Airbus Charts Path to Next Clean-Sheet Commercial Aircraft

Airbus has published the first instalment of a new analysis series examining how it will design its next clean-sheet commercial airliner. The series, by analyst Bjorn Fehrm, uses Airbus’s technology development roadmap and supply chain investments to infer what the successor to the A320 family will look like structurally and aerodynamically. Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury has indicated a program launch is unlikely before 2031, following CFM RISE Open Fan engine testing slated to begin in 2029. The series explores how thermoplastic composites, digital twins, and out-of-autoclave manufacturing will shape an airframe targeting more than 60 percent composite content and significant reductions in fuel burn and manufacturing cost.

Sources: Leeham News

ACAS X Already Flying: The AI-in-ATC Debate Arrives Three Years Late

The FAA’s Airborne Collision Avoidance System X — ACAS Xa for transport aircraft — is already installed on commercial fleets, a Leeham News analysis reveals, exposing a critical gap in the public debate about artificial intelligence in aviation. ACAS Xa decision logic was developed at MIT Lincoln Laboratory using a Partially Observable Markov Decision Process framework and compressed onboard via deep neural networks. The FAA approved the system under Technical Standard Order C-219; ICAO ratified it as the next-generation collision avoidance standard in November 2022, and EASA cleared European operations in March 2025. The analysis argues that legislators debating AI-in-ATC authority are already three years behind operational reality.

Sources: Leeham News

Materials Science Has Always Governed Aircraft Structural Design

The second instalment in Leeham News’s Bjorn’s Corner series on airliner structures traces how advances in materials have driven the most consequential shifts in structural design since the Wright Brothers. Beginning with bamboo and Sitka spruce — chosen for superior fiber orientation and stiffness-to-weight ratio — the series moves through aluminum alloy development in the 1920s and 1930s, titanium adoption in high-temperature zones, and the eventual transition to carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers on the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350. The analysis explains that more formable composite materials have in turn enabled aerodynamically superior fuselage cross-sections and wing geometries that would have been impractical in metal construction.

Sources: Leeham News

Pentagon Calls for Industrial Help to Close Supersonic Manufacturing Gap

The U.S. Department of Defense has publicly called for advanced manufacturing help to accelerate production of supersonic aircraft and close critical gaps in the defense industrial base, according to an Aviation Week report dated May 22. The Pentagon is seeking solutions addressing both current Mach 1-plus programs and the infrastructure needed for next-generation systems including the F-47 sixth-generation fighter. The industrial base concerns center on a generational workforce gap, declining machining and heat-treatment expertise, and supply-chain fragility for high-temperature structural alloys used in supersonic airframes and inlets. The initiative reflects growing concern inside DoD that structural manufacturing capacity is insufficient to support planned procurement volumes.

Sources: Aviation Week

FAA Administrator Outlines AI and Machine Learning Role in Air Traffic Management

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford outlined a vision for deploying artificial intelligence and machine learning across air traffic management operations in a May 22 address before the Royal Aeronautical Society in Washington. Bedford described potential applications including dynamic airspace optimization, conflict-probe prediction, and demand-capacity balancing — functions currently performed by human controllers using static tools. The address came against the backdrop of the January 2025 Reagan National midair collision that killed 67 and accelerated regulatory pressure on ATC modernization. Bedford cautioned that full ATC staffing targets remain years away, framing AI not as a replacement for controllers but as a force multiplier while the agency rebuilds its workforce.

Sources: AINonline

GE Confident Leap Turbofans Will Eventually Match CFM56 Long-Term Durability

GE Aerospace has stated that design and component improvements to CFM International Leap turbofans will eventually raise long-term durability to levels comparable to the prior-generation CFM56, which routinely achieves seven or more years between major shop visits. The company is rolling out high-pressure turbine updates for the Leap-1A powering the Airbus A320neo family and preparing an equivalent package for the Leap-1B on the Boeing 737 Max. Changes include adjustments to HPT blade tip geometry, trailing-edge modifications, and improvements to internal cooling channel casting. GE said a durability package released in 2024 for in-service Leap-1As has doubled time between overhauls in hot-and-harsh operating environments.

Sources: FlightGlobal

GE to Certify Leap-1B Software Fix to Prevent Cabin Smoke Events

GE Aerospace confirmed that certification of a software fix for the Leap-1B cabin smoke issue is active, with entry into service expected before the end of 2026. The fix closes a Leap-1B valve following activation of the load reduction device — triggered when a bird strike causes fan-blade separation — preventing oil from entering the compressor and generating cockpit smoke. The LRD issue came to prominence after two Southwest Airlines 737 Max incidents in 2025. The FAA is expected to approve the software modification in the third quarter of 2026, after which Boeing will issue a service bulletin directing operator compliance.

Sources: FlightGlobal

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