The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday night that Dubai-based LCAL, a leasing company, has canceled 16 of the 21 Dreamliners that it has on order.

The latest cancellation comes just a week after the Russian airline S7 canceled an order for 15 Dreamliners, though it may yet lease the planes rather than buy them directly from Boeing.

Boeing now has 879 firm orders from 58

Following up on my story Tuesday about Ryanair saying it was in talks with both Boeing and Airbus for as many as 400 planes, John Leahy of Airbus said Wednesday there are no discussions with Ryanair.

Here is that report in the Financial Times.

And this from Bloomberg

Feb. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Airbus SAS Chief Commercial Officer John Leahy said the aircraft maker is not in

The National Transportation Safety Board released more information Wednesday about the US Airways flight that ditched in the Hudson River last month. The safety board said the jet's flight data recorder shows the two engines were operating normally until the jet hit birds.

A surge event that occurred in the right engine during a flight two days prior to the accident had been

Below is a story I just filed, following up on the British Airways crash at Heathrow a year ago.

BY James Wallace P-I aerospace reporter

A Delta Airlines 777-200ER was flying from Shanghai, China, to Atlanta last November when its right engine suddenly lost thrust while the plane was cruising at 39,000 feet over Montana.

The pilots followed flight manual procedures and

During a visit to Seattle in November 2002 to personally take delivery of Ryanair's 24th 737-800 at Boeing Field, Michael O'Leary, the feisty Irishman who runs Ryanair, fired up the pro-Boeing crowd with some off-color comments about Airbus.

O'Leary lived up to his reputation for being both direct and flamboyant. The jeans-and-rugby-shirt airline executive loves to throw around

Test flight plane No. 5 shown Thursday during final assembly. Boeing photo.

Boeing said Friday that final assembly started Thursday on the fifth flight test 787.

All fastener rework has been finished on the first plane, Boeing said. But that does not mean all the problem fasteners were replaced. Earlier this week, Boeing acknowledged that because of the time involved, some

As readers of this blog know well, the effects of the 57-day Machinists strike on Boeing and its immediate future have been hotly debated.

The head man for the IAM has weighed in, accusing Boeing of a "misinformation campaign" about the strike.

Yesterday, in reporting its financial results for the 4th quarter and full year, Boeing said the strike was in large measure responsible

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released some grim data Thursday that underscored just how bad the industry downturn could be, and why Boeing, Airbus, the airlines and others are in for a very rough ride this year.

In December, according to IATA, global international cargo traffic plummeted by 22.6 percent compared to December 2007. The same comparison for

Below is my story based on Boeing's morning conference call to discuss its fourth-quarter earnings and the additional job cuts, which now total about 10,000 for 2009.

I've not included much about the 787. But it's worth a look at the transcript of the conference call with CEO Jim McNerney to read what he had to say about BCA and its performance on the 787 and 747-8.

Here's part

Final update: (See my latest blog posting for more on the job cuts, 787 and 747-8, as well as a link to the complete transcript of the conference call)

EARLIER POST:

On a conference call this morning to discuss fourth-quarter earnings, Boeing said it plans to cut about 10,000 jobs, or 6 percent of its work force, this year. Details weren't immediately available about where

Boeing this morning released its fourth-quarter and full-year financial results, and they show the deep impact of the two-month long Machinists strike as well as costly program delays.

Separately, Boeing acknowledged this morning that a 787 customer has canceled its entire order for 15 planes. It declined to provide more details until later today but did say the customer did not

The Air Force had recently issued a request for information (See my previous story) for a replacement for the current 747s that carry the president of the United States (POTUS). There was much speculation whether EADS would compete for Air Force One, offering the massive A380.

It won't.

EADS has issued a statement saying it does not make good business sense. That leaves the

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who late last year personally delayed the heated and controversial tanker procurement battle between The Boeing Co. and a team of Northrop Grumman Corp. and EADS until a new administration took over, told Congress Tuesday that he expects a new competition to get under way by spring.

A contract could be awarded by early 2010, said Gates, who

Boeing acknowledged Monday it won't have time to replace all the non-conforming fasteners on the six 787 test flight planes.

This was first reported by Scott Hamilton of Leeham.net.

My story is below.

BY James Wallace P-I aerospace reporter

When The Boeing Co.'s 787 Dreamliner finally takes flight for the first time, now expected in the second quarter, it will do so even

Both Boeing and Airbus are facing more order deferrals from airlines that can't find money to pay for planes they previously ordered, or for future orders. Boeing is likely to have an update for analysts about the extent of such deferrals when CEO and Chairman Jim McNerney reports on full-year and 4th quarter earnings Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the French government on Monday

Southwest Airlines, the longtime face of airline profitability, announced another quarterly loss Thursday and said it will suspend its growth plans at least through 2010. It will take fewer 737s from Boeing and cut its capacity 4 percent in 2009.

It's another sign of just how bad the current economic climate is for airlines, and the risk that Boeing and Airbus face as airlines

Back from vacation......

The NTSB Wednesday said preliminary investigation shows evidence of bird-strike damage in one of the two engines still on the US Airways A320 that ditched last week in the Hudson River. The other engine is at the river's bottom and has not been recovered.

The news release is below:

In its continuing investigation of US Airways flight 1549, which

Want to be on a plane with more than 800 other passengers?

Well, Airbus Thursday said Air Austral, an airline based in Saint Denis, La Reunion, has signed a memorandum of understanding to buy two A380s in a single-class configuration -- something around 840 seats.

"In such a configuration, the A380 will offer unprecedented level of fuel economy, further emphasising the

The Air Force last week issued a request for information for contractors who want to compete for the next version of Air Force One, according to a report in Aviation Week.

Any plane with the President on board immediately becomes Air Force One, but it's a Boeing 747 that usually carries the President, staff and media.

The bigger and more efficient 747-8 now in development could

Airbus broke ground in Toulouse Wednesday for its new A350 plant, and used the occasion to say the 787/777 competitor will be delivered as promised in 2013.

Of course, Boeing was sure the 787 would be delivered on time in 2004 -- four years before the May 2008 delivery date.

It remains to be seen how well Airbus does in meeting that 2013 target.

Reuters has one of the best

A Boeing machinist, and friend, called me on Monday to say he is hearing that Boeing plans to cut far more than 4,500 jobs in the coming weeks.

I told him I doubt the Boeing employment cuts will be much deeper. But I decided to write my weekly aerospace notebook today around that phone call, because I was already thinking, when he called, about my own job that's about to

Federal Express Corp. said Monday it will exercise previous options and order 15 more Boeing 777 freighters, which would raise to 30 the number of those planes it has on order. It also took options on 15 more of the planes, which would make it 45 777s freighters for FedEx if all its firm orders and options materialize.

At the same time, the shipping giant said it will defer

UPDATE: My story is below, followed by earlier blog postings on this breaking story. It was a difficult writing day. At noon Seattle time, while I was busy writing about Boeing layoffs, the Hearst Corp., owner of my paper, announced the P-I is up for sale. It will likely be closed in two months because no buyer is going to step up, which means my job will be gone before the 787

Boeing on Thursday announced its final order and delivery numbers for 2008. As expected, both were down significantly from 2007, when Boeing won a record 1,423 gross orders or 1,413 net, and delivered 441 jets.

I'll have more later, but here are the numbers:

Orders: 662 net, a 53 percent drop from 2007.

Deliveries: Down 15 percent to 375, mainly due to a strike by Boeing

In February 2004, when Singapore Airlines launched nonstop 18-hour service on an Airbus A340-500 between Los Angeles and Singapore, it was the start of ultra long range flights that have now become fairly common.

I was one of a handful of media on that first A340-500 flight to Singapore and wrote an in-depth article at the time about crew rest issues that these new ULR flights

I'm back at work after spending the last two weeks on a great winter ski vacation. Important things like the 787 were far from my mind.

Speaking of the 787, the first flight test plane was just rolled out of the factory and moved to the 767 bay, where it will remain for a while. (Flight International posted this video showing 787 being moved.)

Meanwhile, my first report of the

All Nippon Airways, which was evaluating the A380 and 747-8 for a possible order in early 2009, announced Friday that it will not be making a decision any time soon.

"ANA has decided to postpone the selection of its future large aircraft type, given the unforeseen changes to its operating environment since the financial crisis of September this year,'' a company spokesman said in

It's been a memorable year for those of us who are fortunate to cover Boeing, Airbus and aerospace, highlighted by repeated delays on the 787, the Boeing strike and an airline industry crisis that started with record-high fuel prices and now the global economic meltdown.

It should be just as interesting and exciting in 2009, with first flight of the 787 due in the second

Airbus A320 with blended winglets. Photo from Airbus

Airbus announced Wednesday it has started test flight of blended winglets on an A320. First flight was Dec. 17. The winglets from Seattle-based Aviation Partners have become common on Boeing 737s. They are offered as a factory option for next generation 737s, and as a retrofit for older 737s.

Airbus has evaluated other

Japanese media reported that one of that country's Boeing 767 tankers was unable to retract its refueling boom while on a flight Friday afternoon and made an emergency landing at the ASDF's Gifu Air Base in Gifu Prefecture about three hours later.

Though a small fire occurred around the boom, which hit the runway after the plane stopped, all crew members were evacuated safely and

UPDATE:

My story on the latest delay is finished:

BY James Wallace P-I aerospace reporter

A Wall Street analyst succinctly summed up Boeing's troubled 787 program Thursday after the company announced another major delay of about six months.

It is the fifth delay to hit the program, which is now about two years behind schedule.

In a note to clients, Rob Stallard, aerospace

I'm in Geneva, Switzerland, where the International Air Transport Association had its annual media briefing Tuesday on the state of the global airline industry. It's not a pretty picture, which as we already know will make for tough times for Boeing next year.

Meanwhile, I'm hearing from airline and industry sources that Boeing may announce as soon as Thursday the expected latest