Quote:
Originally Posted by Klazu
Aviation related: on my recent trip I was reading WSJ and was surprised to learn that apparently the A330 series is currently a best-seller for Airbus and demand for them is much larger than Airbus is able to respond to. That was somehow surprising to me, as I have considered A330 being an older plane, but then again I took note how many A330's there were on HKG and TPE tarmacs.
A340's seem to be getting fewer and fewer quickly and A350's are slow to make an appearance.
What is also a very exciting plane going forward will be the new Boeing 777X. Damn, that plane looks just sweet and Boeing seems to be leading the game with Airbus playing constantly catch with them.
|
Airbus has been playing catch-up since they embarked on the A380, which was more or less a vanity product. I think Airbus KNEW the A380 had a HIGH risk factor but got so enamoured with building the biggest and shiniest toy that they forgot that they had to turn a profit as well... or just ask taxpayers for more $$$.
The A380 did do one thing, though. It elevated the general Airbus image, so it's not all bad.
And Boeing took on quite a bit of risk with the 787 as well, but it appears to have paid off. For consumers, the 787 is easily the best plane to fly on out there.
We'll see about the A350XWB. It should compete, but it still relies on tried and true technologies. The 787 is really a large leap in aviation technology. Like any new technology, it has had teething problems, but the 777X and 747-8 have both REALLY benefited from these teething problems.
The A350XWB seems like a tweener plane. It's essentially built on the A330 to compete while Airbus decides if/when it wants to go with the all-electric route Boeing has gone with. I think they're taking a wait and see approach.
Boeing's 787 could blow up in their faces... literally... but they've been fortunate in being quick to solve problems ( even though that means grounding the fleet for a year to fix the battery problems ).
Either way, it's nice to have choice as a consumer. Now if only Bombardier could step up to the plate...