The latest news out of Airbus confirms the rumors that have been swirling out of the European aircraft manufacturer's headquarters for weeks: The superjumbo A380 airliner program is facing another six month delay.
The first delay, announced back in June, cost Airbus co-CEO Noel Forgeard his job. But the latest glitch -- which Airbus attributes to troubles with the giant plane's wiring harnesses -- means the 600+ seat A380 is now running almost a year late. Singapore Airlines is growing impatient -- Singapore is set to become the first customer to fly the A380, and Airbus had promised the airline it would receive it's first new plane by the end of the year.
That now seems unlikely, and some of the A380s biggest customers -- including Dubai-based Emirates, which has ordered more than 40 A380s -- are beginning to get grumpy. "Emirates awaits clarification from Airbus as to when the rescheduled delivery dates are going to be, and has taken no position with regard to cancellation, compensation, damages, etc." Emirates president Tim Clark said in a statement.
Hey, no one ever said building a giant airplane is easy. Though few remember it now, the original jumbo jet, Boeing's 747, was also beset by pre-launch delays, including chronic engine troubles that left dozens of airframes parked on the tarmac outside Boeing's Everett factory in 1969. (Wags started calling the 747 the "Dumbo Jet.") Pan Am, the 747s initial launch customer, was no less grumpy then than Singapore and Emirates are today, and for a time it looked like the 747 program might even push Boeing into bankruptcy. That didn't happen, of course, and the 747 later became Boeing's cash cow, with more than 1400 aircraft built.
So for Airbus, is this just a matter of waiting out the storm?
Alas, probably not. The 747 fundamentally changed the economics of air travel during the 1970s, but in 2006, the world is a very different place. Airbus has always assumed that increasing airport congestion would push carriers to invest in larger planes to carry large numbers of passengers between major hubs. Boeing has operated on the basis of a different scenario, assuming rising fuel costs and increased passenger demand for direct point-to-point flights. Put another way, Airbus used airport's like London Heathrow and Tokyo Narita as its models for the future, while Boeing looked to the US commercial aviation market for guidance. And in the US, the 747 has all but disappeared from domestic service as airlines have embraced smaller, more nimble aircraft such as the 737 and 767.
But the order books tell the real story: The A380 program has stalled at around 150 orders, while Boeing's smaller, more fuel-efficient 787 has garnered more than 400 aircraft sales, with new orders added each month. Boeing's biggest problem right now is figuring out how to ramp up the pace of production, as anyone who orders a 787 today won't be able to reserve a manufacturing slot until sometime in 2011. That is, assuming Boeing doesn't any big pre-launch delays of its own...
Can anyone tell me the name of the company that made the time lapse video for Virgin America
Many thanks
Shanie Connard
Posted by: shanie connard | 13 December 2006 at 07:54 AM