Airbus turns up the volume on planning for a clean-sheet single aisle

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2024-02-10 06:30:04

Release DateFebruary 6, 2024Airbus turns up the volume on planning for a clean-sheet single aislePurchase a PDF copy of this report

In December, the French government formalized a new industrial strategy to help advance the next generation of Airbus aircraft. The announced funding, 300 million euros annually between 2024 and 2027, fortifies the foundation for Europe’s next all-new airplane.

These are the homework years for Airbus and Boeing, as both cultivate the new technologies for all-new aircraft across a variety of domains. Each has dedicated programs for areas of study under additional buckets of funding, including small and full-scale demonstrations, but the 900 million euros ($968 million) in French funding for its ecosystem over three years easily eclipses the $425 million over seven years for the X-66 Sustainable Flight Demonstrator currently being developed by Boeing and NASA in Palmdale, California — an effort the White House sees as the centerpiece of replacing the 737 Max.

Boeing today is a company in strategic turmoil, consumed with the nuts and bolts of building the aircraft it has in its factories. The crisis that revealed its instability came on Jan. 5 with Alaska 1282, ensuring that its top leadership is not thinking about an all-new airplane development — despite growing calls for one.