Posted on 07/20/2011 6:20:39 AM PDT by RayChuang88
FORT WORTH, Texas — American Airlines is buying at least 460 new planes over the next five years in what it calls the biggest airline order in history. And in a victory for Airbus, it's splitting the work between the European plane maker and Boeing.
American said Wednesday it will buy 260 planes from Airbus and 200 from Boeing Co. It expects the new, better-mileage planes to provide much-needed savings on fuel costs. American's current fleet is among the least fuel-efficient in the industry.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
So, you don’t want the details?
Competitive would assume your competing at the same standard, and cheap to the point of being border line safe is not something to admire.
Do you have the data on the safety record of the A320 v/s the 737NG ? I do not have the exact data, but I read of as many A320 incidents as I do 737NG ones. Both aircraft are equals. And I am neither European or American.
The Airbus's are designed not for optimum quality but to sell....period.
Let me know if you want an in-depth observational experience, not statistical, explanation for what I've said.
I am not defending Airbus, but I have got to respond with your remark about “Scarebus” with the fact that most people refer to Northwest Airlines as Northworst.
I hate flying anymore, but I refuse to let Northwest make that experience any worse. I just won’t fly them any more. I have never been treated as rudely and crudely as I have been on Northwest.
I started there in 1988 and Northwest had the best maintenance in the world then. They had the oldest average age of a fleet of aircraft in the world, yet we had average wise the #1 on-time airline in the world. We even gave Northwest 5 years in a row of #1 on-time in the mid 90’s.
All of that with the oldest fleet.
Pratt and Whitney, engine manufacturer, even came to MSP’s power plant shop to find out why we were getting 10,000 hrs off of our rebuilt engines and they couldn't.
Vendors were the ones that told us that the radio shop was the best in the world. We would feed back to new vendors about 90% of all schematic corrections on new equipment.
I retired with life-time flying benefits and now I don't even use them because, even though NW is now part of Delta, I don't trust their maintenance....just so you know.
If I do fly them, I will be checking what type of aircraft is used on my particular flight.
The Airbuses thought are another entirely different animal in the air....aircraft design minimums from nose to tail....fly them if you dare.
Can't justify NW now....and won't.
This is what happens when business people that don't know aviation buy a company......it loses altitude fast.
I am comparing the anecdotal evidence of the record of the A320 (puechased by govt owned Indian Airlines 20+ yrs ago and many still flying) with the 737NG's flown by many private indian airlines. Also from some data i get from a.net and airdisaster.com etc.
ping
The Pratt & Whitney Geared Turbofan, has run, flown on the wing, and is on schedule for Production "type certificate" for 2013.
They other guys? more tweaks of the same concept, I can't see it. You can't keep upping the pressure ratio etc and magically come up with a 15% reduction where as the Geared Turbofan is a game changer. When it comes to the Leap-X, I am from Missouri, Show Me...
Their feeder carriers have been flying Canadian-designed aircraft (Dash-8 & CRJ) for at least a decade.
I don’t fly on Airbus planes after seeing shoddy design on one years ago. That was followed later by Airbus tail structures breaking off in air.
Defense and Airbus are two different things. I share your view that Europe is not doing enough (and/or doing the wrong things) for its millitary and that the NATO-burden between Europe and the US is absolutely not balanced. It is a shame.
The American problem is, that it has no other real potent (!) allies than European countries, South Korea and Japan on this small planet. Of course, if you take Pakistan as an ally...
We Europeans are on one hand very capable in every way, on the other hand we suffer from hedonism and decadence. Freedom is not free of course and friendships have to be cultivated. This is something many people here haven’t understood so far.
BTW - sometimes I think some (not all) Americans have the same attitude.
The reason why I like Airbus planes is, that I lived as a student in Hamburg where the A 320 is manufactured. I know and like many people who work for Airbus and of course are convinced of their product. Furthermore I like the Beluga- and Super Guppy transport planes that came from Toulouse to Hamburg. All this does not make a America-hating xenophobe of me.
Best regards to Fallujah! Nuke Mullah Omar’s a** into its elementary particles.
Andreas :)
I'd love to hear more about your experiences and observations regarding Airbus aircraft.
For example (and IIRC) the A380 has/had some weaknesses in the wing spar strength, tail strength, and switched to aluminum wiring (vs copper) in order to save weight. (Any one of these is sufficient to put me on a competitive airline flying a Boeing.)
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You and at least 2 others are very interested so give me some time because I’m at the end of a contract here in Kandahar and I’ll be able to do the subject justice.
Basically a ducted turboprop?
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