flyadeal and Green Africa Is A Strong VOC For Boeing

Boeing has a strong vote of confidence for its Max program when closing its 2018 order book. It remains to be seen if Boeing will add to that total until final sales numbers are posted on its website. Green Africa, as mentioned before prior to this blog, it ordered 50 firm orders and 50 options for the 737 Max and then flyadeal reported its own 30 Max with 20 options.

What this means, Boeing has turned a previous Airbus customer, "flyadeal", into a Boeing customer. This becomes a strong Vote Of Confidence (VOC) for Boeing heading into 2019. The backdrop for these announcements is the Lion Air 737 crash that killed all its 189 passengers. The owner of Lion Air has rebuked Boeing by canceling its order book with the manufacturer. It looks like Boeing has almost replaced those Lion Air outstanding orders since the "accident". More importantly, airlines who are considering a 737 in light of the Lion Air accident are ordering the Boeing single-aisle over an Airbus consideration.

That in itself is a positive signal that Boeing has emphatically beat back any loss of customers in the head to head battle outside of Lion Air's cancelations. Boeing can move past this accident even as the final report on the incident has not yet been published. It appears Boeing has taken corrective actions for mitigating any misunderstandings from lack of sensor situational awareness or how to control a failure under a similar Lion Air mishap scenario it had experienced. 

It appears Lion Air knew of the unairworthy condition and did not seek assistance from Boeing on how to address the problems from its previous Max flights for the same Lion Air aircraft. The lack for Lion Air including Boeing on the perceived fault it had encountered, suggests a failure by only Lion air to include all remedies from its own experienced problem. It has fallen on the sward of its own incompetence.

Boeing cannot assume the responsibility of others when others act in an unprofessional manner which leads to a catastrophic aviation incident. Based on the scant public information reported on this crash it is natural to observe Lion Air cannot make a case when it has not addressed its own professional responsibility when knowing an aircraft had a flight problem beforehand and did not include the manufacturer with this problem as the problem exceeded beyond a mere maintenance issue having great consequences.

The legal battle is to attack any defendant having the deepest pockets and that happens to be Boeing and not Lion Air. But the cause of the problem lies with Lion Air's confusion and its lack of gaining direction from Boeing who had not experienced this type of problem nor could foresee a problem of this nature coming.  

Lion Air made the decision to launch a flight of an unworthy aircraft full of passengers. Boeing is not excused but becomes more of a victim of Lion Air's own incompetence when it did not involve the maker declaring it an unworthy or "unflyable" 737 Max. Judging from reports, it failed to notify Boeing or solicit a resolution to make it a flight worthy aircraft before embarking on its final flight. 

The Lion Air problem is systemic from the top down. The crash could have and should have been prevented if a sound procedural protocol existed and prevented this questioned  737 Max from even flying until all problematic flight conditions were resolved.

Customers who are now signing/firming for 737 Max orders have had time to digest this implication and are now ordering in the face of Lion Air's 737 Max crash that killed all 189 of its passengers. The VOC has made its round trip complete for Boeing with these recent orders.

Lion Air has Failed to "Assume Responsibility Forward To Boeing With This Crash"! In the face of known problems and lack of airworthiness of this one Max aircraft it owned. Lion Air owns this traject mishap.

Counterpoint:

Popular Mechanics Lion Air Summary Report in below link: 

Lion Air Pilots Tried to Override Technical Glitch Before Fatal Crash

Reports Mumble The 777X Will Fly This Spring

Hyperbole is hard to fathom when talking about the GE9X engines. They are huge as in the biggest jet engines in the world. The 7779X is as long as the 747-8i. It will seat up to 425 passengers, a Super Jumbo type with seat numbers. It only has two engines though. Waiting for the big factory door to open before the first flight is an insane task. Who can wait that long? The long trail to flight trials is really long. So seems the race to its first delivery! The job description has shifted from writing about everything under the sun that is new with Boeing aviation to writing new stuff every day about the 777X. It's no easy task, but blathering on and on about no change is an art form.

It is assumed, that I am some kind of typo artist and Boeing is the chosen topic. Roll up the sleeves and write something 777X that hasn't been written. 

Landing gears come to mind but there are more items on the to-do list like 777X cup holders.  777X windows should have a bloggers look-see, but I already have windows 10 on my computer. However, the 777X window will be 15% larger than the 777-300ER windows, but they will be placed at an eye level that reduces slouching when viewing clouds below. The neck is saved for another day. Can we say 737 NG?

However, and furthermore, it will be a wider interior by about a half an inch over the 777-200. That really counts when a focus group discusses 10 abreast seating before coffee and donuts are served for the select members of any focus group. The whole point of the meeting is finding out if jelly filled are preferred over cream-filled before trying to wedge into 10 abreast on a 777X. 

I say, "cream filled"! That is what is worth blogging about regarding the 777X progress as we all wait for that second enormous engine(in this case ginormous) to be hung on the first flying test 7779X. Its first engine is already one and hung. Engineers get paid too, they are figuring out when the second engine can be hung before their 401K expands further before first flight.

The engineers opted for jelly filled because it looks so engineered with this option. The donuts are not day old stuff you usually experience at a focus group. It is really present day fresh because the budget has been set for a long time. This is white-collar work anyways. So its fresh out of the parts bin. Cost over-run? "I don't see no stinking cost over-run!"

The 777X will have space to fit all those tight jeans boarding any flight and that is today's news before its first flight this spring. 

Boeing Appears To Have Beaten Airbus "Order Up"

Yes, Boeing appears to have finally beat Airbus for net 2018 orders. The Boeing numbers anxiously await the end of year recapping of orders when compared to Airbus. It has a 300 plus unit lead at the end of November 2018. It also has announced some timely single-aisle orders in December which could be finalized in December and that finalized number will drive Boeing past Airbus for annual orders. The annual production number is a foregone conclusion thus making Boeing the largest aircraft maker in the world.

The scorecard at the end of November stood at 690 Boeing's units to the Airbus' 380 units. A variance of 310 units. It is unlikely that Airbus will take the order book during 2018. It will be the first Boeing victory in five years if Boeing holds the order lead. Note that it was a sluggish year as talk of trade wars disrupted a normal order year. This would be true for both aircraft makers in this case so it would likely require Airbus to pull more than 300 order rabbits out of its hat for a 2018 win.

Boeing has loaded its order momentum with additional Farnborough LOI's from last year's show not yet booked. Even if Boeing doesn't finalize those scattered orders it is a foot up on Airbus for 2019 orders. Both makers have some outstanding or unconfirmed orders going into the 2019 cycle. If Boeing can beat Airbus orders for two consecutive years it would mean an order trend has flipped in Boeing's favor. Boeing would be keen to win both 2018 and 2019 in an orderly fashion.

However, as always there are some more battles to win going forward and as always a possibility of an Airbus order surprise remaining in the marketplace not yet announced. It is Airbus' nature to stump Boeing by the end of year wire as often found in horse racing. However, it is unlikely it can repeat the 2017 order antics it achieved in 2017 with a massive December Indigo order coop. Boeing may have repositioned its order stance for lucrative several years runs.

Been Doing This For Six Years, Now What"?

"Now what", is a good question? My mind has sufficiently recovered by blogging aviation's articles. Grammar was never my strong suit before my brain injury experience way back on June 1, 2011. This blog found a way for me to express thought and mechanical skills from a keyboard operation and using a computer for resourcing. It has given me an outlet for installing grammar and spell check. It also has given me a window on the technological world of computing and phone interface. In six years the world kept spinning while bringing us closer each day to a human outcome. Flight has been central to the theme of recording humanity's quest for perfecting anything it touches and sometimes with disastrous results.

I don't think another 2018 episode will be written, as I await with everyone, the emergence of 2019. I have noted a decrease in the number of articles written. It stands at about 180 articles on aviation for 2018. Some years have had more and some years less. I can only see a diminishing trend of fewer articles coming forward as my own mind becomes more choosy about what topics to write about.

Since no editors exist in my world. The product becomes a self journal over the topic of Boeing aircraft. If humor shows, it is meant to show because I love dry humor in every article written. The truth is that relative observation for what mankind sees, especially when it comes to Boeing progress, is also Winging Its soul. Boeing hires highly educated people for making the truth come out with a Boeing label put on it.

So far so good, I don't fly anymore due to a general health condition which makes going up in pressurized tubes risky for my well being. That situation does not stop me from dreaming with the eagles soaring.

I hope for every chance a reader enjoys my awkward attempt with writing on a tricky subject. My self-assignment of Boeing was an attempt to write one complete sentence without error on a keyboard. The trouble is I  write thousands of sentences and some of them have errors and others are just fine. Slowing down on aviation is a natural progression like landing. I am on a final approach going 150 knots before landing on runway 2019. In 2012, I was just taking off. The last six years is a journal of one topic, aviation, and Boeing's contribution to that topic. My arch villain is Airbus. It too makes aviation a better place to reside within its inner workings.

My only regret from 2018 is not doing a better job on the aviation topic. My basic joy is writing about aviation. 2019 should be a great year for aircraft flying to and fro. 

"The Boeing Book"

This time of year there is a great pondering for all Air Geeks about how any year like 2018 will shake out? How many orders will Boeing book for the year 2018? A whole journal published on a weekly basis could be devoted to this topic. In fact, each weekly publication could have an Order or new model rumor section. It could have an editorial section on pending orders not yet in play and as a strong possibility of what happened. It also could have a standing order book that would report everything happening last month and YTD orders much like Boeing's own website has tried to but has miserably failed at really informing its Av-geeks of what's really happening. It's really confusing on how it tally's what is really going on in its industry and it shows.

A real book cover below, on the subject.

I have a hard time ciphering with any degree of accuracy how it arrives at its real orders and deliveries during any part of the year but using only a brief subtotal from each quarterly report or a final annual report for a given time period, there is some relief on the subject matter. Yes, there is never a clear answer and that should be left for the professional guessers, the journalist but certainly not blogging!

A case in point is the massive speculation on what December will report from its monthly activity. Already the press reported 150 single-aisle orders from two customers, flyadeal and Green Africa (30/20 and 50/50 respectively-orders/options). Lion Air is claiming a withdrawal from the Boeing order book, amounting to about $22 billion in total. The aircraft number is for about 200 single-aisle not yet delivered but has ordered from Boeing.

The weekly article could summarize quickly if this is a repositioning its liabilities in face of pending lawsuits over the Lion Air Max crash, which so tragically claimed 189 lives just after take-off. 

It could be claimed by Boeing, Lion Air didn't fix a known problem with that one aircraft before take-off and Lion Air failed to fix it or officially instruct its pilot on how to cope with an existing failure experienced from its Boeing systems on this "one 737 Max 8 from previous flights of this model type. Lion Air who has more to lose than Boeing from this terrible incident, as even one lawsuit will take Lion Air out of business, is vengeful against Boeing. It is in a corner and fighting like a wild animal for survival. 

However, Boeing is at stake for almost 5,000 Max sold by Year's end, 2018. That is a whole feature article that should have been discussed by some journalist during December.

Another big article ticket item is the pending or hanging order situation. Emirates ordered 40 787-10 but nothing has been finalized for that extremely large order, as its right to not announce until a much later date. 

However, a good beat reporter might find out the status of this LOI for 40 787-10's. That in itself is a major article fleshed out of the woodwork from a leased building near Puget Sound. There are many more hanging orders stories ready for plucking off from the journalistic low hanging fruit tree.

What about China? It is a weekly section devoted to what's up with China? Boeing is opening a final checkout and assembly center in a quid pro quo move with China for selling more aircraft to this merging giant having a population well north of one billion people. Boeing must counter Airbus and Comac within the region for China's wealthy aviation aspirations. Once again, China's lo hang fruit changes on a weekly basis. 

Finally, why a Boeing journal focused just on Boeing? It's a lynchpin for the world's economy that's why! As Boeing goes so does the world's aviation market go. 

Another feature would define its deal with Embraer and how it parries an Airbus thrust with its Canada's/Bombardier CS300 offering. The macro view of Boeing strategy is one giant chess game out maneuvering moves made by others like Airbus and Bombardier. The Embraer deal is more significant than just another merger. It defines how Boeing is in it to win it strategy. There is a big "independent" reporting hole with aviation reporting needing a counterbalance from Boeing's own selective confusion on its website and the world's idled scatter reporting on the subject. The press is selling space for advertisers as all self-respecting press centers do at the pleasure of Google searching for its readers.

A weekly Boeing journal would plug all gaps from reporting and aviation thinking providing a true analysis for what is happening in aviation's world with a Boeing emphasis to the subject.


Just saying, a weekly and independent "All Things Boeing" journal would be nice emerging during 2019 coming from the professionals.

Becoming A 777X-Oh-phile

The 777 X mania starts during  January 2019. When the engines get hung after the first of the year, there will be stories and photos. Then the 777-9X test aircraft rolls out the big doors there will be stories, photos and lots of Boeing employees. When the 777-9X takes first flight in the spring of 2019, three will be more stories, photos, and a live web stream of the event. The point is 777X insanity has already started for me and Boeing can't keep up with my insatiable appetite for "All Things 777X". I have a problem and have already sought help for this problem. I am a 777X-Oh-phile!

The self-help group didn't help. After I gave my name and condition they just said, "hello Trapper" and moved on to watching the streaming video of the 787's first flight. It was miserable watching something happening almost ten years ago while I am looking at a 2019 calendar cliched firmly in my right hand. No one can help until Boeing puts out another video on its Boeing.com Web site.

I went to DJ's website on youtube for some help, he showed (I watched after clicking on youtube) me his video.

Let's Talk 777X

I went for the cheap beverage in the frig and it shows. If you haven't shaved nor will do so until it successfully first flies, then you are in need of a bath too. 

I went to another 777X video:

This one is from Boeing 

I have a problem and it is; I don't know when the next 777X Video will come out on youtube and Boeing is being lame on purpose as it knows any of the 777X-Oh-Philes out there can just "suck it".

Guy Norris comes into play and teases the 777X on a three-minute video. It just isn't fair Guy. You are a bad man not taking me inside a GE9X engine with real kerosene vapors wreaking havoc from my computer screen 

Guy Talks To You One on One For Three minutes. You can just "suck the fumes"

Can someone out there toss me a lifeline and call a friend? I think so.

Understanding An Automated Airline Disaster, A Sunday Read

This is a good read and it should cause everyone reading to ponder how the Lion Air should of, could of, and would of, prevented its horrific catastrophic 737 Max Crash. Boeing is setting a scary standard. A dependency on letting the systems fly and not the pilot in certain situations. It's a valid debate and it needs your thoughts.

Boeing has a technological fix on the future of flight and it should be asked, what if the failsafe systems fail?

Boeing Photo of The 737 Max Flight Deck

The National Business:

Cockpit automation may be jetliners' Achilles heel

Why flyadeal is a Big Deal To Boeing

Boeing just made a deal with flyadeal for 30 of the 737 Max 8 with an option for 20 more. This is a big deal because Airbus was in the hunt on this one and had a firm foot wedged into flyadeal's front door. Boeing won one for the Gipper. It beat the ever popular A320 on this one. It could mark a turning point in the sales war for the single-aisle, as customers have had plenty of time to evaluate both the NEO and the Max.

Boeing just announced it had firmed up with another airline, Green Africa for fifty Max 737's. Boeing may have turned the tide a while back and it's just now revealing a new trend. Maybe Max is a better aircraft for many reasons. Boeing is in a strong position to bait its customers with lower pricing than Airbus because it has been at this a while longer and it now can undercut the competition.

The trend line has bolted in Boeing's direction for single-aisle sales at this year's end 2018. A curious idea is that Boeing may have pocketed several other sales orders it will not disclose until later. It may wait until the year closes before another success is notched in its single-aisle belt. Each airplane maker knows what the others book will look like on early January's tally sheets. 2018 is setting a new trend and it remains to be seen if Boeing can sustain that trend throughout 2019 having higher single-aisle orders than Airbus. If it does outdo Airbus during 2019, then Boeing has breached the Airbus single-aisle stranglehold and the NMA will be announced sooner rather than later. This would become a decade's long setback for Airbus. Yeah, this week's deal is a big deal!

Did Boeing Slight Lion Air Over 737 Max Crash?

Lion Air is trying to cancel billions in orders over a perceived Boeing slight to its reputation when its newly acquired 737 Max 8 crashed shortly after take-off killing all 189 on board. Boeing wanted nothing to do with the air incident in order to keep selling more Max aircraft and without having customers question the aircraft. Lion Air felt the dismissive nature from Boeing towards Lion Air was enough to stop doing business with Boeing.

Boeing is repairing the damaging threat from Lion Air by selling more 737 Max than what's on backorder for Lion Air's fleet.  In other words, it is moving on while Lion Air's principle stakeholder and founder is trying to throw Boeing under its bus. No pun intended. However, it isn't as simple as getting out of a contracted firm order. Boeing will legally charge Lion Air money from canceled firm orders. It will cost Lion Air more money to get out of Boeing as a loyal customer.

An observer can offer solutions for either player at this time as Lion Air is shouldering the immediate liability with its flying customers and surviving families. Boeing might be exposed to lack of confidence for its 737 Max and then lose sales from that customer position. Boeing would rather have Lion Air eat the consequence of the crash and sell more airplanes to other and having Lion Air implode. 

Lion Air does not want to implode and would like Boeing to die in its behalf as a Boeing problem. Losing sales to Lion Air may be the death throes of a dying airline position. They can't buy all the airplanes they ordered because of the crash. It happened to Pan Am after Lockerbie, Scotland's 747 crash. It can happen to Lion Air. The owner of Lion Air knows this and perhaps the early news is that Lion Air is about to shoulder this blame and it will cause its house of financial cards to fall as a result. That is why Boeing is calling in all sales deals at the end of this year. It must find about $22 billion in airplane sales order to replace an air loss from Lion Air.

If the crash investigators find a jointly responsible series of errors Boeing is too big to fail. but Lion Air isn't because there is enough evidence to point fingers at Lion Air and not enough finger pointing for Boeing's position. There are too many Max's flying without a history of problems. There are too many flight crews who have not made bad decisions while flying the 737 Max. 

There simply is not enough supporting evidence to overcome Lion Air's position of a lack of professional acumen. Lion Air is on the way of becoming one of the crash victims. It may not overcome the slippery slope of paying out so much money to lawyers over this matter. Boeing has its lawyers too! If Boeing does sell another 100 737 Max by the of the year they may horribly say. Lion who? At this point, it doesn't bring back Lion Air's casualty of its customers. It's a terrible consequence of the business. 

Boeing did not slight Lion Air over the crash. It is defending itself from another entity's problems while quietly fixing any problems with its product. Every traveler must understand any conveyance is a matter of risk regardless of how many times, it works correctly. Even going downstairs in the morning can not turn out well. The Lion Air crash brings us back to reality, not everything works right everytime and that's the reality that Lion Air is now facing.

SR-71 Stories

On youtube, you can watch SR-71 videos of its exploits but sometimes hearing the real stories from it designers and pilots are more effective than a youtube video about the SR-71. I have written before on this blog about the SR-71. But memories stay firm. It out flew the North Vietnamese flying Telephone Poles. It caused Mig 25's to explode its engines. It caused a waste of missiles and aircraft flying out of Libya over the Mediterranean Sea. The story goes on and then you hear it again on youtube in a watered down version. It was America's last great jet that did not carry weapons.

The SR-71 was just plain fast. I am sure America has built its replacement whether, in satellite or winged aircraft, there is something American made replacing the SR-71. It retired some 20 years ago from the NASA program, marking its last paid gig? The news today is about what replaced it not what it can outfly. The mention about the SR-71 is bourne out of admiration for what slide rule and test tanks can do so long ago.

Here-here Blackbird and cheers with thanks