Aviation Week's Check 6 Podcast

Aviation Week's Joe Anselmo, Sean Broderick and Jens Flottau unpack a week that started with a unique media briefing at Boeing's Renton facility and ended with the purchase of Spirit AeroSystems.

U..S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall cast doubt on the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter program in an interview with Aviation Week. Listen in as editors Brian Everstine, Steve Trimble and Robert Wall break down what we know—and what we don't know.

Aviation Week editors go back through the archives to the origins of supersonic flight, revisiting key programs and exploring the issues that are still challenging high-speed aircraft designers today. Check 6 Revisits delves into Aviation Week's more than 100-year archive. Subscribers can explore our archive here and read key Aviation Week articles relating to this podcast here:  Letter from Oklahoma City resident on Project Bongo (AW&ST, March 2, 1964, p. 98) Sonic Boom Report Expected in October (AW&ST, July 13, 1964, p. 28) Boom Restrictions May Swell SST Costs (AW&ST, Aug. 3, 1964, p. 38) Concorde is Coming (AW&ST, Feb. 8, 1971, p. 11)  Audio Clips: March 2, 1969: Concorde's first Toulouse test flight (BBC) June 5, 1963: President John F. Kennedy spoke at U.S. Air Force Academy (JFK Library) June 4, 1963: JFK phone call to Treasury Secretary C. Douglas Dillon (JFK Library)

Airlines are on the verge of placing hundreds of orders for widebody jets. Listen is as Aviation Week Network's Joe Anselmo, Jens Flottau, Lori Ranson and Daniel Williams discuss what’s behind the impending order boom. Read Jens' article here: Multiple Airlines Prepare Large Widebody Orders

Check 6 will be back with a regular episode next week. Today we are sharing an episode of Aviation Week's MRO Podcast. Listen in to hear Aviation Week Network editors James Pozzi, Lindsay Bjerregaard and Michael Bruno discuss the novel applications MROs are finding for generative AI and the technology’s workforce implications. Read Lindsay's article: AI Fever Sweeps MRO, But Will Excitement Last? You can follow the MRO Podcast wherever you get Check 6.

Listen in as Aviation Week editors Robert Wall, Steve Trimble and Tony Osborne discuss the GAO's recent report on the F-35 and explain what's hampering the now $2 trillion program.

In 2021 airlines pledged to hit net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Aviation Week experts debate their progress so far and what approach should be taken going forward ahead of airline CEOs convening in Dubai for IATA's AGM at the start of June.

Eliminating contrails would cut aviation's climate impact by half, but can it be done? Aviation Week editors Guy Norris, Thierry Dubois and Graham Warwick are joined by NASA scientist Richard Moore who shares the latest research on a problem that some consider to be the low-hanging fruit of sustainability. A full transcript of this podcast will be available here. Read Guy's story about the last flight of NASA's DC-8 and see video of it chasing contrails here.

According to new Accenture reports this year, Gen AI is poised to provide the most significant economic uplift and change to work since the agricultural and industrial revolutions, and it will lead to a reinvention of work with more—not less—human-centric work processes. In this sponsored podcast Aviation Week talks with Accenture aerospace and defense practice leaders on how aerospace and defense businesses are using AI now.

The last company to take on Airbus and Boeing was crushed, but market conditions could be ripe for another challenger. Bank of America analyst Ron Epstein joins Aviation Week's Joe Anselmo, Jens Flottau and Guy Norris to discuss what Embraer might do. Aviation Week subscribers can read more: Airbus, Boeing And Embraer Begin Defining Next Narrowbodies Embraer CEO: Next Development Program Decision To Come ‘In A Couple Of Years’ Opinion: Industry Must Make Developing A New Aircraft Affordable

Investors have ploughed billions of dollars into eVTOL ventures but now many are running out of cash. Listen in to hear Aviation Week's Jens Flottau share what he found on recent visits to Lilium and Volocopter. SMG Consulting's Sergio Cecutta also joins to break down the AAM funding environment and the advantage Chinese startups have.   

Boeing never built the 7J7, but its legacy continues to be felt to this day. Listen in to hear how technology once studied for the highly advanced program could re-emerge on the company’s next new airplane almost 40 years later. Aviation Week editors Guy Norris, Steve Trimble and Christine Boynton are joined by former Boeing 7J7 program manager Peter Morton to delve into the program.  Designed in an era of spiraling fuel costs, the 7J7 was ahead of its time. The program marked a profound change in the way Boeing did business and designed its airplanes. Morton, who served as director of cost and program management for the 7J7, provides an insider's account and shares his unique perspective on the effort.

Aviation Week editors Brian Everstine, Steve Trimble and Tony Osborne assess the recent performance of Israel’s air and missile defense umbrella and discuss new missile defense technology needed to address potential and evolving threats.

Boeing acknowledges that production-quality issues meant the first 1,000 or so 787s delivered did not meet its specifications. But it insists the productions issues have been corrected, and that the in-service fleet is not at risk.  A Boeing engineer has come forward to challenge these claims, sparking a new round of scrutiny for the beleaguered manufacturer. Aviation Week Network's Jens Flottau, Sean Broderick and Graham Warwick break it all down.

Industry analysts Ron Epstein and Richard Aboulafia join Aviation Week's Joe Anselmo and Michael Bruno to discuss the momentous challenges facing Boeing’s next leader—and who that leader might be. Read: The Quarter When Boeing Broke

The paper trail on the secretive Xian H-20 had gone cold for a couple years, but recent comments from a PLAAF general suggest the program is coming along. Aviation Week Network's Guy Norris, Steve Trimble and Matt Jouppi dissect what was said and look at where the bomber would fit in China's air force structure.

On March 25 Boeing signaled the departures of President and CEO Dave Calhoun, Chairman Larry Kellner and Stan Deal, president of its Commercial Airplanes division. Aviation Week's Joe Anselmo, Michael Bruno, Jens Flottau and Guy Norris break down the seismic leadership changes and what they mean for the company's future.

Listen in as former Space Shuttle program manager Wayne Hale joins Aviation Week's Irene Klotz and Guy Norris to unpack Starship's third flight test.

Having seized the pole position in electric vehicles, Chinese industry is racing ahead in advanced air mobility. SMG Consulting's Sergio Cecutta joins Aviation Week's Joe Anselmo, Graham Warwick and Ben Goldstein to discuss how the market is developing. Read Ben's latest story: Autoflight’s CarryAll eVTOL To Be Certified Imminently, CEO Says Subscribe to Aviation Week Intelligence Network's AAM Report here

Talks to acquire troubled aerostructures supplier Spirit Aerosystems hold big implications for Boeing—and Airbus. Aviation Week's Joe Anselmo, Michael Bruno, Jens Flottau and Steve Trimble break it down.