Posted on 05/05/2005 7:41:28 AM PDT by wk4bush2004
WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland's national airline LOT is likely to pick Boeing over rival Airbus in a $500 million-plus tender to lease long-haul jets, a source close to the tender said Thursday. "The final decision is not made yet, but until now the decision process was heading in this direction (picking Boeing)," the source told Reuters. Heavyweight Polish daily Rzeczpospolita reported LOT's supervisory board, due to announce the winner of its tender to lease six long-haul passenger jets next Friday, had opted for U.S. airliners because of lower maintenance costs. Boeing is offering its 787 Dreamliner and Airbus its A330-200 model to replace LOT's current fleet of Boeing 767. Neither company would comment on the report. "We don't know anything. It is the airline who makes the decision. We don't comment," Eric Jullien, regional sales director for Airbus, told Reuters. "We are waiting for LOT to announce it. Until now, we cannot say yes and we cannot say no," a Boeing spokeswoman said. The decision on the planes, which will replace LOT's current fleet of Boeing 767s used mainly on transatlantic routes, has become a political issue, with both European leaders and Washington lobbying Warsaw to choose their own aircraft manufacturer. LOT and Polish government officials have repeatedly said the decision will be made solely on commercial grounds.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
That 787 must be a hellava plane. Its beginning to look like Airbus bet too much on that giant 380. Outside transatlantic/transpacific routes I wonder exactly how much need there is to be able to get 600-700 passengers on one route.
I'm not normally in favor of government intervention, but it seems like the U.S. government ought to take some steps to "sweeten the deal" to reward the Poles for their support and make the decision to go Boeing a bit easier to make.
They need to lock the windows in the Airbus skyscraper. Any more bad news and them dudes are going to have to start working on their coping skills.
I have no doubt there will be some aid package out of Congress that will go to Seattle, not Warsaw.
Airbus' projectins for demand for the A380 are way off. It is true that some routes will warrant the A380 but most won't. And when you have major airports, including Atlanta (the busiest in the world) saying that they will not take the A380, that's saying something.
Airbus will never turn a profit on the A380. It could potentially lead them into bankruptcy (of course, we can expect our socialist friends in Europe to pump blood into a mortally wounded animal).
No, airline carrier. LOT Polish Airlines.
I'm still trying to figure out the time it'd take to board 550 people, let alone disembark. This many people seems closer to a passenger ship where you can get on over a two day period in port...
AirBus A380 = the Maginot Line of the 21st Century.
I've heard a Boeing 747-400 takes about 1 hour to 1 hour & 30 minutes for boarding. I couldn't even imagine an A380. Probably at least 2 hours.
Isn't Boeing in St. Louis now?
Beat me to it!!
St. Louis is the former headquarters of McDonnell Dougals which was consumed in a merger deal with Boeing back in the 90's. The headquarters for Boeing is now in Chicago.
Sorry, "Dougals" s/b "Douglas."
You are right that this might really hurt Airbus. Its not the first time that a buiness bet on the wrong product and got hurt. Youa re also right that the European governments will almost certainly bail out Airbus. They have too much prestige tied up in haveing temperorily overtaken Boeing.
What may ultimately be different is that Europeans are not investing nearly enough in military aircraft research. as years go by most of that money will go to Boeing and Northrop too.
"AirBus A380 = the Maginot Line of the 21st Century"
That is hillarious. But a great analogy.
Corporate office is in Chicago. Still build the planes in Washington State.
Uh Oh! Their betters in gay paris and berlin will not be pleased with this insolence.
Youre right. The 787 is really heating up the market. This isn't politics. Commercial airlines want the best equipment and the 787 is obviously it. The 777 has been doing very well lately also.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.