What Do You Think About the A380?

CK

Well-Known Member
I've been talking to a lot of other teens learning to fly who think that it will never work, they Airbus A380, and that they don't have enough orders to justify it. Do you pilots know any thing about it and what are your thoughts.
 
I think that Airbus has probably done a lot of market analysis before kicking off the A380 project.

I don't know about North America or Europe but Asian carriers definitely have a business case for the A380 from what I've heard.

Mahesh
 
I think it will do just fine for cargo but I don't see it really doing too well in the passenger market. Right now, a lot of people are switching from the 747 to a 777 because they just don't have the passengers to justify using a 747. So why buy a plane that will make it more difficult for you to fill?

As for Airbus and market studies, keep in mind that Airbus is a jobs program first, a profit making company second.
 
The A380 is a wonderful plane, but there is no market for it. It's like trying to sell a beachfront house to someone and they want to live in the mountains.
 
I agree with pretty much everyone else on here. Good for cargo, not economical for people except maybe the Pacific Rim. HOWEVER, I think Airbus is building it for the status of having the biggest plane out there. Since they are gov't subsidized (I know I misspelled that one....) turning a profit isn't really a big motivator like it is with Boeing. They have even sold some airplanes bellow cost just to get them out there.
 
One word. Large! they seem to be picking up some orders though. click here to see orders and deliveries information. Myself, I think that the A-320 family is the best looking aircraft that airbus has to offer.
 
The A380 is going to be a great plane for international travel, CARGO, and international carriers. In the middle east, about 1 million people travel during the Hodge, that is why Emirates is the launch airline.
 
From a marketing standpoint it would be a good idea for an airline to have the 380 in your fleet. That seemed to be the idea behind some of the 747 purchases in the 70s. I mean just about every large airline had a 747 back then when they came out. When the average person thinks of an airplane they think of a 747.

I suppose you would have to have enough for a new type to be entered into the fleet. Just having one would not be economical due to mainainence/commonality and other issues but maybe 4-8 of them could be made profitable?


I doubt this ever happens but I am hoping that perhaps FRONTIER would buy a few of them. We already have like 6 flights a day from DEN to LAX with over 130 pax on each flt. Change that out and run 1 or two flights a day on that route with a 380. I bet if Frontier started up LAX-LGA/JFK we could fill up a couple of those a day. Just having that plane in the fleet will bring alot more customers in just from that noteriety. Just think of all the ads you cut put it on.

I know there are some people out there that would be afraid to fly on a plane that large but most would not. It could be interesting!
 
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I think Airbus is building it for the status of having the biggest plane out there.

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I don't think that the company would burn through billions just to have bragging rights, even with some government subsidies. The 380 is too large of a financial risk for that. Despite government help, Airbus can go out of business if they build too many bad products or blow their wad on a monster-loser.

If the airlines can cram a ton of seats into the thing and get folks to fly on it, and if the 380 beats the 747 on resource consumption per passenger, then it'll be a huge competitor for Boeing. The Asian airlines could pull it off if their air travel demand goes thru the roof in the next 10 years. One bad crash, tho, and the entire project is finished (for me, it kinda has that Titanic feel to it already).
 
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I bet if Frontier started up LAX-LGA/JFK we could fill up a couple of those a day.

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I'd like to see an A380 try to land at LGA!
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In my opinion the A380 kinda resembles a fat cow without black patches.
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Can't wait to fly on one of those suckers!!!! I'll probably fly on one of Qantas's once they get them. Only thing I don't like about the aircraft is the design of the front where the cockpit is...and I'm not even sure if I like the actual cockpit itself. I'll decide that once I've been in one!!
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I bet the A380 will be a success especially in the Asian and European markets. The U.S airlines just don't need the capacity or have routes where they couldn't justify using a 550 seater aircraft on, so I doubt we'll see Delta, American, Continetal,...etc... ordering them. But I can see all of these airlines with them:

British Airways
Lufthansa
KLM
Virgin Atlantic
Thai Airways
Singapore Airlines
Japan Airlines
Cathay Pacific
All Nippon Airways
China Airlines
Qantas Airways
United Airlines
Northwest Airlines

As for cargo airlines....who knows who will order what.....hard to say.
 
I think it will be great, I already love it. In my opinion (like most of yours) it will be best for only long travel.
 
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If the airlines can cram a ton of seats into the thing and get folks to fly on it...

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But haven't you heard? It will have a bar, and a shopping mall, and a gym, and ... NOT!
 
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One bad crash, tho, and the entire project is finished (for me, it kinda has that Titanic feel to it already).

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There has been discussion in many circles about getting passengers on and off of such a plane. Are passengers prepared to board a plane 3 hours before take off? And how exactly do you get 500 passengers out of an aircraft orderly through all those exits during an emergency?

There was talk of a Boeing superjumbo with two 777 fuselages side by side, but passenger evacuation put the nix on that. It would definitely have to be a double decker configuration to get all the passengers to an exit within the alloted time.
 
Seems more like a publicity stunt, or Airbus trying to match the 744. I'm not a huge fan of it.... with the aviation industry like the way it is, airlines will be benefit more from smaller load airplanes with greater speed and effeciency . There is no point in going bigger than the 744. I'm guessing that if this plane does get off the ground the only ones who will pick up on it are the Asians. And Perspective Plt., if you only think asia, middle east and europe will take the plunge, why did you put NW and UAL on your list?
Just my opinion.....

-Flycanuck
 
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I think Airbus is building it for the status of having the biggest plane out there.

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I don't think that the company would burn through billions just to have bragging rights, even with some government subsidies. The 380 is too large of a financial risk for that. Despite government help, Airbus can go out of business if they build too many bad products or blow their wad on a monster-loser.

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Are you kidding? Its all ego.
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Were talking about the same country that built the Maginot line. I'm thinking that France/Europe really want someway to best Boeing.
It seems like it will be akin to the C5, you'll fly it to a select number of airports around the world and thats 'bout it.

Of course that's just my opinion, I could be wrong!
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I doubt this ever happens but I am hoping that perhaps FRONTIER would buy a few of them. We already have like 6 flights a day from DEN to LAX with over 130 pax on each flt. Change that out and run 1 or two flights a day on that route with a 380.

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I'm not sure this would make sense. You want to make sure that you have lots of time slots for your passengers, so that they can go when they want to go, especially on a route where you compete with other carriers. If, for example, a certain bankrupt airline has hourly flights between DEN and LAX (and they probably do, since those are hubs for them), and you only fly twice a day, it all of the sudden becomes a lot more convenient for them to give their business to that certain bankrupt airline.

Oh, hell, what am I doing? I'm applying logic to a management decision in the aviation industry. My bad, it will never happen again!
 
Yeah I know F9 will never get a 380 (or at least it is highly unlikely) but it would be cool to see. DEN now has the longest commercial RW in north america so I am sure FEDex will bring them in once they get them. FedEx is the only american company to order one so far.

I still want to hold on to idea that an airline like Frontier could buy a few and make it profitable. Publicity goes a long way, just look at our A318!

Doh, LGA would not be the airport to fly to... some times our 319s are weight restricted coming out of there.
 
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