After record 2018, Boeing expects ‘moderated’ freighter orders in 2019

During today’s earnings call to discuss 4Q 2018 results, Boeing President and CEO Dennis Muilenburg said that following the strong showing of freighter orders in 2018 – a record of eighty-three production and forty-one conversion orders – the manufacturer “expects to see new order intake to be moderated, but still at a healthy pace” for […]

• Caryn Livingston
• January 30, 2019

Boeing’s autonomous aircraft prototype completes first flight [VIDEO]

A prototype autonomous passenger air vehicle (PAV), developed by Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences under the leadership of the Boeing NeXt division, successfully completed its first test flight in Virginia this week. Although the PAV is designed for passenger transport, the technology presents major opportunities for the future of autonomous and remote pilot cargo operations. […]

• Caryn Livingston
• January 25, 2019

4 new 747-8F orders on Boeing’s order book

An additional four orders for 747-8Fs have appeared in Boeing’s backlog of orders, destined for “Unspecified Customer(s).” However, given past known orders that were previously not reflected in the order book, it’s likely the freighters are part of the order placed by Volga-Dnepr Group at last summer’s Farnborough International Airshow. As noted in the recent […]

• Caryn Livingston
• January 10, 2019

Air Force Accepts Flawed Boeing Tanker in a $44 Billion Program

The U.S. Air Force has accepted the first delivery of Boeing Co.’s long-delayed aerial refueling tanker despite flaws that remain to be fixed, the service said Thursday. The first eight of 179 planned KC-46 aerial tankers in the $44 billion program will be accepted from now through February. That’s more than two years late — […]

• Bloomberg News
• January 10, 2019

737-800BCF certified by China’s Civil Aviation Authority

Earlier this week, Boeing confirmed that its 737-800 Boeing-converted freighter aircraft has been certified by the Civil Aviation Authority of China, which means that Chinese airlines may now operate the Next Generation 737 converted freighter. In 2019, Boeing plans to deliver sixteen 737-800BCFs, seven of which will be delivered to Chinese airlines including, China Postal […]

• Chelsea Toczauer
• December 27, 2018

Who’s who in freighter conversions part II: the major conversion houses

Today we conclude our two-part analysis of the passenger-to-freighter conversion market. In part I yesterday, we began with a look at that market’s move into conversions of Next Generation, or NG, aircraft, and some thoughts on how future widebody conversion programs are likely to play out. In part II today, we take a look at […]

• Caryn Livingston
• December 12, 2018

Who’s who in freighter conversions part I: the next generation and beyond

Last year, the conversion industry finally pushed forward the next generation of conversions with the redelivery of the first freighter-converted next-generation (NG) narrowbody aircraft – Alaska Airlines’ 737-700BDSF converted by Bedek Aviation Group. Boeing aircraft weren’t the only airframe types to find new life as freighters among the next generation, either, as a year ago […]

• Caryn Livingston
• December 11, 2018

Belly hold will not overtake freighters by 2037

Boeing’s new World Air Cargo Forecast 2018 (WACF), released yesterday at TIACA’s Air Cargo Forum, predicts the global fleet of freighters will grow by 70% from the current total of 1,870 units to 3,260 units by 2037 as freighters are expected to continue carrying the majority of air freight. Acknowledging that capacity in the bellies of […]

• Charles Kauffman
• October 17, 2018