Defense & Aerospace Report Podcast [Jan 19, ’25 Business Report]

On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Business Roundtable, sponsored by Bell, Dr. “Rocket” Ron Epstein of Bank of America Securities, Sash Tusa of the independent equity research firm Agency Partners, and Richard Aboulafia of the AeroDynamic advisory consultancy join host Vago Muradian to discuss Wall Street has a strong week as Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House; with no debt ceiling increase the US Treasury starts extraordinary measures to stretch resources until Congress makes a deal to avoid default; defense outlays hit an all-time high with a nearly 10 percent year-over-year increase and prominent GOP lawmakers press for a $100-$200 billion increase in Pentagon spending; the Aerospace Industries Association expresses openness to working with the new administration on selective tariffs to redress trade inequities; Anduril picks Columbus, Ohio, for its new 5 million square foot “Arsenal 1” facility that will employ 4,000; some positive 737, 787 and 777X news for Boeing; and the number of parked narrow-body jetliners grows as cargo drops, but sidelined planes with Pratt & Whitney’s geared turbofan engines declines.