LSP_Ron Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 Airbus is shutting down production. I've flown on it several times, it is quite an experience. The ones in service will be around for years to come but production of new ones will be ending. https://ca.yahoo.com/finance/news/death-superjumbo-jet-airbus-killing-a380-092404748.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzas Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 I thought they might have been a little big... But i didn't see any need to make grandiose proclamations about their utility and service life. Gaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Molitor Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 I’ve been in commercial aircraft leasing for over twenty plus years and been with three of the top five lessors in the world. None of them ever purchased this aircraft. Production will stop in 2021. When a ten year old wide body coming off lease ends up being a converted Hajj aircraft, its usually isnt a good sign for the production line...The cost involved to convert them from passenger to passenger is extremely expensive. A passenger aircraft can’t be converted into a freighter because of the floor structure. Another extremely expensive undertaking to modify. I just flew on an A380 last week from Singapore to Mumbai. Return trip was on an A350. Rest assured however, the A350 will be in production a long, long time. Just did my first deal for two of these last year. Emirates canceled their last 39 A380’s on order and converted them into A330-900’s and A350-900’s. AMEDEO also canceled their last 20 A380’s on order. I hope the people building the A380 can convert over to other Airbus programs. The A380 will be flying for a long while just not in any great numbers unfortunately. Pup7309 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Driver Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 (edited) It was a stillborn project from the get go. My first encounter with it was back in 97 in Paris /some mock ups/. Even back then many experts predicted the end of 4 engine airliners. So much false information over the years, freighters, short-haul versions, blah blah... If it wasn't for Emirates, it would've been long gone. Pilots love to fly it, or at least that is what I've heard, but still, everybody I know who work in the area think that it was meant to prove a point more than to be actual achievement. Edited February 15, 2019 by Eagle Driver Pup7309 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RacingMonk Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 I just regret the ‘progress’ to bland, homogenised twin engine things. Growing up going to airports in the 70s and 80s there was a tremendous variety shapes and sizes.....now it’s difficult to tell them apart from a distance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juggernut Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 Now what about the Boeing 787? Did Boeing kill that project or is it still going? I haven't heard much on it one way or the other but thought it was supposed to be a direct competitor for the A380. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony T Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 Wonderful exemplar of aviation technology, particularly in manufacturing. Unfortunately it came along just as the Lehman brothers/sub prime lending collapse plunged the world into ten years of economc austerity. Bit like Concorde straight after Yom Kippur and OPEC quadrupling oil prices — bad luck timing that could only be seen with the benefit of hindsight. It'll keep flying as long as Rolls Royce support the Trent. But I agree with Jennings. Passengers like flying on new airframes, cargo doesn't give a sh** taking a ride on an old piece of junk. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John1 Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 7 hours ago, Juggernut said: Now what about the Boeing 787? Did Boeing kill that project or is it still going? I haven't heard much on it one way or the other but thought it was supposed to be a direct competitor for the A380. 787? Do you mean the 747-8? That's still plugging along at the minimum practical production rate (6 aircraft/year). It didn't garnish that many passenger sales (I think around 50) but it served BA well, in that if forced Airbus to keep A380 pricing in check. It also found a niche in the freighter market. The ironic thing is that it's still going to be in production when they lock the doors on the A380's (the aircraft that was going to replace the 747) factory. Also of note is that probably the last two pax versions will have the honor (depending on who is the Prezzy) of being the new AF-1, which means that long after the last A380 has been turned into beer cans, 747's will still be flying. The real interest to me in the commercial airline world is whether BA will finally bite the bullet and announce the 797 NMA aircraft, which is supposed to be something like a twin aisle 757 replacement. The business case for and against is pretty fascinating. Personally, I hope they go for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony T Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 6 minutes ago, John1 said: ...The ironic thing is that it's still going to be in production when they lock the doors on the A380's (the aircraft that was going to replace the 747) factory... Doubt any doors are going to get locked in Blagnac or elsewhere. Way too much Airbus production to let such big spaces sit idle. My concern is Britain post Brexit. I think the Franco-German aviation bond will grow, including a sixth generation fighter jet, along with greater strides in CMC hot engine parts, avionics and we'll be left selling whisky, gin and vacuum cleaners. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John1 Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 32 minutes ago, Tony T said: Doubt any doors are going to get locked in Blagnac or elsewhere. Way too much Airbus production to let such big spaces sit idle. My concern is Britain post Brexit. I think the Franco-German aviation bond will grow, including a sixth generation fighter jet, along with greater strides in CMC hot engine parts, avionics and we'll be left selling whisky, gin and vacuum cleaners. Tony May not lock the doors but they did announce that an undefined number of workers on the program will be terminated. It's not like they can just use those resources to double A320 production rates, the supply chain for that program is pretty much a max capacity and I'm not sure AB has much interest in increasing A330/350 rates to the point that they'd need to bring new factories online. WRT Brexit ,as someone on this side of the Atlantic I still can't get my arms around that subject. Seems like it's economic suicide but that's just my uneducated take. If Britain does get locked out of the EU, from an aviation standpoint, that just means they'll be pushed into closer alliances with US manufacturers (or if the pound collapses, US firms may just acquire Brit companies outright). Either way, not a bad outcome (again, from my side of the Atlantic). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony T Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 It's bye-bye over the next two years; it's not like a stop-work directive. Just a sort of fizzling out. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juggernut Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 4 hours ago, John1 said: 787? Do you mean the 747-8? Nope, I mean the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. https://www.boeing.com/commercial/787/#/by-design Image belongs to Boeing and is used under the fair use clause of US Copyright law. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_K2 Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 1 hour ago, Jennings Heilig said: Did Boeing kill the 787? Hardly! The order book stands at over 1400 aircraft, with not quite 800 already delivered. The 787-10 started commercial service last April. The 787 is still attracting new orders at a healthy pace. A really good friend will be flying out of O'Hare tomorrow, bound for England on a 787. He's really looking forward to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John1 Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 3 hours ago, Juggernut said: Nope, I mean the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. https://www.boeing.com/commercial/787/#/by-design Image belongs to Boeing and is used under the fair use clause of US Copyright law. 787 is doing fine. It’s now a successful program. It was never intended to compete against the A380, its in a much smaller class. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMaben Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 9 hours ago, Tony T said: It's bye-bye over the next two years; it's not like a stop-work directive. Just a sort of fizzling out. It'll take that long to finish the airplanes that have already been started/sold. If it wasn't for that, it would be almost a stop work directive , tho they'll still be making spare parts for some years. I don't think many AB workers will lose their jobs permanently. Large producers like AB are always planning for the future. Customer demands are always changing so they'll likely be doing sub versions of the a/c they already produce as well as new stuff on the drawing board now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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