Airbus vs. Boeing
Smaller is sometimes better
Thursday, January 27, 2005 by Frogboy | Discussion: Business
I'm on the plane to San Francisco as I write this. A few moments ago, one of the passengers became seriously ill. Apparently he's going to be okay, at least well enough to make it to our final destination.
But the vent got me thinking, the new Airbus 380 mega plane simply isn't viable. It's going to lose to the new offerings from Boeing. Here's why:
The more people you pack onto a plane, the greater the odds that something will happen with one of them that requires the entire plane to make an emergency landing. You put 500+ people on a plane and you increase the odds of passengers having their plans disrupted over an emergency.
There is also the problem of boarding. It takes a very long time to board a plane. One of the reasons I dread flying is because of the monumental waste of time involved. If my flight is at 1pm. I get there at noon. And typically the plane doesn't leave the ground until 1:45pm. Bigger planes compound that by increasing the boarding time. And boarding time increases non-linearly as you add passengers.
There are other issues involved as well such as bigger planes are less flexible (you have to use them on very busy routes).
Boeing's strategy of having smaller planes I think is the way to go.
Reply #2 Friday, January 28, 2005 11:06 AM
Reply #3 Friday, January 28, 2005 11:29 AM
Reply #4 Friday, January 28, 2005 5:14 PM
Reply #5 Friday, January 28, 2005 6:42 PM
Kingbee: I'd say the Space Shuttle would argue more for whose industrial capacity is better.
There's not much of an engineering feat involved in producing a larger aluminum cylinder to cram people into.
Reply #6 Friday, January 28, 2005 10:44 PM
| I'd say the Space Shuttle would argue more for whose industrial capacity is better. |
i believe the standard is based on commercial production. whereas it was once ships, then trains, it's now planes. im not at all happy about the situation in either event...if there's a market (i believe i heard fedex and ups have ordered like 125 of these) id much prefer they were made here.
Reply #7 Saturday, January 29, 2005 2:33 AM
And having able to pack hundreds of people into one plane is a great plus to reduce time needed to tend smaller, more numerous planes.
Maybe it's time to make a in-plane health regulation, better going-to-fly passangers coordination or even in plane all-in medical bay.
Plenty Smaller planes = plenty of traffic is a thing to think too.
Reply #8 Saturday, January 29, 2005 6:51 PM
I know the recent trend for both aircraft manufacturers of new aircraft is style and comfort for passengers and economic operating costs (maintenance, fuel consumption etc.).
Airbus, with the 380 family of aircraft, hopes to fill a market for long distance routes for passengers and shipping. But with an aircraft that size, brings up the question of airport compatibility, and maintenance facilities. How expensive will it be to modify existing facilities to accommodate the 380? Is their really a sizable market for it? Maybe in shipping thanks to the global economy.
Boeing management at one time considered building a 500+ passenger airliner, but felt there wasn't enough of a market to justify it. Boeing instead concentrated on 223-259 passenger aircraft with 20% better fuel efficiency and lower operating cost. With emphases on increased comfort and convenience for passengers, I think that Boeing will sell more aircraft. Plus there is no need to modify existing infrastructures to accommodate the airframe.
Both are fine aircraft, they are just embodiments of different strategies.
I do think there will be an explosive market in the future for 500+ passenger airliners, but not until aircraft has SRAMJET engines. And of course there will be major overhauls to facilities if not down right building of new facilities.
Ah, SRAMJET, I could go to Sydney and watch an F1 race and be home in time for supper.
Reply #9 Wednesday, March 23, 2005 2:20 AM
Please login to comment and/or vote for this skin.
Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:
- Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums and downloading skins.
- Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
- Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
- It's simple, and FREE!
Reply #1 Friday, January 28, 2005 12:37 AM