"The rollout is a positive development, particularly useful for marketing," said Richard Aboulafia, a vice president of Teal Group, a Virginia-based consultant. "The MRJ order book is a good start for a new player." Still, "the MRJ program needs to prove that it can be competitive even up against the market leader."

Mitsubishi Aircraft wants to take half of the global market for regional aircraft over the next 20 years as Bombardier focuses on its new CSeries jets, which will be able to carry as many as 160 passengers. The CSeries program is also delayed.

Marco Caceres, a space analyst with Teal Group, says the Air Force is most likely interested in having a surveillance platform that can "maneuver in orbit faster" than satellites. Darpa is also working on a new hypersonic "spaceplane" called the XS-1 that could offer quick access to space and launch payloads into orbit for less than $5 million per flight. "Quick, affordable, and routine access to space is increasingly critical for U.S. Defense Department operations," the agency said in its call for proposals for the spacecraft late last year.

"Boeing's cost structure is higher than SpaceX — that's just a fact," said Marco Caceres, senior space analyst at the Teal Group.

Because the aerospace giant has been around longer, it most likely has an older, more experienced workforce with higher wages and labor costs, he added.

But the biggest cost differences likely come from manufacturing processes. Boeing builds its Delta rocket and Atlas V launchers in a vertical position, while SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets are assembled horizontally, which is easier and saves on time.

Meantime, SpaceX is a vertically integrated company, building all of its parts in-house, with no subcontractors. Boeing employs numerous subcontractors to build components, which adds to costs. "When you become a more established company, you can't be a specialist in everything," Caceres said.

If there is any culprit, experts say, it's proximity. "Planes don't make people sick; other people do," said Richard Aboulafia, an aviation analyst at the Teal Group Corporation. "Being around other people, whether it's in the context of a jet, an airport, a hotel, that's going to increase your likelihood of picking up something."

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Although people often suspect that the recirculated air they breathe in the cabin spreads germs, Mr. Aboulafia said that's not the case. "It's nothing to do with the aircraft or the way the air is treated."

Air in a plane's cabin is a mixture of compressed air drawn in from outside and filtered, or recirculated, air. "It all goes through HEPA filters, which are really good at getting particles," Mr. Aboulafia said. "The objective is to filter out all particulate matter," he added, since germs can be transmitted by hitching a ride on airborne particles.

Richard Aboulafia, an analyst with the Teal Group, called the JSTARS replacement a "great idea in need of a champion."

"In terms of technology, it makes so much sense to recapitalize," Aboulafia said. "Anything that gets you from a four-engine obsolete jetliner to a modern twinjet just pays for itself very quickly, gives you a lot more operational flexibility too, and by the way it also presents a smaller target for the enemy."