Aviation Week's Check 6 Podcast

Todd Tuthill, Vice President at Siemens Digital Industries Software, shares insights on the digital transformation in the aerospace and defense sectors. He discusses the gap between expectations and actual benefits from digital initiatives, revealing that 72% of companies feel underwhelmed by their returns. The conversation delves into the shift toward unmanned defense systems, the challenges of rising costs, and the slow adoption of AI technologies. Tuthill emphasizes the need for innovative solutions to enhance efficiency and address supply chain issues amid evolving industry dynamics.

Guests include Daniel Williams, Aviation Week's director of Fleet Data, offering crucial insights on aircraft deliveries; Jens Flotow, who heads the commercial aviation team and shares details from his visit to Toulouse; and Sean Broderick, Aviation Week's safety editor, analyzing Boeing's production challenges. They discuss Airbus's ambitious target of 770 deliveries versus Boeing's struggles with production declines and labor issues. The conversation also touches on engine durability, rising costs for airlines, and the effects of supply chain disruptions on the aviation industry.

Aviation Week's defense team discusses the latest developments with Europe's combat air projects as governments there ramp up military spending. 

Hypersonics expert and former chief scientist of the U.S. Air Force Dr. Mark Lewis joins Aviation Week's Christine Boynton, Guy Norris and Graham Warwick to examine the X-30 NASP program, and how—decades later—its legacy still lives on. 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 on NASP here:  Reagan Endorses Station, Advanced Transport (Feb. 10, 1986) X-30 Technology Advancing Despite Management Rift (March 7, 1988) The X-30: Leading The Way Into The Hypersonic Era (Nov.13, 1989) Senate Balks At Raising X-30 Funds, Placing NASP’s Future In Doubt (June 29, 1992) Editorial: Recommit To Hypersonics (Nov. 30, 2009) Audio Clip Feb. 4, 1986: President Reagan's State of the Union Address (C-SPAN)

Sixteen years after the launch of its ground-breaking N+3 project, NASA is using the same model to once again accelerate the pace of advancements as aviation strives for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. NASA's Rich Wahls joins the podcast to discuss AACES. 

How will a second Trump administration affect the defense industry and global alliances?  Listen in as the McCain Institute’s executive director Evelyn Farkas joins Aviation Week's Joe Anselmo and Michael Bruno to discuss.

Join industry experts Jens Flottau, a veteran commercial aviation journalist, and Sash Tusa, a financial analyst from Agency Partners, as they dissect Airbus's struggles in the competitive airplane market. They explore production challenges rooted in supply chain disruptions and the ripple effects stemming from Boeing's issues. The duo also discusses leadership changes at Airbus and the impending necessity for modernization in production strategies, highlighting how these factors contribute to the company’s stagnation.

SpaceX’s Starship booster “catch” at the launchpad wowed the space world, but big hurdles remain to launching humans to Mars in 2028. Irene Klotz and Guy Norris join Joe Anselmo to discuss.

Once known as UFOs, sightings of unidentified anomalous phenomena present a thorny issue for the aviation community. Former F/A-18 pilot Ryan Graves who leads Americans for Safe Aerospace joins Aviation Week's Guy Norris and Garrett Reim to discuss the risks UAP pose and shares progress made on destigmatizing reporting among pilots.

It’s been nearly five years since the cutting-edge aircraft first flew, but you won’t fly on one before 2026. Aviation Week’s Guy Norris, Sean Broderick and Dan Williams explain to Joe Anselmo how we got here. Click to find out more about Aviation Week Network's 2025 Commercial Fleet & MRO Forecast Register for Aviation Week's A&D Mergers & Acquistions Conference here