Commercial Programs Are Flying High

With economic regeneration underway this year, the rate of ordering new aircraft has been at an all-time high, with the result that backlogs for undelivered new production stretch well into the next decade for some popular models.

Boeing and Airbus can hardly keep up with demand for 150-seat jets, and both have increased their own monthly production rates to well over 40 aircraft, stretching the capacity of the supply chain to the limit.

The surge in demand is across the broad spectrum of jetliner designs and sizes, and even business jet sales are on the increase again. Yet despite this multibillion-dollar global demand for new commercial aircraft, the attempts by new entrants in Japan, Russia, and China to take on the existing aerospace leaders have so far failed to make a serious impact beyond their own home markets.