Will U S Airlines Order The A380 ?

[Bob C]

Given all the fuss and positive comments about the A380 will any U S airline swallow, swallow, swallow their pride and break ranks and order the A380 ?

[Andrew McLaughlin]

Originally Posted by Bobby C

Given all the fuss and positive comments about the A380 will any U S airline swallow, swallow, swallow their pride and break ranks and order the A380 ?

Pride? It's not about pride, it's about money. What airlines in the US have the cash or forward profit estimates to order A380s???

[Bob C]

Good points Andrew and I guess some Asian and European airlines who have the A380 on order may be in similar cash strapped situations.

I was thinking that perhaps a more fuel efficient and enviromentally friendly aircraft may be what some of the US airlines need to claw their way back from the brink so the A380 could be their saviour.

And the issues of pride/patriotism/manufacturer/Congressional/union pressure etc may have to be overlooked if the A380 is considerably better than the B747-800.

Just my thoughts.

[Montague S]

UA just lost close on half-a-billion dollars with fuel hedging, I doub't they'll be ordering anything other than a bail out in the near future.

[D Chan]

if you consider how many US airlines ordered the 744, and the 773ER, then you will have the answer. They won't need anything as big as the A380.

Originally Posted by Bobby C

And the issues of pride/patriotism/manufacturer/Congressional/union pressure etc may have to be overlooked if the A380 is considerably better than the B747-800.

Pride/patriotism/manufacturer/Congressional/union pressure have absolutely nothing to do with whether US airlines would order the A380 or not. If you are talking about the US Tanker bid - yes, for that there would be a lot of contentious issues. But we're talking about private companies here. At the end of the day it is about selecting the best equipment for the perceived mission requirement, operating the most economical / suitable aircraft on a specific route. Also worth mentioning is the fact that EVERY major US carriers have operated Airbus at some stage / and now:

UA: A32x
US: A330/A32x
DL: A310s
AA: A300
CO: A300
NW: A32x, A330

Originally Posted by Bobby C

I was thinking that perhaps a more fuel efficient and enviromentally friendly aircraft may be what some of the US airlines need to claw their way back from the brink so the A380 could be their saviour.

Environmentally friendly it may be, but many US carriers have their eyes on the 787. Some have already ordered e.g. CO and NW. All these US majors have their own hubs at several different locations in the US. For the A380 to be a viable option, these airports (other than JFK and LAX) need to be A380 ready first before they could even consider getting the A380 e.g. no point in having a fleet of A380 if they can only fly to one of the airline's hubs etc.

[Brenden S]

Could you imagine a A380 tanker?

[Mike Scott]

Yes....and you dont want to be anywhere around when it goes BANG !!!

MS