Scott Hamilton

3 days ago | leehamnews.com | Scott Hamilton

Subscription RequiredBy Scott HamiltonFigure 1. The Horten flying wing developed by the Germans toward the end of World War II. Credit: Michael Jorgensen via BBC. May 12, 2025, © Leeham News: The Blended Wing Body airplane concept has been around for decades. Its cousins, if you will, appeared in the form of flying wings. The Germans developed the Horten at the end of World War II; it never made it into service. Northrop Grumman developed propeller- and jet-powered flying wings after World War II.

1 week ago | leehamnews.com | Scott Hamilton

Subscription RequiredBy Scott HamiltonMay 5, 2025, © Leeham News: JetZero, the start-up company developing commercial aviation’s first passenger Blended Wing Body (BWB) airplane, is gearing up to seek private equity funding for billions of dollars needed to bring its aircraft to market. In a media day on Friday, executives and staff briefed reporters on progress to date, production work on the first full-size demonstrator aircraft, technical details and studies continuing an production plans.

2 weeks ago | leehamnews.com | Scott Hamilton

By Karl SinclairMay 1, 2025, © Leeham News: Howmet Aerospace (HWM) reported record revenues, record profits and a strong cash position in 1Q2025. Revenues were up 6%, Year-Over-Year (YOY) to $1.94bn, beating the baseline projection of $1.935bn, driven by Commercial Aerospace, which was up 9%. Adjusted EBITDA was $560m, up 28% YOY, crushing baseline estimates of $520m. Cash from operations generated $253m, while $125m was spent on stock buybacks, during the quarter.

2 weeks ago | leehamnews.com | Scott Hamilton

By Scott HamiltonApril 29, 2025, © Leeham News: One down, two more to go this year. The Teamsters Local 174 and Boeing have a new contract. Union members ratified a new contract on April 19. Results were announced on April 21. Local 174 represents about 300 truck drivers for Boeing in the greater Seattle region. A strike could have disrupted production. The union said the “contract materially surpasses all previous contracts for the group.

2 weeks ago | leehamnews.com | Scott Hamilton

China has 130 Boeing airplanes that are identified in the Boeing backlog. On last week’s earnings call, officials said China accounts for 10% of its backlog of 6,319 aircraft as of March 31. This means there are about 500 Chinese-destined aircraft in the “Unidentified” backlog. Reconfiguring airplanes would cost millions of dollars. Backlogs to order materials and complete the work could be as much as two years. Engineering that may be required and regulatory review also could take a year or two.