Why does Airbus employ so many midgets?

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/751309/L/

 

Is that the new one that's considerably bigger than a Boeing 747? I have to say, although its big, it still seems small for something that 600 people can get inside comfortably.

Anyway, my brother might be one of these midgets.... I think he's been doing work on the electronic systems for it. He reckons that if it goes into production on time and the early orders are fulfilled on time then it could put Boeing out of the business.

 

I think that's unlikely alan.

McDonnell Douglas and Lockheed essentially took each other out of civil aviation. They produced competing products in too small a market, the DC-10 and the Tristar L-1011. Neither made money on the projects (The lockheed got few buyers, and confidence in the DC10 was very shaken by two major crashes). Lockheed left civil aviation, and McD was weakened to the point that Boeing bought them.

Boeing won't make that mistake. They compete where there is a large market (737NG vs A318/319/320/321), but otherwise their planes tend to avoid stepping on each other's toes (A330 is shorter ranged and smaller than 777 but bigger and longer range than 767, A340 is similar to 777 but avoids ETOPS restrictions for trans-pacific routes, etc). 7E7 is a different emphasis again (and by the time it's in service, A330 which it does compete with will be 15 years old), although airbus are planning an A350 to compete with that.

The A380 orderbook stands at around 150 aircraft. That's not break-even point... it's about half. If boeing tried to compete, both companies would lose a lot of money.

 

I think that may have been what my brother was saying (Of civil aviation I know only what I think he was telling me!)... Boeing will not be in the business of competing with the A380. But if the A380 was delayed or had problems then that might enable them to sell more 747s.

 

Well, as sparse as 120 orders for the A380 may be, there are no outstanding orders for passenger 747s, only a few freighters. Airlines are waiting to see what happens... some (KLM and JAL among them) are leaning on Boeing to produce an "Advanced" 747 with new materials and so forth. Others are waiting to see how the A380 performs before putting their markers down. Others who need the capacity are going with it now (Singapore, QANTAS, Etihad, Emirates, Virgin)

 

Breakeven on the A380 is supposed to be at the 250 mark. I think they'll sell a lot more than that.

 

In time, yes I think they will. Just as 747s fly now, 35 years after the first flight of one, and they will still be flying in 15 years time, so the Airbus is likely to have a 25-30 year production lifetime.

 

The problem with that airbus is I am guessing its mainly for long hual flights, while it may take business away from the 747, many smaller airlines and shorter routers still prefer the favouriter 737. However I believe Airbus have a good rival to the 737 and I know EasyJet has ordered a lot of them.

Easyjet used to be a 737 only company but now they are selling all their Boewings off.

 

AT- they have aircraft for most markets... the A380 is for a market that until now hasn't existed (500-800 seat). Of course it's not meant for shorthaul work. That's the A320 family's job.

 

Read a bit about this plane in the paper today, inside it looks more like a ferry. It certainly would help attract a lot more people to the east, Australia and perhaps the west coast of the USA etc. Apparantly it even has a pub.

Now getting to spend 10 hours in a pub has to be a good excuse to go to Austrlalia

 

Won't happen. They'll just take out all these nice "features" that are possible and put in more seats

 

Just as they did with the 747.

The difference with the A380 though is that it's limited by weight rather than space. You can't keep adding passengers because of the additional weight they bring... the idea being that the A380 offers 50% more space but 35% more passengers compared with a 747-400, so everyone has a bit more room. But I doubt economy class passengers will benefit much.

As the aircraft develops a Heavy Gross Weight version, no doubt passenger counts will go up. Escape tests are being done for up to 850 people. Also, when the stretched A380-900 comes along things will change again.

 

I doubt economy class passengers will benefit AT ALL.

 

Is this for the US market?