Airbus to Offer Obama a Superjumbo

UK Guardian ^ | Thursday 15 January 2009 14.12 GMT | David Gow

[lewisglad]

Airbus is preparing to offer incoming US president Barack Obama a special A380 superjumbo to replace the ageing Air Force One Boeing 747 jumbo jet, it emerged today.

Tom Enders, chief executive, said the US was already thinking about new aircraft for the presidential fleet and it was "not completely absurd" to consider the superjumbo as an alternative. It can carry as many as 840 passengers and is the European plane-maker's flagship, with one sold to a Gulf sheikh.

But Enders said it was "much too early to speculate" and Airbus was concentrating on winning the re-run $40bn (£27bn) Pentagon contract for 179 air-to-air refuelling (tanker) aircraft against Boeing.

Airbus won the contract last year after one of the fiercest lobbying battles ever witnessed on Capitol Hill, but the Pentagon later revised the tender under congressional pressure. Enders said Airbus had won that contest fairly and intended to win again – provided it was on a level playing field.

Under George Bush, the White House shocked US plane-makers by awarding the contract to renew the presidential fleet of helicopters to Anglo-Italian company AgustaWestland, part of Finmeccanica.

There are some fears within the European aviation industry that Obama, with his Chicago base, could favour Boeing, which has its headquarters in the "windy city" and carries enormous congressional influence.

But senior sources said this week that the new president, who is inaugurated on Tuesday, would be determined to be impartial. Airbus has won congressional friends, particularly in the south, by setting up plants in states such as Alabama and Mississippi.

The A380, which has won 198 orders from 16 customers, is the world's biggest plane, but Airbus claims it is at least 25% more fuel-efficient than the venerable 747 and emits far fewer greenhouse gases – a key Obama preoccupation.

[MajorTom56]

Well said.

[who knows what evil?]

Airbus is preparing to offer incoming US president Barack Obama a special A380 superjumbo to replace the ageing Air Force One Boeing 747 jumbo jet, it emerged today.

Wonder if there will be a complimentary basket of gold, frankincense and myrrh on board?

[Sig Sauer P220]

I'm all for it. Let Zero order an Airbus and put the Washington State and Kansas votes squarely in the GOP column for 2010 and 2012.

Kansas already is, and has been. I think Washington state is a lost cause.

[MahatmaGandu]

Kansas already is, and has been. I think Washington state is a lost cause.

If Zero pisses on the Boeing employees and all of their suppliers that'll tip the scales to make Washington a GOP state again. For that reason alone I don't see him doing this.

[Gator113]

since=sense

[longtermmemmory]

PR stunt.

[PSYCHO-FREEP]

Oh yes!

Obama will take the Airbus with O...pen arms. What other way to side with the Europeans and thumb his nose at American Free Enterprise.

He will use the “fuel economy/low emissions” excuse for snubbing a long tradition of past Presidents. After all, he is the chosen one. He will have NO limitations.

[MediaMole]

The space is needed because the aircraft is a working office for the President when he is traveling.

AF1 carries the President, staff and media. It has a suite for the president, meeting rooms, work rooms, kitchen, etc. The communications gear is a small part of the space requirements.

[longtermmemmory]

stupid is as Obama does...

[null and void]

In other news, an Airbus just ditched in the Hudson river...

[varon]

It can carry as many as 840 passengers and is the European plane-maker's flagship,

Just what Hillary needs for herself, Bubba and their entourage as she circles the globe to receive acclaim and Bubba receive "donations".

[Mike Darancette]

If the US buys foreign aircraft with Americans out of work, then they are dumber than even I can imagine.

[adorno]

The space is needed because the aircraft is a working office for the President when he is traveling.

AF1 carries the President, staff and media. It has a suite for the president, meeting rooms, work rooms, kitchen, etc. The communications gear is a small part of the space requirements.

Those are still not good arguments for a super-jumbo or even the 747.

A mid-size or a B-767 size plane are sufficient for what you described above.

[too_cool_for_skool]

LOL - have you ever been to Washington? The entire state consists of Subaru-driving, Starbucks-sipping, REI-shopping hippies. Washington is as Blue as Texas is Red.

[Kickass Conservative]

Thanks for summing it all up, but don't worry.

The Media will set everything right the moment the Ineligible Illegal Alien Anchor Baby raises his right hand and promises to uphold and defend the (living) Constitution.

[wolf78]

I thought the Airbloat was so big it couldn’t land at most airports.

The problem is jetbridges (for an A380 you ideally use 2-3 on different levels), not runways (ok, on very narrow runways the A380 engines whirl up a bit more dust next to the runway, but other than that no difference compared to a B747). Airforce One usually doesn't use passenger terminals for security reasons (even more of a sitting duck), so that's a non-issue.

Other than that:

- with the usual delays we're talking about a 2017/18 timeframe. Obama probably never even uses whatever plane they order now.

- European products have to be treated more or less the same as American products, as per agreement. If Airbus wasn't allowed to bid on US procurements, the EU would retaliate in kind, which would lose Boeing, Lockheed etc. billions. Of course, Boeing expects to build the next Airforce One, but they want the whole thing handled more discreetly.

[keepitreal]

My brother, who is now an AF colonel, has been in military airlift his entire career. He has yet to fly a plane that is not older than he is. 20 years old is pretty young in the Air Force.