Two musts for aero builders ramp up and slim down

Jul 30, 2008 | 01:27 PM |

For airplane manufacturers, when it comes to the future use of aluminum heat-treat plate there are two seminal issues When will production finally ramp up for the new generation of superjumbo passenger jets, like Airbus SAS' A380, and to what extent will composites, like those in Boeing Co.'s 787 Dreamliner, play in new plane construction?

France's Airbus and Chicago-based Boeing, the world's two largest manufacturers of commercial airplanes, paint a largely rosy picture for the next several years. In 2007 alone, Boeing and Airbus combined received orders for more than 2,700 planes, largely due to massive orders from emerging markets in Asia and the Middle East. And while neither Airbus nor Boeing are expecting to hit the record order heights achieved last year, largely due to poor economic conditions and high fuel costs, both still expect to log between 700 and 800 new aircraft orders this year.....