#scope clause

Time to ease the Scope Clause?

The Scope Clause as used in the US airline market is a market aberration.  It was instituted by the pilot unions to ensure major airlines would not push more work to regional partners, whose pilots are paid much lower rates. Scope was instituted by airlines and pilots as airlines wanted aircraft in their system that they could otherwise not have unless mainline pilots flew them. Scope has always…

HOT off the tarmac – How to make the Bombardier & Mitsubishi lawsuits go away

Bombardier filed a suit against Mitsubishi Aircraft (MAC) late in 2019, claiming stolen trade secrets from ex-employees that left Bombardier’s (BBD) C Series program and joined the MRJ program.  Bombardier, we understand, has evidence to back its claims.

To whit:

Yesterday Mitsubishi filed a counterclaim against Bombardier.   MAC claims that Bombardier is “engaged in illegal anticompetitive…

The SSJ shrink choice

SCAC (Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company) announced they are planning on a 75-seat “shrink” version of their SuperJet.  The current SSJ100 seats 98-103.   The new aircraft will be upgraded in several areas, including engines, avionics, and aerodynamics. The image below shows an aerodynamic enhancement for the aircraft, including the addition of “saberlets” on the wingtips.

SCAC has been talking about…

US Scope Clause isn’t changing anytime soon

We recently asked some people “in the know” for their inputs on some questions pertaining to Scope Clause.  As one can imagine not everyone we contacted wanted to discuss the matter.  But there were a few souls who are brave and go on the record.  Nobody can predict the future, but these messages leave us reasonably confident how Scope plays out.

We addressed a series of questions to Mitsubishi after the recent delay news.  Here is the verbatim Q&A.

Responses from Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation: Yugo Fukuhara, Vice President and General Manager of Sales and Marketing (more…)

The regional jet business and the impact of US scope clauses

The US scope clauses are seen by many as a market aberration.  After all, commercial logic demands that new technologies are quickly deployed. It happens like that in every industry, right?

Not in the airline business, and especially not in the US airline business.  In the US, pilots have seen their jobs degraded with every business cycle.  This is not a new thing – Bloomberg had this storyin…