So far not one American company has purchased the new Airbus model. Is this fair?

Question

Should Europe be kicking up a fuss that the Americans are only buying their own aircraft? And why is it that us Europeans don't only buy our own???

Answer 1

You have been given many valid considerations and rebuttals, U.S. Airlines do fly Airbus and Brazilian Aircraft, but the most important is "Strategy".

The 380 is essentially a 'Hub Aircraft' to fly passengers from Hub to Hub. The U.S. has 'Hubs' like Chicago, Minneapolis, St Louis, etc. but they are not going to support a 555 seat Aircraft.

U.S. Airlines service International Hubs like Tokyo, Hong Kong and London, but they find logic in the Boeing Strategy.

Use a smaller, faster, more efficient Aircraft to bypass the Hubs, thereby avoiding the extra distance and time created by using Hubs. The worst affect is passengers and baggage having to be rerouted to another plane.

Boeing says, hey, why not just fly direct to Manila, Bangkok, Shanghai, Paris, Berlin or where ever there's a reasonable passenger load. That's why they chose the Dream Liner over enlarging the 747 airframe which, was a doable option on a proven design.

I think Boeing is on the right track and apparently the U.S. Airlines agree.

Answer 2

There are several major US airlines that purchase Airbus aircraft (America West, US Airways, FedEx, Northwest and United to name a few), but none of them seem to want or need the A380 at the moment. I have heard from some of our airline customers that operate both Boeing and Airbus aircraft that there is sometimes difficulty with getting support for Airbus products here in the US and that makes Boeing more attractive. They like the Airbus aircraft, but it can be a pain to maintain if they can't get the parts support they need.

Even other European made products suffer from this support problems. When we have to order parts from Europe we have to wait a lot longer to get them than with similar domestic models. That infuriates our customers, but we have no control over those suppliers.

Answer 3

Typical "moral outrage" reaction by bringing nationalism into a purely commercial / utilitarian issue.

1) Many airports have to upgrade runways, thus increasing airport fees for ALL airlines, not just the ones flying big jets

2) The extra capacity is basically a 737 and a 747 together, but it doesn't really save THAT much, does it? First, the pilots union will be screaming about job cuts... And the passengers would complain that there are LESS flights available since you can cram more into each plane. The only people who'd enjoy it are the air traffic controllers (who have less planes to worry about). And airlines (who is saving fuel vs. a 747 and a 737).

3) As someone else pointed out, maintanence, but most airline parts are pretty much standard any way.

It's almost like bringing up the "race card" in a simple robbery, but I'm getting off topic. So I think I'll stop here.

Answer 4

Because airbus is falling behind a bit while boeing has a 787 and a 747-8 coming out shortley althou I love the new airbus a380 a few modifactions to airport must be made and by the way singapor air cancelled al of their orders in favor of the 777 and 777F but still relax once the a380 is out many airlines will buy them.

Answer 5

The answer is quite simple - the US airlines simply don't have the finances to be able to purchase new aircraft at the moment.

If they were, I expect they would buy it to use on high density major city-pair routes and on very long haul international flights.

They are probably playing a waiting game to see if the travelling public like the aircraft and what the economics of operating them turns out to be.

Given that most of the major international and domestic airports in the US can take 747s, there isn't any size/weight issue as the aircraft was designed to be accommodated within the same size/weight restrictions.

The only modifications that European and Asian airports have made is the double/triple airbridge embarcation/disembarcation systems and also, LHR in particular to the opportunity to extend Terminal 3 ahead of closure of Terminal 2 when T5 opens.

Answer 6

Right now the airlines are not profitable yet to do a major overhaul of their fleet. As far as I know, no US airline has bought the 747-8 passenger version either.

European airlines do buy from Airbus. They also order aircraft from Boeing. Same thing with US airlines. Some (American, United, US Airways, Northwest) operate both Airbus and Boeing aircraft. Having aircraft from both manufacturers allows the airline to not become dependent on one particular aircraft manufacturer.

Answer 7

Many American companies have spend huge sums training their staff to maintain Boeing aircraft - buying Airbus means having to re-train or even have 2 separate maintenance crews.

Also, as a lot of trained staff have previous military experience, many have years of experience maintaining similar aircraft to that of Boeing commercial aircraft.

OK, this may be a small reason, but ask yourself this, if you owned a Commercial Airline in USA, how would you get staff to maintain Airbus aircraft? Not easy, eh? As virtually all are Boeing and MD trained.

Europe has a different attitude, the workers are more interchangeable and our military aircraft are more diverse.

Answer 8

Well you might be wrong there. Fedex and UPS did cancel their orders but ILFC (International Lease Finance Corporation, headquarters in L.A.) still has open orders. I presume we're talking about the A380

In reference to need, i doubt it has anything to do with performance.because the A380 is suppposed to be the most performant aircraft ever. As Mr_Smelly_Underwear said above, it might have to do with expense cost for training...remember a lot of american carriers fly airbus crafts...i think its all about who's the best European Union or US....AIRBUS was initially created to compete with Boeing...i guess we alll know of suits and counter-suits that have been filled in the past years between the 2 in reference to gov't subsidiaries...

The final reason should be cost-effect....why do all Brazilian carriers or South American carriers not fly EMBRAER? I guess same reason all Europeans do not fly AIRBUS

Answer 9

Actually, no one has bought one. However, the International Leasing Corp, an American leasing company has ordered 4.
There is nothing fair about any business dealings except for price.
My personal opinion of the A380 is it will make an excellent cargo craft, but a poor passenger plane. You can let one sit for half a day waiting on a load of cargo, but that won't work when people are involved. I don't think there will be enough people assembled at one time to make a load, unless it is for promotional purposes like what we are seeing now.

Answer 10

Why? It's the commercial world. Sell something people want or stop bleating about it. You could, perhaps, complain about BA buying from Boeing and thereby being unpatriotic? The US buys a lot of Airbus aircraft, but Boeing/CNN/AP are doing a good job on the FUD right now and Airbus aren't helping themselves with amateur night at the design offices.