FedEx cancels order for 10 Airbus A380s

AP newswire ^ | 7 Nov 2006 | AP

[Rokke]

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - FedEx Corp. said Tuesday it has canceled its order for 10 Airbus A380 jets, the new jumbo double-decker plane that has been dogged by numerous delays.

The company's FedEx Express unit has ordered 15 Boeing Co. 777 Freighters, and has options to purchase an additional 15, FedEx said in a news release. The company cited Airbus' production delays as the reason for the decision.

[NCC-1701]

Yuck! That stinks.

[Last Dakotan]

This great news for The United States of America!

And all the places around the world Boeing imports its parts from.

[Jonah Hex]

Looks like Airbus has built a huge plane we can call "The Aluminum Albatross".

More like "The Composite Compost"...

[kidd]

Is Boeing getting into a problem with production capacity?

They are winning a LOT of orders. Can they meet these promised dates?

[dc27]

Was that the one where they were having problems retracting the landing gear?

I saw that one. I couldn't believe that was the engineering solution. Spray some Slick 50 on the landing gear and all is well.

[Blueflag]

While gates can be modified to accept the 380, there is one rule the International Civil Aviation Organization would not bend on -- the 80 meter wingspan limit, aka the 80-meter-box". Even a fuselage the size of the 380's has to be flown on a wing no wider than 79.75 meters (the size of the A380 wing).

The A380 will always pay a higher aerodynamic price than the Boeing designs because of this.

How do you spell white elephant in French? "éléphant blanc"?

[Moose4]

There are things that the GE-90 can do for a man that no woman can.

I could make some "pounds of thrust" jokes but I'd so get my ass kicked... :)

This is interesting news. If UPS drops the A380F, Airbus is in huge, huge trouble. If Fedex isn't interested in the 747-8F, maybe Big Brown might be. I know they have or had 747-200 freighters (though we never had anything bigger than an MD-11 come into CAE when I used to drive by there, and that only once during a Christmas rush) so maybe it would make sense for them to go to the new model, where it doesn't for Fedex. }:-)4

[garyhope]

Well heck, how are all them mud slimes gonna get to Mecca for the haj or whatever?

[Yo-Yo]

I'm not so sure that if UPS cancelled that it would be all that bad for Airbus.

Losing the production slots for UPS and FedEx would only mean that everybody behind them moves up on the list, getting their planes that much sooner, lessening their desire to cancel.

Virgin Atlantic, 49% owned by SIA, deferred their A380 deliveries, presumably so parent Singapore could receive more of them sooner.

Taking the freighters out of the cue would have a similar effect.

[azhenfud]

"Here's a question... If wiring the seats is holding up the production line, why wouldn't Airbus re-direct some fuselages to frieghters, which have no such wiring?"

Cause Airbus couldn't plug the window holes fast enough to fulfill the contract...;-)

[antiRepublicrat]

The plane came in several tons overweight than what was contractually promised.

Equals several tons less cargo per trip equals lost profit for FedEx equals no sale for Airbus! I love math.

[A CA Guy]

In truth, this works out well for FedEx. The economy has been slowing down a bit and you can earliest see in the transportation industry.
I talk with friends in both and they say it has slowed. So IMO, bad for the plane makers, good for FedEx.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Possible good news for Long Beach...and maybe Wichita....

[Pukin Dog]

The death nails will be Singapore and Emirates. Both companies have their own engineers on site with Airbus going over the A380 program with a fine tooth comb. Early reports are that the A380 is fat bitch with bad hair, (wiring) and they want answers. They had to beef up the wing for stress, which made it even heavier, the engines are not as efficient as advertised, and many systems just don't work yet. If the sucker proves me wrong and goes into production, I for one, will NEVER fly on it, because I consider it a death trap.

[AxelPaulsenJr]

BFLR

[Proud_USA_Republican]

Don't forget about Quantas that ordered A380's as well.

Of those three, my money was on Quantas before year end annoucing they are dumping the A380 for the new 747.

But then recently, Quantas annouced they were ordering more A380's which really made me do a double take. But then it came clear that:

1) Airbust despreately sold them to Quantas for way below cost. THe price per plane on that order will never go public. It would be too embarassing to Airbust.
2) Quantas had the delivery dates pushed farther back. Most likely so they could get real fuel burn rates / final plane weight to determine their options. They will let Singapore, Emirates fly these planes for awhile and take the risks. If the plane ends up the gas sucking, unreliable disaster I believe it will, Quantas can pull out of the deal easily.

Quantas was really pushing Boeing to be able to have a 777 that could do the highly profitable Syndey - London route with no refueling stops. But the latest generation 777 fully loaded with passengers and luggage just can't do it. They would have to add additional fuel tanks inside the luggage hold. I believe the new 747 will be able to do Sydney - London non-stop, but I think Quantas really wanted the extra seats available on the A380 to make these runs major cash cows.

Now I'm hoping that Singpore or Emirates pulls out of the A380 by year end or some airline comes in and orders the first official full passenger version of the new 747. Either one will make me very happy.
The problem is that orders for Airbust planes are always political in nature. Airbust is a job creation program first and formost for Europe, not an actual corporation. So the large deals for Aibust planes ordered by these state run airlines like Emirates or Chinese airlines are always because there is a lot of politicing behind the scenes.

[Alberta's Child]

I wonder if currency exchange considerations are playing a role in this, too. I believe the U.S. dollar is going to weaken against the Euro over the next few years (a forecast in the latest Journal of Commerce is for a 15% decline of the dollar), so FedEx could be saving a lot of money here even if there were no technical problems with the Airbus aircraft.

[camas]

for Boeing and the USA

[tom h]

"How do you say "neener-neener" in French?"

Try a literal translation of "eat my shorts, Froggie."

[norton]

Used to be a Boeing (MacDac) commercial plant as well.
Now it's in process of becoming a development - more empty offices and some houses cramped into the airport/industrial mix.
Not to mention talking about closing down the rest of the operation unless they sell more C-17s...

If they need to build assembly plants to meet demand it'll be outside of California OR Washington State.