It would not be a novel collaboration: Boeing subsidiary Aviall has already been supporting the Ukrainian aircraft manufacturer Antonov in the An-1X8-Next program for two years. For the revised version of the robust twin-engine regional aircraft and transporters An-148, An-158 and An-178, the American company is helping with the storage and logistics of components.
The American-Ukrainian cooperation was a reaction to the Crimean crisis. In 2015, the Russian aviation company UAC terminated its cooperation with Antonov because of the political turmoil. The supply of components suddenly collapsed.
But the new cooperation with Boeing did not get off to a flying start after that. «We appreciate the opportunity to work with this company. We are currently working in accordance with the existing agreements,» said Antonov boss Oleksandr Donets recently in an interview with aeroTELEGRAPH. But now the Americans and Ukrainians are apparently talking about deepening cooperation.
Cooperation already started in 2018
According to Cargo Forwarder, the negotiations are already well advanced. The aim is to provide further support in logistics, storage and management of components and spare parts. The Ukrainian ambassador to the USA, Volodymyr Yelchenko, not only confirmed the negotiations to journalists, but also said that the negotiations are well advanced.
According to the diplomat, Antonov Boeing has submitted various project proposals. According to Yelchenko, the American aircraft manufacturer could also be interested in participating in aircraft programs that are to be developed either in the USA or Ukraine. According to the report, Boeing should even consider building large transport aircraft together with Antonov - a specialty of the Ukrainians, who, for example, have a giant freighter on offer, the An-124.
Rejection of other manufacturers only recently
It is questionable whether the American aircraft manufacturer is actually considering joint production of aircraft with Antonov. Just last month Boeing definitely cancelled the takeover of the civil division of Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer. The manufacturer justified this, among other things, with tough negotiations.
In addition, the Corona crisis has created new problems. Boeing can hardly and probably does not want to dedicate itself to a new project at the moment.
