Posted on 10/30/2007 6:12:28 AM PDT by WesternCulture
As my taxi pulled up at Changi airport, I knew this was going to be a special day - the day of the first A380 commercial flight was finally here.
The airport had long been adorned with banners and posters declaring Singapore "A380 ready" and anticipating the flight.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
Although I know very little about aviation, I feel confident that the A380 will be considered a success in the end and although I’ aware there are some people here who don’t care much for the French, I think it’s safe to say that France evidently has a lot of competent engineers.
Here’s my question: How long does it take to get through customs if you were in the last row of the A380?
The French have some of the best engineers in the world but because they regulate and subsidize industry so heavily, they end up completing a lot of projects that would not survive a rational cost/benefit analysis. The Concorde is a classic example- a magnificent aircraft that had no hope of paying for itself. As for the A380, the jury is still out IMO.
It's going to take more than fancy new planes to put the "excitement back into air travel" for me. It's not the flights that are the problem, it's the nightmare that awaits at the airports.
“Airbus parent company EADS has announced a new break-even point for its troubled A380 programme - 420 aircraft as opposed to the previous 270, the BBC reports. Current orders for the A380 stand at 159”
More to the point, how many days if you're in the last row...and Customs is unionized?
The French have some of the best engineers in the world but because they regulate and subsidize industry so heavily, they end up completing a lot of projects that would not survive a rational cost/benefit analysis
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hmm you make it sound as if we don’t. Boeing gets a lot of $ from the govt
The discovery channel had an interesting series of shows about making of the A380, and it looked like a hectic build. One can’t help but admire a great achievement. Hopefully for them it will be a financial success as well.
I've been to at least 2 dozen different countries in Europe/Asia/Central/South America. It's never customs, it's ALWAYS immigration that has massive lines.
I don’t think there’s a whole lot of doubt about the aircraft itself any more than regular uncertainty of any new airframe that needs time in the saddle to be proven. Airbus has competently built lots of airplanes, and this one will likely fly just fine too.
The question about the 380 is a strategic one. Airbus has gambled their future on the economic success of this plane, and they’ll need to sell a whole lot more of them if the company is to remain a going concern. With or without government subsidies if they don’t sell, they don’t sell.
The criticism of airbus’s decision to build this plane is more about whether there is a big enough market for them at this point in time, or not. Only time will tell.
My hunch is that Boeing’s decision to not pursue that market but to go after the more modest size routes with the 787. Boeing’s already sold enough planes to pay for the project and that’s without delivering a single one yet.
That’s why I think they’ll sell more of the cargo version than the passenger version.
It is an engineering success, no doubt. Whether it is a business success remains to be seen. Of course, given the various subsidies available to Airbus, it will be difficult to determine exactly what a business success would be.
Much like the Concorde, it comes down to what your definition of success is. Boeing was very wise to pass on building an SST, and I think they have been equally wise on take a pass on the super jumbo concept.
The (very impressive) A380 will become the plane of choice for airlines like Singapore which need large capacity aircraft, and the 747 will begin to phase out of existence. But the 787 will probably be the aircraft of choice for most international routes in ten years - the A350 XWB being too late to market to pick up much market share unless Boeing falls way behind in their delivery timetable.
I hope that in future they will resis the temptation to cram in an extra rowin economy class. I flew an A330 two weeks ago, for the first time in several years, and USAIR had done just that. As to the wider aisles, they seem no wider than those of most jets back in the ‘60s when I first flew.
And 420 is just break-even? How does a company stay profitable, being that far behind? Breaking even is not going to keep shareholders happy, and it's not going to create the resources needed to fund other projects.
Please identify the direct subsidies that Boeing receives from the federal government for development of commercial airplanes. Boeing is a large defense contractor although Boeing must compete and deliver on these contracts. Boeing negotiated with Washington state to receive reasonable tax treatment and infrastructure. Boeing could have moved production and received better deals elsewhere.
Boeing is a publicly traded commercial company without direct government subsidies to build airplanes. Airbus receives huge direct subsidies to build and develop airplanes.
perhaps there are is more than one exit when the plane lands? one at the front and one at the back?
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