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A380 Cancellations by Qantas Raise new Questions About the Superjumbo's Future:
Australia's Qantas (QABSY) said Thursday that it had scrapped longstanding plans to buy eight more of the double-decker planes
The A380 has been a major disappointmentfor Airbus ( EADSF) , racking up less than a quarter of the sales the European company forecast when it first introduced the giant jetliner more than a decade ago. The underwhelming demand has fueled questions about how long the manufacturer can justify continuing production of the iconic aircraft.
[...] Other airlines including Virgin Atlantic have ditched plans to buy the aircraft in the past year. Airbus now has only 79 firm orders for it, according to FlightGlobal data.
The program's future could hinge on Dubai-based Emirates, the largest A380 operator with more than 100 of the aircraft in service. The Gulf carrier last year ordered a further 20 of the superjumbo jets, with the option to buy an additional 16 on top of that.
But Airbus said last month that it was renegotiating the deal with Emirates following reports that the airline was looking to switch its orders to the smaller and newer A350.
According to Wikipedia, an A380 has seating for 575-853 depending on variant and configuration.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 11 2019, @06:20AM (14 children)
First, it's an Airbus. That should say enough. Second, it's just useless, purely a political ploy that failed miserably. Break 'em up, and use 'em to make an artificial reef or something.The 747 is the one true jumbo and will forever remain so. The machine only gets better and better. As always, when you want quality, you buy American, even now.
(Score: 4, Informative) by c0lo on Monday February 11 2019, @06:48AM (8 children)
The 747 has been involved in 146 aviation accidents and incidents, including 61 accidents and hull losses which resulted in 3722 fatalities. [wikipedia.org]
- that's an average of 3 incidents/year since the launch in 1970.
The A380 has been involved in two aviation occurrences and no hull loss accidents with no fatalities as of January 2019. [wikipedia.org] - that's 0.18 incidents/year since the launch in 2007.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 11 2019, @07:10AM (3 children)
Fleet size is not at all comparable. There are way more 747 flying. It also isn't right to compare old times, with different navigation gear and safety protocols. The 747 even got bombed out of the sky (Libya) and shot out of the sky (USSR).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 11 2019, @07:25AM (2 children)
Ok. Let's take operational problems on 787 [wikipedia.org] then
- fuel leaks - to the point of "Footage of the leak taken by passengers shows fuel gushing out of the left wing of the aircraft. The leak became known to pilots only after it was pointed out by concerned passengers" (oh, goody! Quality American avionics? Passengers with iPhones!)
- parts reliability issues
- nose gear collapse
- in certain weather conditions "erroneous low airspeed may be displayed ..."
- Lithium-ion battery problems [wikipedia.org] - "three passengers received minor injuries during the evacuation. Inspection revealed a battery fire."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 11 2019, @05:13PM (1 child)
a. You switched planes.
b. There is still a fleet size difference. Boeing is making crazy numbers of the 787. The 380 is rare.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 11 2019, @06:17PM
The 380 is rare.
Thank goodness for that! Let's hope it goes extinct! It's a giant step backwards in sensible aircraft design. It's a *Brooklyn Bridge for sale*. Emirates was told to buy, or be invaded.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 11 2019, @07:10AM
How many 747s have been wrecked since 2007? Consider that the 380 flies maybe 1/100th of the daily miles a 747 does, and also consider the type of work they do.
Let's see how the scarebus does in 50 years. In fact, how much you want to bet there won't be a single A-380 in airworthy condition in 40 years more time? They just aren't worth it. They make for lousy cargo aircraft. It was a bad business decision from the beginning. They built it to show off, purely for bling, gold colored plastic for low class people with lots of money. Throw it into the Pacific with all the other plastic.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday February 11 2019, @07:12AM
It's the most comfortable plane I've ever cattle-classed on intercontinental flights.
But airlines want it to have a bigger cargo hold, and lose two engines.
They just need to get certified to fly on two engines right after takeoff, and find a way to reduce the drag from the other two. I don't think that they could pull a 330 (mount 2 engines only on the same wing as the 340)
There was a good AJ article recently about Vietnamese major airports being way over capacity, and airlines being desperate for slots. That's where the A380 was supposed to shine. There's still hope as airports and pilot numbers have not followed the Asian growth
(Score: 2) by mendax on Monday February 11 2019, @08:01AM
I do not recall any of these hull losses being due to a design flaw, unless you want to include in that category TWA flight 800's [wikipedia.org] bad wiring problem, a problem on a very old and worn out 747. They've been due to human error, shoddy maintenance and repairs, bombs, Russian fighter jets, and that sort of thing. The 747 is a very safe airliner, as safe as the A380, especially those that are flying today.
It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.
(Score: 2) by nitehawk214 on Monday February 11 2019, @03:29PM
583 of those fatalities were in a single incident [wikipedia.org] when 2 collided into one another on the ground. It was caused by the KLM captain being an jackass, and could have happened in any two airliners.
All fatal 747 incidents since 2010 [wikipedia.org] have been cargo aircraft, which seem to have a significantly lower safety standard.
That being said, the 747 is going away as a passenger aircraft. The hub-and-spoke system of air travel is going away with smaller more efficient planes taking the duty.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 11 2019, @06:52AM (2 children)
-1 Troll
Oh dear! I've offended some arrogant (probably French) Europussy! When are you damn people going to admit that you're as savage as the Romans said you were?! Ooof! They should've wiped you all out when they had the chance!
*If it ain't Boeing, I ain't going!*
(Score: 1, Troll) by realDonaldTrump on Monday February 11 2019, @11:00AM (1 child)
The French are true fighters -- incredibly tough and patriotic like nobody else. Those are people with a lot of heart. They're a great example, and inspiration, for my military. And we're going to do a magnificent parade like they have in France. The missiles, the tanks. Millions of brave soldiers marching to the band. To the biggest drums you can imagine. Jets and helicopters flying everywhere. And the beautiful fireworks bursting in air!!
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 11 2019, @04:21PM
When is the last time the French won a war, or completed a canal without having to call the good ol' USA in to bail them out? Our relationship with them is very incestuous, which I guess is needed, because the Brits don't even offer the courtesy of a reach around.
(Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Monday February 11 2019, @10:02AM
I'll tell you, Airbus has NOTHING like a 757. I bought mine from Paul Allen of Microsoft (RIP!!!). And turned it into a real beauty. Did you know my 757 was featured on the Discovery Channel as the world's most luxurious jetliner? It's bigger than Air Force One, which is a step down from this in every way. Rolls-Royce engines, seats 43. Movie theater. 2 bedrooms. Gold everything. And Modern Digital in the Cockpit. Nice! youtu.be/UZq3iCn2y74 [youtu.be]
(Score: 3, Funny) by DannyB on Monday February 11 2019, @04:47PM
Such large aircraft look like they would have room for lots of servers that could literally be in the cloud. All the time.
Just need in-air refueling. And some sort of in-air hot-servicing while the aircraft is operating.
So much more practical than an artificial reef that would benefit other organisms but not directly benefit humans. Humans First!
Could those aircraft be used to build a wall instead of a reef?
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