re: Qantas cancels orders for Airbus A380

You didn't reply to that post, and that post isn't the OP. I can't read your mind.

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#Boeing #Merica #Dreamliner etc, etc.

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But seriously Boeing > Airbus

In all fairness to Airbus, the Beluga XL is the cutest plane out there. I mean, come on, look at that face.

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Thinking about getting one for travel baseball trips. How long will they finance?

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How long do you plan to travel ball?

Airbus' vanity project is becoming more and more of an albatross every year. If it wasn't for Emirates overbuying the aircraft, the production line might've already shut down. The fact of the matter is that they designed it with a stretch in mind to become a -900 model, which would've been awesome, but in the meantime, the wing is too heavy.

The new 777-8 & 777-9 in particular are killing it in the marketplace as the orders roll in. The A350-1000 is roughly 777-8-sized but is also doing well (and available now. None of the next gen 777s have flown yet).

According to Qatar Airways' CEO (Why the Airbus A380 has failed the airlines):

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But Al Baker did not hide what he sees as the reason for a possible failure of Airbus’s biggest aircraft program ever: “To me, this aircraft is very heavy, has very high fuel consumption, and that’s because the aircraft structure was built for a stretch. I think Airbus made the same mistake they made with the A330 and A340, which had a common wing.

“The A380’s structure can take another 100 tons. It would have been better if they had tailor-made the wing to suit the size of the airplane. Which means you would have taken so much weight off the wing that you would have been able to make it very fuel-efficient and then it would have been a perfect airplane.” He said he wouldn’t be sad for the program to be terminated, but “it is up to Airbus to decide if to keep building it or stop the production.”

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He's also very outspoken, and had this recent amusing jab at Emirates (they operate the most A380s by far):

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“We don’t use this aircraft to dump capacity as some people do. We will only deploy an aircraft on a route that is tailor-made for the required capacity that the destination can take.”

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And narrowbodies replacing widebodies will continue:

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“All East African routes we now fly with wide-bodies we would be able to fly with the A321LR. It will be used on existing routes and also on twin-engine intercontinental routes where we see only demand for 180 seats, while our smallest wide-body, the 787-8, has 232 seats. Instead of flying 50-60 seats empty we will rather fly an LR with lower seat mile cost.”

From Doha, the A321LR is able to reach places in Africa like Kinshasa in the Congo or Libreville in Gabon in Western Africa, both mentioned by Al Baker as possible new destinations, or cities in Thailand that currently see wide-body services year-round.

“All that an Airbus A300-600 could do that we had in our early days, the A321LR will do. This will give us also a lot of flexibility to switch aircraft according to seasonal demand,” says Al Baker.

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The A350 and B787 are taking over that long haul market.

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Kinda, sorta. Delta ordered 25 A350s and will probably only take delivery of 15 of them. The A330 NEO is doing better performance-wise than ever expected and is less expensive to buy and cheaper to operate than the A350.

Typically, I find the Airbus a more comfortable airplane in the main cabin. Of course, this is subject to how each airline configures their cabins.

I've flown both Boeing and Airbus and each has its pluses and minuses, I find the cockpits of most Boeings noisier than the Airbus. Of course when you're doing almost mach .88 you expect a little noise.
Also, Boeing is too damn stubborn to remove the yoke and replace it with a sidestick that Airbus incorporates. But the Boeing's flight management computers are more intuitive and there is a better "feel" to flying a Boeing.

I enjoyed flying on the A380

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Quanta had 12, that leaves 85 orders on the books, the majority belonging to Emerites (53) There was some chatter that Lufthansa was going to throw a 15 order lifeline, but that fell through. They need 6/year to keep the line open and profitable. Willing to bet there will be more cancellations.

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And Emirates is considering changing their 380 orders to 330neos.

I don't believe this will be true in the 380's current form. Too much new technology will be developed making it obsolete. The 747 has gone through an upgrade (747-800) and yet there were no orders for the passenger version (-8i) on the books in 2018. I thought I read somewhere that Boeing's marketing director declared the 4 engine jet pax market dead.
Who know? Maybe it's the same guy that thought there was no need for the 757 any longer or that is was smart to keep the 737 retro for SWA.

Ordering locomotives instead... oh wait that's us.