A380 Production Sadness

[jb747]

Not exactly a huge supply.....

 

[kelvedon]

good time to buy if anyone is in the market for a widebody. But who would if you think production is going cease.

Alan Leahy, Airbus Sales Director said, after the ordering of 36 A380's to Emirates in January this year that "this great aircraft will be built well into the 2030s." so even allowing for his degree of optimism, I don't think the end of production is imminent.

 

[jb747]

He would say that though, wouldn't he?

 

[UP4014]

Not exactly a huge supply.....

No but you'd like to think they are new enough as a fleet that not to much is breaking at this point.

 

[kelvedon]

No but you'd like to think they are new enough as a fleet that not to much is breaking at this point.

Have you ever owned a French car !

 

[Daver6]

Have you ever owned a French car !

Good thing the Italians don't make aircraft then. They'd be the most beautiful ones ever, but rarely in the air working

 

[cambriamarsh]

Good thing the Italians don't make aircraft then. They'd be the most beautiful ones ever, but rarely in the air working

They have improved. We have a 2 year old Guilietta that has been great, apart from its German battery!

 

[straitman]

Alan Leahy, Airbus Sales Director said, after the ordering of 36 A380's to Emirates in January this year that "this great aircraft will be built well into the 2030s." so even allowing for his degree of optimism, I don't think the end of production is imminent.

Sadly I'm willing to bet against his comment and I normally don't bet. (I like the a/c)

 

[UP4014]

Have you ever owned a French car !

Haha, no I haven't, I have owned an Italian one and couple of Germans, neither had the longevity for Australia

Good thing the Italians don't make aircraft then. They'd be the most beautiful ones ever, but rarely in the air working

I've owned an Italian car, it was such a great car I bought a Mazda so I knew I could go to the supermarket once per week.

 

[flyer89]

JB,

Are there various reasons for the 380 essentially failing? Passengers love it (myself included) although that hasn’t seemed to translate to the returns that were expected/promised. Is it just too big and ahead of its time?

 

[UP4014]

JB,

Are there various reasons for the 380 essentially failing? Passengers love it (myself included) although that hasn’t seemed to translate to the returns that were expected/promised. Is it just too big and ahead of its time?

Yes I'm not JB. But to say everyone loves is perhaps stretching it. I don't love it myself.

 

[flyer89]

Yes I'm not JB. But to say everyone loves is perhaps stretching it. I don't love it myself.

Fair point. I probably love it more from a big boys toy point of view but everyone I know that doesn’t work in the industry is a fan. I personally had a very comfortable trip down the back in a QF 744 recently. Out of interest what don’t you like about it?

 

[Daver6]

They have improved. We have a 2 year old Guilietta that has been great, apart from its German battery!

They're a beautiful car. I used to have a Alfa 147, but couldn't bring myself to buying another Alfa. As much as I loved it, too many things broke.

 

[HockeyMonkey]

JB,

Are there various reasons for the 380 essentially failing? Passengers love it (myself included) although that hasn’t seemed to translate to the returns that were expected/promised. Is it just too big and ahead of its time?

I'm also not JB and love the a380, but understand it just isn't competitive at the top 3 factors most non AFF travellers care about

1) Price
2) Price
3) Price

Will probably get worse with increasing fuel prices. The A380's sweet spot is slot constrained airports.

 

[moa999]

Sadly I'm willing to bet against his comment and I normally don't bet. (I like the a/c)

I think the biggest challenge is the engine - the RR Trent 900 and EA GP7000 are dated and while they have received some updates developed for later engines (eg the 777/350 Trent 1000 and XWB) they remain way behind in performance, and I can't see a future A380 selling substantial numbers.

Ideal solution imho would be to design an A380neo to operate on the next gen A350 engines without substantial alterations - thus avoiding the big engine development cost.

Then Airbus could do the stretch that the wings were originally designed for, the improved sidewalls allowing 11 across (unfortunately) and new age materials, and you probably have an aircraft that continues to be cost competitive (when full) against the big twins.

 

[TheRealTMA]

Have you ever owned a French car !

Had Peugeots for years. Went forever. Fiat 128 for 130K km. Alfas well...

“Buyers of new Holden cars report the most faults in the first four years, a consumer advocacy group has found.

More than two-thirds (68 per cent) of Australians who bought a new Holden experienced at least one problem in that time, CHOICE reportedon Monday.

Ford ranked second-worst, with 65 per cent of new car buyers reporting at least one defect, followed by Audi with 62 per cent.”

Australian consumers name faultiest car brands | The New Daily

 

[TheRealTMA]

Good thing the Italians don't make aircraft then. They'd be the most beautiful ones ever, but rarely in the air working

Intersting facts no 587: Caproni Campini N.1 - Wikipedia

 

[jb747]

Actually I quite liked the Macchi....

 

[jase05]

Had Peugeots for years. Went forever. Fiat 128 for 130K km. Alfas well...

“Buyers of new Holden cars report the most faults in the first four years, a consumer advocacy group has found.

More than two-thirds (68 per cent) of Australians who bought a new Holden experienced at least one problem in that time, CHOICE reportedon Monday.

Ford ranked second-worst, with 65 per cent of new car buyers reporting at least one defect, followed by Audi with 62 per cent.”

Australian consumers name faultiest car brands | The New Daily

In my younger days when I was a mechanic it was quite commonly known in the industry that the British cars were by far the most unreliable and the biggest lemon’s. We used to chuckle when Jags or Range Rovers especially came into the garage

 

[HockeyMonkey]

Had Peugeots for years. Went forever. Fiat 128 for 130K km. Alfas well...

“Buyers of new Holden cars report the most faults in the first four years, a consumer advocacy group has found.

More than two-thirds (68 per cent) of Australians who bought a new Holden experienced at least one problem in that time, CHOICE reportedon Monday.

Ford ranked second-worst, with 65 per cent of new car buyers reporting at least one defect, followed by Audi with 62 per cent.”

Australian consumers name faultiest car brands | The New Daily

Having two Audi’s I can relate to this.

Short engine rebuild due to oil consumption, DSG transmission failures in control board and mechatronic unit.

At least Audi Australia comes to the party cost wise.

Electric cars can’t come soon enough.