Aerospace analyst Richard Aboulafia is referring to Boeing’s “Partnering for Success” program. The company has been touting the program as a partnership with suppliers intended to make both the company and its aerospace suppliers competitive and profitable, but some suppliers consider it an unfair invasion.

Aboulafia, a senior aerospace analyst for the Teal Group outside Washington, D.C., in his March briefing message said he thinks Partnering for Success may prove to be a “serious self-inflicted wound” for Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA). In his analysis, he points to Boeing’s tactic of taking companies off the list of potential suppliers if they don’t meet Partnering for Success (PFS) standards, a practice that Boeing CEO Jim McNerney has called a “no-fly list.”

“Since the Orwellian-sounding PFS began last year, I don’t think I’ve met a supplier who wasn’t either angry about, or scared by this initiative,” Aboulafia wrote. He added that the tactic is removing from consideration some seasoned suppliers such as UTC Aerospace Systems, which builds the landing gear for the current 777 but will be replaced for the 777X.  Aboulafia  made similar points in his annual presentation  during the Pacific Northwest Aerospace Alliance annual convention in February, before an audience of somber local and international suppliers.

So what's the future of the UAV market in South America? Expect it to grow, according to Phil Finnegan, director of corporate analysis with the Teal Group. A 2013 study of the global UAV market showed that Latin American countries spent US $71.1 million, a figure that will grow to $271.5 million in 2022. Over that decade, Latin American nations will spend around $1.7 billion on unmanned systems. That market has been "heavily dominated" by Israeli companies, but as the Pentagon enters a period of budget reduction, US firms are starting to turn eyes south, Finnegan said, although that won't likely lead to displacement of Israeli industry. "US companies are going to be making a push in the area, but the Israeli companies have a strong lead, and especially in a place like Brazil, they have a strong domestic presence," Finnegan said.

Airline start-ups may find it tough to attract funding at a time when the largest U.S. carriers have endured bankruptcies and consolidation to emerge as disciplined competitors, said Richard Aboulafia, aerospace analyst with Teal Group, a Fairfax, Virginia-based consultant. "Investors realize the big guys are getting their act together and are no longer egg-laying dinosaurs," Aboulafia said. "The idea of adding more to the fray when everybody seems to have their costs in line with market reality — that's just a very bad idea."

An airline like American Airlines has about 900 planes, making the upgrade cost nearly $50 million. "It's not unaffordable, but some airlines wouldn't be happy about the bill," he said. "For some other airlines, it would just be ruinous." Richard Aboulafia, aviation analyst at Fairfax, Va.-based Teal Group Corp., said there are other costs to consider as well. "Hardware isn't expensive, but bandwidth is," he said. "You're increasing the amount of bandwidth needed to transmit this data." Both Aboulafia and Trimble are unsure whether MH370 will inspire a wave of reformation and innovation in airplane tracking technology. "Maybe there will be some change," Aboulafia said, "but there isn't a lot of historical precedent for it. There are very few examples in the past of how a crash can change a system."

Najib’s pronouncement may have been intended to counter criticism that Malaysian officials have been too reticent to share details of the search, said Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst with Teal Group, a consultant based in Fairfax, Virginia. “It’s not much closure, but it’s better than none at this point,” Aboulafia said in a telephone interview.