Airbus exec hints at tardy 787, plays up A350

Dominic Gates ^ | Tuesday, March 13, 2007 - Page updated at 02:01 AM | Dominic Gates

[Paleo Conservative]

PHOENIX — John Leahy may be getting gentler. But he's still the ultimate believer in Airbus.

Airbus' chief commercial officer and supersalesman said Monday he's hearing from suppliers that Boeing's 787 could be up to six months late. Though he'd prefer that didn't happen, he added.

"In this particular case, misery doesn't love company," said Leahy, "We wish them well, to get an airplane out the door on time."

Leahy called the A350, Airbus' challenge to the new Boeing jet, a "world airplane," because, like the 787, it will be built in large sections around the globe. And he predicted his plane will have at least 200 orders by year-end.

"You'll clearly see 2007 as being the year of the A350," he said.

[Paleo Conservative]

There he goes again!

[xcamel]

posted (Different title)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1800141/posts

[Paleo Conservative]

John Leahy

If you want on or off my aerospace ping list, please contact me by Freep mail.

[TommyDale]

Sounds like a car dealer: "I can't deliver that Chrysler 300 now, but ignore that Cadillac. I have a PT Cruiser here that will work for you!"

[AlaskaErik]

What sayeth Boeing?

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

And why not promote the A350? What flies through the air better than utter vapor?

[Turbopilot]

Is this from The Onion??? Leahy's got one airplane that's gonna be over two years late, another that's gone through so many revisions that no one knows what it's gonna look like, let alone when it'll go into service, and he's talking up that airplane because of rumors (contraindicated by everything Boeing's made public) that the 787 might be late 6 months??

Boeing hit a home run with the 787 while Airbus keeps hitting foul balls. If they go ahead with the second line, there'll be 500 787s in the air before the 350XXLOMGLOL is flying anywhere but as a model on a bureaucrat's desk.

[DUMBGRUNT]

$657 million set aside in the parent-company accounts last week for the A350 delays was to cover the difference in price between the original A350 and the latest version.

They will sell them at a loss, but makeup for it on the volume sales?

[Turbopilot]

can fly from LA to Tokyo - turn around and return to LA without refueling.

I love the 787 - but I'll let you take the seat on that test flight :-p

[driftdiver]

"The Dreamliner saves approximately 20% on fuel, and can fly from LA to Tokyo - turn around and return to LA without refueling.
...and Airbus?"

Well the wings aren't strong enough, there are wiring problems and a good percentage of the workers have been fired.

[DuncanWaring]

You sure which airplane you're talking about?

[driftdiver]

The airbus

[Prophet in the wilderness]

Is this from The Onion??? Leahy's got one airplane that's gonna be over two years late, another that's gone through so many revisions that no one knows what it's gonna look like, let alone when it'll go into service,( and on top of this, Boeing is hinting of bringing ( launching ) out 2 versions of the replacement for the 737 18 months after the 787 goes into service ) and he's talking up that airplane because of rumors (contraindicated by everything Boeing's made public) that the 787 might be late 6 months??

[Prophet in the wilderness]

It could have been a sarcastic jab of referring to the A-380.

[cmsgop]

The roll out will be 7/8/07, didn't say it would Fly by then,but you should see the roll out.

[festus]

Leahy called the A350, Airbus' challenge to the new Boeing jet, a "world airplane," because, like the 787, it will be built in large sections around the globe.

And which buyers are keenly interested in this ?

[DuncanWaring]

Do you know what a "Dreamliner" is?

[antiRepublicrat]

What sayeth Boeing?

They say some problems have cropped-up, but it's nothing that's not covered by one of their many contingency plans.

Actually, I'd be surprised if an advanced project such as this didn't slip a bit. Going all-composite, no bleed air, etc., was a huge thing to take on for one project. If they make it on time and budget, the project managers can name their price for any project management job in the world.