Boeing vs Airbus. Is Airbus a threat to Boeing? Is Airbus a serious rival in quality/price?

Question

Living in a French entourage, everyone is saying that Airbus is a proof of European genius and that they've outdone Boeing etc...
What advantages do airline companies have when they order an Airbus? Are the parts cheaper, are they more reliable, is the plane cheaper than a Boeing equivalent (apart from the A380), easier to maintain, electronics more modern, ? Is the interior comfort better than Boeing?
I wuold really appreciate your thoughts on the matter, if you know!

Answer 1

The A380 has harmed Airbus quite substantially, however, I believe that once they start selling it, they will quickly bounce back.

The fact is, Airbus has a lot going over Boeing and Boeing engineers are very busy trying to build a better product so that they aren't completely overrun by Airbus. Boeing is going to have to reinvent itself in several ways in order to stay in business over the next thirty or so years. Reasons why Airbus is better:

1. They are subsidized by several different European countries. These various nations make a profit off of Airbus. The profits made makes various countries want to invest more and more money into Airbus.

2. Because of the subsidization, an airline can get airplanes from Airbus for very little or no money down at all. The only thing an airline has to do is make its monthly payment. Not having to put money down on airplanes makes the difference between being able to start an airline and not being able to start an airline for a lot of companies, such as Frontier, JetBlue, and several others.

3. If an airline defaults and goes out of business, the subsidizing nations are given proportional equity of the defunct airline's existing fleet. As such, if an airline fails, the subsidizing countries don't lose any money out of the deal because they will take the existing planes for which they have proportional equity in, and resell them to other airlines and will likely make even more money from doing this than they would have had the defunct airline not failed to begin with

4. Not having to put money down on airplanes gives already existing airlines a substantial financial incentive to buy from Airbus. Because of this, Airbus airplanes look extremely attractive over Boeing. This attracts more customers and just makes Airbus stronger and stronger.

The financial system that Airbus has set up makes it an absolutely no lose situation for everyone involved:

1. The subsidizing nations make money from Airbus, regardless of whether the various airlines that their airplanes are sold to succeed or fail.

2. The various airlines have tremendous financial incentives to buy from Airbus because they can get airplanes for no money down. This is simply too good of a deal for most airlines to let pass by.

3. Because of these incentives, Airbus benefits because there is no shortage of customers.

Others are right, the A380 has been a serious loss of money so far, however, I fully believe that Airbus will work through these problems and that they will make an absolute ton of money off the A380 once they work the bugs out of it and start selling it in mass quantities to airlines.

In my personal opinion, there is no stopping Airbus at this point.

Answer 2

This question again? This, as has been mentioned, could be argued about forever, and many of the points of argument are very subjective. Airbus is indeed held to be more prestigious in many parts of the world: many Asian domestic airlines actually state this! Boeings are more likely to be seen as either tools to get the job done (which they do), or cattle trucks (a fairly common euphemism reserved for the 747) Your claim to Boeing being more experienced is specious: the companies that formed Airbus were aircraft builders themselves. Douglas pioneered airline travelling, not Boeing, with the DC-3: probably the first "world" aircraft in that it was built in large nubers and served pretty much everywhere- and still does. Sure the Boeing plane came out first, but the DC-3 was a workhorse. The B-17, P-38 and other warbirds are irrelevant beyond nostalgia. The British could as easily claim that the Avro Lancaster was more famous, as if that is a relevant way of judging an aircraft builder. Safety? If you think for one second that either company slacks off here, you would be very wrong. Like cars, older aircraft are more often a product of their use and quality of maintenance rather than anything else. To that end, there are far more dodgy Boeings in the air. Comfort? That is more a function of the airline and it's chosen cabin outfit. Flying 100 times a year and more, I choose by airlines, not the aircraft model. Boeing is also broke. Airbus is also struggling. Neither is financially sound really. Boeing lives off subsidies from the US military (okay, they are not officially called subsidies, but that is what they effectively are). Airbus also receives subsidies, and so what?

Answer 3

There are many different reasons why airlines buy from either Airbus or Boeing. Sometimes it is political. China bought both Airbus 320 aircraft as well as Boeing 737 aircraft. I know that Airbus is run by both the French and Germans so both Air France as well as Lufthansa have a big number of Airbus aircraft in their fleet. Other times it is based on price. An airline may have gotten a bigger price discount with one of the manufacturers or one of the manufacturers is able to deliver X number of aircraft to the airline by a certain time period.

Both Boeing and Airbus will argue that their aircraft are more efficient to operate on a per-mile basis. It is up to the customer to decide who is correct. As for cheaper parts, I don't know about that. But for reliability, both manufacturers make reliable aircraft. It is up to the airlines to maintain them properly.

Sometimes airlines will talk to pilots, flight attendants and maintenance about what aircraft to buy. Some pilots like the joystick type steering wheel on the Airbus aircraft while other pilots like the traditional yoke steering wheel found on Boeing aircraft.

Therefore many different factors come into play when deciding on whether to buy from Boeing or Airbus.

Answer 4

One year ago Airbus Vs. Boeing would have been a hot topic for discussion. Today with the failure of the A380 to launch on time and Airbus facing bankruptcy, the topic has cooled considerably. The Boring 747 Advanced can use existing airports and other infrastructure, where a lot of things will have to built for the A380.
I'm thinking if the A380 gets off and running it will have to be an expensive way to go because of a lot of changes that have to made to accommodate it. Like the Concorde, which seemed to a good idea at the time, there will still be people buying rides, but I fear not enough to fill a plane of that size often enough to make a profit.

Answer 5

Airbus is in deep trouble with the A380 because it is two-years behind schedule. Airlines with orders on the books are seriously considering cancelling their orders. This delay is costing Airbus many billions of euros and great damage to its prestige.

If I were buying stock, I would avoid Airbus!!

In the meantime, Boeing is building great aircraft. They didn't opt to build a craft the size of the A380 because there is serious doubt that such large aircraft will prove economically viable. They have serious operational deficiencies. Bigger isn't always better!

But competition is necessary - and it's good for the flying public to have Boeing and Airbus competing! There's probably room for both companies to thrive. They both build quality products.

Have a good argument!

CQ

Answer 6

You really cannot compare them both. One is government subsidized which means they have a clear advantage over the other.

Now as an aircraft technician for a major airline I can honestly tell you this. Airbus aircraft are a PITA to maintain with all them darn bugs that keep popping up. The may be roomier and more fuel efficient but it does not make up for all the downtime because of maintenance.

Answer 7

from a passenger point of view the main differences in any aircraft arise from the operator, if the cabin crew are good then usually the flight is good. The same aircraft eg 747 can have comfortable or awful seats depending on the airline.

Boeing and Airbus make excellent planes, it is the airline that affects the passenger most

Answer 8

I have to inform you my dear friend that Airbus owns 51% of the aircraft market. It produces approximately 30-35 aircraft per month while Boeing produces 20-25.. A319-320-321 have the largest interior design of the market. This Airbus family are the most efficient.. The price of the spare parts ( of the engine) is determined by the airlines type of used engines... If you take a look on the accident rate statistics, the B737 is the aircraft that undergoes most errors and accidents.. The electronics used are the same but the philosophy of the technology used defer (Euro tech, US tech etc.) Another advantage is ( for A320 family) is tha deliveries are not delayed .... Airbus loses points from the bigger Airbus aircrafts (A330-A340) because there aren't too many buyers since they haven't been strongly updated since manufacture and production.. The rest of what you said is correct...


For the first respodant talking about British gov., for your information 25% owned by BAE systems has been bought by EADS.. Now it is a French-German project.. EADS holds the major stake of the company (Airbus)


For the other guys that are answering this question
Guys the question says : (apart FROM the A380)
Why are your answers on the A380??

Answer 9

If you dont know, Boeing is designing the Boeing 797 with a blended wing design, which can allow 1000 passengers to fit in. Also, it travels at Mach .8, which is 673 mph. Airbus might as well have a propelllor.

Answer 10

Mostly i gree that airbus is better than o,but...Boeing still open,so its competition,dont you think?,now comes the next challenge:being better than Boeing until they run out of bussiness,then...maybe...