/A-18 now planned in early 2019, Boeing and partner Northrop Grumman are proposing an “Advanced Super Hornet” upgrade designed to operate...

SEATTLE (AP) — Boeing's history in the Pacific Northwest dates back more than a century, when William Boeing purchased a Seattle shipyard that would become his first airplane factory. In recent years, however, those ties have been fraying, first with the company shifting its headquarters to Chicago, then with the development of a new production line in South Carolina. Now, the relationship between Boeing and Washington state is near the point of unraveling after a fiery debate among machinists this week led the workers to reject a long-term contract. On Thursday, Boeing made good on its threats and said it...

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) leadership had negotiated a new contract with Boeing that would have taken effect in 2016. The deal called for cuts in wage increases for union members, reduced health care benefits and lower company contributions to its defined benefit retirement plan. Some 67% of IAM members voted to reject the deal, and the union local president said that members had “preserved something sacred by rejecting the Boeing proposal. We’ve held on to our pensions and that’s big. At a time when financial planners are talking about a ‘retirement crisis’ in America, we...

This will probably come as no surprise to those who watched the federal government stepping in to help unions strongarm manufacturers in the last few years, but Boeing is back in the news with more labor issues. The aerospace giant is getting ready to unveil their newest jet – the 777X – which had been widely expected to be built in the Seattle area as so many of their other lines have been. But at the last minute, the unions decided the deal wasn’t fat enough for their tastes. Boeing workers’ rejection of a new labour deal has sent the...

Members of the Machinists union vote today on a contract with Boeing that the aircraft maker says will determine whether it will build the next generation of its 777 jets at its Seattle manufacturing hub. About 20,000 jobs at Boeing and its suppliers are riding on the decision of where to build the 777X, which is set to become a key part of its fleet. Also at stake is the Machinsts' pension plan, which will be converted into a 401(k) type of retirement program if the contract is approved. That change has sparked anger among Boeing workers, and raised the...

<p>NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) -- Boeing broke ground on another South Carolina manufacturing plant on Tuesday and company officials said the initial job of making jet engine air inlets could one day be expanded to a variety of propulsion work.</p>

EVERETT -- A couple hundred Machinist union members held an unofficial rally Monday outside their union hall near Paine Field to protest a contract extension offer negotiated in secret by the Boeing Co. and the union's international leadership.The message: Boeing's promise to build the 777X in Everett, in exchange for significant changes in retirement and health benefits, among other things, will undercut the union and is a bluff by the Chicago-based company's leadership."They're trying to kill us. Period," said Wilson Ferguson, a delivery mechanic on the 737 line in Renton and president of Local A. "At the end of the...

A dramatic showdown is underway in the State of Washington, pitting Boeing against its largest labor union, the International Association of Machinists (IAM). If the union, voting Wednesday, rejects a proposed contract that includes lower health care benefits, Boeing is threatening to move production of its next generation airliner, the 777X, out of the Puget Sound region, to such locations as Charleston, SC (where it is assembling the new 787) or Texas, right-to-work states where the union's demands would hold no sway. The Washington State Legislature takes Boeing's threats very seriously, indeed. Boeing has long complained about the tax burden...

(Reuters) - The Washington state Senate on Saturday passed a measure to extend nearly $9 billion in tax breaks for Boeing through 2040 in an embattled effort to entice the company to locate production of its newest jet, the 777X, in the Seattle area. Lawmakers acknowledged, however, that their efforts would likely be undermined if the airplane maker's key machinists union votes down a proposed labor contract due to go to before the membership on Wednesday.

Machinists are expressing anger at the terms offered by Boeing to win the 777X work for Everett. Boeing said in a statement that the company is ready to "pursue other options" outside Washington.In a dramatic end to a meeting with hundreds of disgruntled Machinists at the Seattle union headquarters Thursday night, District 751 President Tom Wroblewski tore up a copy of Boeing’s contract proposal and said he would try to have it withdrawn. “I know this is a piece of crap,” Wroblewski said about the proposed new eight-year agreement that Boeing says will determine whether the forthcoming 777X jet is...

Boeing and Kongsberg Defense Systems of Norway recently completed a successful check of the Joint Strike Missile (JSM) on an F/A-18F Super Hornet at the Boeing St. Louis facility to ensure the weapons fit on the aircraft's external pylons. ST. LOUIS, Nov. 6, 2013 -- Boeing and Kongsberg Defense Systems of Norway recently completed a successful check of the Joint Strike Missile (JSM) on an F/A-18F Super Hornet at the Boeing St. Louis facility to ensure the weapons fit on the aircraft’s external pylons. Picture: Boeing The JSM, which is being designed and built by Kongsberg, is a long-range, low-observable...

THE first pilot instructor for the RAAF's new Growler electronic warfare aircraft has started training in the United States. Flight Lieutenant Sean Rutledge is stationed with the US Pacific Fleet Electronic Attack Wing at the Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Washington state. He will be qualified to instruct other RAAF aircrew on the operation of 12 EA-18G Growlers Australia is buying from the US. During the next three years, six RAAF crews, each comprising a pilot and electronic warfare officer, will learn to fly Growlers at the US Navy's Electronic Attack Squadron 129 at Patuxent River, Maryland. Wing Commander...

On the list of Pentagon weapons programs gone awry, the Navy's A-12 Avenger attack jet stands out. The radar-evading, carrier-based McDonnell Douglas plane was 18 months behind schedule and about $1.4 billion over cost when then-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney canceled the $57 billion program back in 1991. The case over the triangular-shaped A-12 Avenger, which was dubbed the "Flying Dorito," has been in legal limbo ever since, going all the way to the Supreme Court in 2011 before being referred back to a lower court. Now, after 22 years, a settlement is on the horizon. Senator Susan Collins told the...

U.S. Fighter Aircraft Pricing Themselves Out of the Export Market By Sandra I. Erwin At a time when U.S. arms manufacturers are turning to overseas markets to help make up for declining sales to Pentagon, analysts warn that the high prices of American fighter jets could place U.S. firms at a competitive disadvantage. The arrival of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter gives manufacturer Lockheed Martin Corp. an opportunity to sell the world’s most technologically advanced aircraft. But its price tag, in excess of $100 million per airplane, will make it unattainable for most non-U.S. buyers, according to new analysis by...

Several corporate executives have joined forces with prominent local lawmakers, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, and George Soros’ National Immigration Forum (NIF) to organize a campaign on Monday to target GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill to get them to try to support amnesty. Those executives include Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Boeing CEO and chairman Jim McNerney, Marriott hotels chairman and CEO Bill Marriott, NewsCorp chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch, and Disney president and CEO Bob Iger. Ballmer, McNerney, Marriott, Murdoch, and Iger, along with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, and San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro form the...

The air force has two programs, the B-1 and the B-2, aimed at replacing the aging B-52s but they were wracked with heavy cost overruns. The air force only bought 20 of Northrop Grumman's B-2s, the newest long-range bomber in its fleet.

Boeing is riding a wave of demand for new fuel-efficient planes from airlines around the globe. Now the trick is to build them fast enough. With a backlog of orders worth $344 billion, Boeing has been speeding up production of its big commercial planes. It now says it will boost output of the new 787 by 40 percent by the end of the decade. On Wednesday, Boeing reported a better-than-expected third-quarter profit and raised its full-year outlook. Its shares hit an all-time high.

OLYMPIA, Oct. 6.—Gov. Jay Inslee was back on familiar turf over the weekend, weighing in on the affairs of Congress as he denounced the Republicans in the U.S. House he says are wholly responsible for the current federal shutdown back in the other Washington. “I can make the truth clear to people in this state,” Inslee said as he met with reporters Sunday afternoon in Seattle. “There is one man standing between America and a solution to this problem, and his name is Speaker John Boehner. He owes this country a vote, and when he gives us a vote it...

Malaysia Has An Option Now To Consider Advanced Super Hornets, Says Boeing Official KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25 (Bernama) -- Malaysia can now consider the Advanced Super Hornet for its multi-role combat aircraft needs, which offers significant retrofittable enhancements, including a 50 per cent increase in the capability to avoid radar detection, an enhanced engine and additional 260 nautical miles range. Mike Gibbons, Boeing's Vice-President for F/A-18 & EA-18 Programmes, said the fighter aircraft's additional combat range has been made possible because of the conformal fuel tanks, which gives it a great advantage in being able to fly faster than with...

Boeing has revealed that it has retrofitted retired fighter jets to turn them into drones. It said that one of the Lockheed Martin F-16 made a first flight with an empty cockpit last week. Two US Air Force pilots controlled the plane from the ground as it flew from a Florida base to the Gulf of Mexico. Boeing suggested that the innovation could ultimately be used to help train pilots, providing an adversary they could practise firing on. The jet - which had previously sat mothballed at an Arizona site for 15 years - flew at an altitude of 40,000ft...

Analysis: South Korea setback shows pressure on Boeing warplane orders (Reuters) - South Korea's decision to reopen bidding for a fighter-jet contract rather than accept Boeing Co's (BA.N) F-15 Silent Eagle signals a wider problem for the aerospace giant: revenue from its most profitable but aging military aircraft is winding down. At the same time, U.S. government budget cuts have dimmed the prospects of Boeing developing replacements for the higher-margin legacy aircraft, such as the F-15, acquired when it merged with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. That suggests overall profit margins from Boeing's defense business will come under pressure in coming...

Aeroflot will pay up to $7.47 billion, including maintenance and insurances, to lease 50 Boeing jets for up to 18 years, Vedomosti reported on Friday, citing two sources close to the state-controlled airline and the leasing company Avia Capital Service. Experts said that the 737 Next Generation aircraft would be used to update Aeroflot's fleet and potentially become the foundation for the company's planned low-cost airline. The lease deal needs to be approved at Aeroflot's shareholder meeting on Oct. 15. Airplanes in the Boeing 737 family cost from $76 million to $109.9 million each to purchase, according to Boeing's catalogue,...

Advanced Super Hornet Demonstrates Significant Stealth, Range Improvements - Tests prove aircraft will outpace future threats ST. LOUIS, Aug. 28, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- During three weeks of flight testing the Advanced Super Hornet, Boeing [NYSE: BA] and partner Northrop Grumman demonstrated that the fighter can outperform threats for decades to come with improvements that make the jet much harder for radar to detect and give it significantly more combat range. Through 21 flights in St. Louis and Patuxent River, Md., that began Aug. 5, the team tested conformal fuel tanks (CFT), an enclosed weapons pod (EWP), and signature enhancements, each...

Upgrades aim to extend B-52 bombers' already long lives Despite the plane's more than half-century of service, the Air Force thinks modifications and overhauls have made the B-52 ageless. For Air Force Capt. Daniel "Swoop" Welch, flying a B-52 bomber has become the family business. His father, retired Lt. Col. Don Welch, was trained to drop nuclear bombs with the aircraft during the height of the Cold War. His grandfather, retired Col. Don Sprague, flew B-52 combat missions in Vietnam. "It is definitely a testament to the robust design of the B-52," said Welch, 28. "Getting to fly the same...

Boeing Co. has suffered another setback with its 787 Dreamliner after the model’s biggest operator, ANA Holdings, says it discovered wiring defects in the fire-suppression system on three aircraft.

Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet flies with CFTs and weapons pod Boeing has released this photo of a US Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet in the air equipped with conformal fuel tanks and a weapons pod near Saint Louis, Missouri. The hardware is not functional, but is designed to test the aerodynamic qualities of the tanks and pod. Some advanced low-observables treatments are also expected to be tested on the jet which is being leased by the company for the trials. - See more at: http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-dewline/2013/08/boeing-fa-18f-super-hornet-flies-with-cfts-and-weapons-pod/#sthash.v2GS3o58.dpuf

Here are some really good photos of the crashed Boeing 777 known as Asiana Flight 214.These include pics of the interior, exterior, landing gear, engines, and removal and loading process.

MD Helicopters prevails in dispute with Boeing over MD540F MD Helicopters, Inc. (MDHI) appears to have fought off a legal challenge by Boeing that would have barred it from competing for key United States and foreign military contracts. Earlier this month, an arbitration panel declared that Boeing could not prevent MDHI from offering its MD540F helicopter for the U.S. Army’s Armed Aerial Scout (AAS) competition, according to papers filed on July 17 that ask a federal district court to confirm the panel’s judgment. The ruling is an important win for MDHI, but not simply because it allows the company to...

Today’s news on employment and durable goods orders was not welcome news for the housing and commercial real estate markets. Problem: flat-lined employment to population ratio and the declining labor force participation. employment_population_ratio The initial jobless claims supports this depressing reality. According to the Department of Labor, “In the week ending July 20, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 343,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 336,000. The 4-week moving average was 345,250, a decrease of 1,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 346,500. The previous week was revised up from...

Runways at New York's LaGuardia Airport have been closed down after the front landing gear on a Southwest Airlines plane came off

With airlines operating on razor-thin profit margins, carriers are pulling out all the stops to cut costs. The latest example is United Airlines, which plans to install new angled tips to the ends of the wings on more than 140 of its 737-model jets beginning next year.

A Japan Airlines 787 Dreamliner flying from Boston to Tokyo turned around not long after taking off and has returned safely to Boston:

The U.K. Accidents Investigation Branch said there was extensive heat damage in the upper portion of the rear fuselage of the Ethiopian Airlines plane, which caught fire while parked at Heathrow Airport in London. “However, it is clear that this heat damage is remote from the area in which the aircraft main and APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) batteries are located, and at this stage, there is no evidence of a direct causal relationship,” the agency said in a statement, adding that the initial investigation is likely to take several days. Ethiopian Airlines hasn’t grounded its three other 787 Dreamliners, the...

Smoke was detected from the aircraft after it had been parked at Heathrow for more than eight hoursContinue reading the main story Related Stories Dreamliner catches fire at Heathrow Boeing shares fall after 787 fire Dreamliner flights resume after problems Ethiopian Airlines says it is to continue operating its fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliners after one caught fire at London's Heathrow airport on Friday.Investigators are trying to find the cause of the blaze, which took place months after the aircraft was grounded worldwide over a battery problem.Heathrow's runways were closed for 90 minutes on Friday, and some evening flights delayed...

A fire on a parked Ethiopian Airlines Dreamliner plane has forced both runways at Heathrow Airport to close. No injuries were reported and nobody was on board the aircraft, which was stationed at a remote parking stand. Ethiopian Airlines said it had been there for more than eight hours before smoke was detected, adding that "the cause of the incident is under investigation by all concerned." A spokesperson for Heathrow said the plane suffered an internal fire and that the airport's emergency services attended the scene. Ethiopian Airlines was the first airline to resume using the 787 after Boeing temporarily...

New York (MarketWatch)-- An unspecified "technical issue" on a Boeing Co. /quotes/zigman/220026/quotes/nls/ba BA -3.34% 787 Dreamliner forced a Thomson Airways flight to return to Manchester, England on Friday, according to press reports. It is the second incident involving a 787 on Friday; an onboard fire on an empty plane owned by Ethopian Airways briefly closed runways at London's Heathrow Airport.

Boeing 787 Dreamliner Catches Fire in London No Passengers on Jet at Heathrow Airport; Cause of Fire Not Yet Known By CASSELL BRYAN-LOW And JON OSTROWER CONNECT Emergency and fire crews responded Friday afternoon to a fire aboard an Ethiopian Airlines 787 aircraft at Heathrow Airport, marking a fresh setback for Boeing Co.'s troubled Dreamliner jet that was grounded by global regulators earlier this year because of problems with its lithium-ion batteries. A Heathrow spokesman said the incident involved an "internal onboard fire" on the aircraft, which was parked at a remote parking stand with no passengers in it. The...