Word: a380
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...there and had to come up with a winner," says Ray Neidl, U.S. director of Calyon Securities. "That aircraft would have to be a mainstay in the international, wide-bodied, long-distance competition for years to come." The lesson was kicked off by Airbus' announcement of the giant A380 in 2000, when it was still called the A3XX program. Boeing initially parried with plans for the Sonic Cruiser, to travel nearly the speed of sound, or 20% faster than the Mach 0.85 of conventional jets. "It would have been great for North American, European and Asian markets, but it would...
...says Chris Jones, vice president of marketing for Airbus. Qantas has placed 65 firm orders for the 787 and has the option of 20 more. But an Emirates spokeswoman says the airline is still undecided over the 787 or the A350. Emirates is the largest purchaser of the A380, at 55 orders...
...order to have time to work out any bugs that might arise during test flights. But Airbus will have only one year between its 350-900, 350-800 and 350-1000 launches, meaning it has to be closer to flawless, a status it clearly hasn't reached with the A380...
Some Airbus watchers blame the A380--with 165 orders--for hogging valuable resources and causing delays in the A350 schedule. The two planes stand for Airbus' somewhat divergent views on how to meet the needs of travelers as all aspects of flying grow. Critics say the company overestimated the double-decker market--and overcommitted with its investment of $16 billion. On Oct. 15, the A380 will be delivered to launch customer Singapore Airlines after more than a year's delay. "Airbus was thinking that people wanted massive airplanes to go between the continents," says Neidl. "What's wrong with that...
...development program weren't technically botched, you still have the problem that it's just the wrong plane." Boeing expects to deliver its revamped 747-8 in 2010, costing about $4 billion to develop and probably priced at about $292 million, vs. about $319 million for the competing A380...