US Airways firms up order for 20 A350 Airbus planes

[PHL]

I'm sure there is some commonality between the 330 and 350 but I would bet that it's not much.......They should get some A330-200's instead of the 350's. That way it stays in the same family. After all, aren't all Airbus aircraft wide bodies????

Are you at all familiar with the Airbus family??? If not, a 1 minute cursory glance of their website would have prevented you from pontificating rubbish.

The A330/340/350 are widebodies. The A31x,A32x are narrowbodies.

From the Airbus web site: "The A350 will have the same type rating as the A330.....Pilots with fly-by-wire experience will be able to qualify on the A350 after a short training course"

Management knows exactly what they are doing in this case. USAirways was the U.S. launch customer for the A321 and A330 and both have proven exceptionally well with the passengers. They have also minimized pilot training/recurrency and maintenance costs from what they were 5 years ago when there were numerous other types on the property.

If US were to go with a Boeing widebody, that would be a complete step in the OTHER direction in terms of fleet commonality. If the A350 doesn't meet the specs that are called for, then the airline can easily get A330's(-200 or -300 models) to fill the gap. I'm still wondering what's become of the A330-200 order from pre-merger, though.

 

[Breath_of_Fresh_USAirways]

For years I have listened to the need to rationalize the fleet. And now they want another fleet type? I'm sure there is some commonality between the 330 and 350 but I would bet that it's not much.

They should get some A330-200's instead of the 350's. That way it stays in the same family. After all, aren't all Airbus aircraft wide bodies????

What is the rationale behind this impending blunder???

It's not a blunder. It's actually quite smart.

First, the A350 will be the same type rating as the A330. So crews will be interchangable. That is the biggest cost of having more than 1 fleet type.

Secondly, Airbus gives the new US Airways a 1/4 billion dollars = $250,000,000 - to help come out of bankruptcy and merge. And the terms of the loan are very favorable as well as the "launch customer" pricing of the aircraft. In turn US Airways gets to roll the 10 A330s that were on order to orders for this new aircraft, which gives US Airways a chance to not have to take new aircraft any time soon. But, if US Airways should want more A330s, sooner than they're getting the A350, they have the option of turning 10 of the orders back into A330 orders.

#3 -- the A350 appears to have more range than the A330 and will allow some new and exciting route possibilities.

Personaly, IMO, I would expect to see some additional A330s (200s and/or 300s) enter the fleet sooner than later.

 

[E-TRONS]

Ok ROBBEDAGAIN and PHL,

Keep your shorts on. Let me clarify my statement somewhat.
The A318/319/320/321 family of aircraft are "Wide bodies" of sorts when compared to the 737 family. Airbus even touts their extra wide cabins vs Boeing.

After 20+ years working on real wide bodies (747, 767, 330, DC10), you know...the aircraft with twin aisles, I think I know what a "true" wide body aircraft is. So spare me the lecture.

PHL, About me pontificating rubbish......? I sometimes forget about the audience which gets to read my posts....including those lacking intellect (PHL).
You certainly sound like an expert on the subject and seem to have it all figured out right here on this forum <_< . I was simply stating my view on the subject and you come along and immediately attempt to discredit me with YOUR self righteous "visit the Airbus website" RUBBISH!!

Hey PHL, KISS THIS (!)

 

[SpinDoc]

E-Trons,

The Rational is Airbus doing business , PERIOD !!
Airbus Industries has no interest in Our fleet rationalization needs..they do have a great interest in having a US based "Launch Customer" for the A350 series

SpinDoc replies:

Exactly! Airbus gives away the first 20
orders to US Airways, and makes up for
the losses with higher long term
maintenance/parts deals.

Someone please tell us all:

What is US Airways aversion to the far
superior Boeing products? It has to be
initial cost of ownership, because
in the long run, the Boeing is MUCH
less expensive.

 

[LCC_#1]

Doom Gloom!! Some of you LIVE for it! :down:

 

[SpinDoc]

Doom Gloom!! Some of you LIVE for it! :down:

Explain yourself. No one is
advocating a doom and gloom
position here, we are calmly
discussing the unusual selection
of a plane that invariably will
cost the company more money in
the long run.

Airbus has some very nice products
if your goal is to keep the plane
until the warranty runs out. If
you plan to keep the aircraft for
10 years or more, you might as well
buy an extra plane and keep it in
storage for parts, because it will
cost much more to buy the individual
parts to keep it airworthy.

Total cost of ownership over the life
of the plane is MUCH less with Boeing
products. It's the difference between
a consumer buying a Kia (Airbus)
versus a Honda (Boeing) over the
lifetime of the product.

 

[N924PS]

Doom Gloom!! Some of you LIVE for it! :down:

Maybe so.

But it wasn't too long ago that another USAirways CEO ordered 400 A320 and 30 A330 airplanes to make sure USAirways was the "Global Carrier of Choice."

So far there are just over 100 A320 Family and a mere 9 A330's in the fleet.(US/East)

Bottom line: You can order lots of planes, but until they arrive and start to work, it's just hot air.

 

[calibrator]

Doom Gloom!! Some of you LIVE for it! :down:

The name USAirWays Implies: Lies, deceit, falsehoods, depraved CEO's and other top executives, unions promising the world delivering nothing to stop the insanity, families broken, suicides and mental problems for employees who can't handle the cruel and unusual punishment that is a part of U employment, want me to go on. To criticize anyone who would point to the truth, which is in your opinion, doom and gloom, is a self preservation mechanism to keep your own sanity. Denying the harsh hard insane realities that IS U, is the sign of mental illness in itself.

 

[robbedagain]

Etrons: If you had sais something about the 737 then I would have been different in my post. I was sure if you knew the difference in the Airbus that is all I was trying to help you out a bit

 

[careerfurloughee]

Denying the harsh hard insane realities that IS U, is the sign of mental illness in itself.

You are absolutely correct!

 

[PHL]

You certainly sound like an expert on the subject and seem to have it all figured out right here on this forum <_< . I was simply stating my view on the subject and you come along and immediately attempt to discredit me with YOUR self righteous "visit the Airbus website" RUBBISH!!

I'm certainly no expert, but I wouldn't just blurt out that the A350 and A330 don't share much commonality, nor would I suggest that they aren't in the same family. You weren't merely stating your view, but you were suggesting what you thought to be fact ("They should get some A330-200's instead of the 350's. That way it stays in the same family")

If you've worked on widebodies for 20+ years, I would think you would either know that, or have a quick way of ascertaining it before coming on this board and going on a rant about why US Management went with A350's. I also think you would be more clear when suggesting all airbuses are widebodies. Yeah, most of us know that the single-aisle Airbus family is 7" wider than a B737. That still makes it a narrowbody aircraft with one aisle and slightly wider seats.

 

[sandypet]

For additional information about the terms of the Airbus A350 order and rescheduling of other deliveries check out the bankruptcy filings at http://www.donlinrecano.net/

After you accept the disclaimer go to the court docket for the lead case and look at filing 3052, the Airbus term sheet. It's interesting reading.

 

[Justaramper]

The A380 has it returned to Toulouse or is it still flying around somewhere?

I was in DXB on Nov. 20th and saw the A-380 in Emirates colors, it was very nice aircraft

 

[luvn737s]

Explain yourself. No one is
advocating a doom and gloom
position here, we are calmly
discussing the unusual selection
of a plane that invariably will
cost the company more money in
the long run.

What makes you think there is any "long run" in the airline business?

 

[HP_JACK]

I won't belive it till I see them painted and we are getting trained! HP was supposed to have taken A318's . As usual we never got them.