Airbus A380: from European dream to white elephant

[TexasTowelie]

TOULOUSE, France (Reuters) - Loved by passengers, feared by accountants, the world’s largest airliner has run out of runway after Airbus decided to close A380 production after 12 years in service due to weak sales.

The decision to halt production of the A380 superjumbo is the final act in one of Europe’s greatest industrial adventures and reflects a dearth of orders by airline bosses unwilling to back Airbus’s vision of huge jets to combat airport congestion.

Air traffic is growing at a near-record pace but this has mainly generated demand for twin-engined jets nimble enough to fly directly to where people want to travel, rather than bulky four-engined jets forcing passengers to change at hub airports.

And while loyal supporters like top customer Emirates say the popular 544-seat jet makes money when full, each unsold seat potentially burns a hole in airline finances because of the fuel needed to keep the huge double-decker structure aloft.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-airbus-a380-history-analysis/airbus-a380-from-european-dream-to-white-elephant-idUSKCN1Q30K4

[zipplewrath]

1. Boeing saw this coming

Back in the days of USENET, there were big arguments in the travel and aircraft groups about this plane. Boeing had looked at the market and decided there wasn't enough there to justify the aircraft. But Airbus went ahead with their design. The assertion was that as air travel increased in volume the airports and passenger counts would virtually demand such aircraft.

Looks like Boeing was right and Airbus was wrong. It always seemed that Airbus was more interested in "out doing" the Boeing 747 than actually serving a market. Apparently even the cargo market (which has alot of 747's) couldn't even justify this airplane.

Consider a comparison with the Boeing 747-400F, a popular air freighter. The 747 has a maximum take-off weight of 448,000 kilograms to the A380’s 575,000. In addition, the 747 has a cargo capacity of 710 m3 to the hypothetical A380-F’s 1134 m3. The A380-F would be able to carry 60% more volume than the 747, but only 28% more weight. It wouldn’t be fully loaded at typical levels of air cargo density, or at least nothing close to what can be supported by the thrust capacity of the 747.

[Johnny2X2X]

2. $26 Billion mistake

When the A380 was proposed, a ton of people in the industry, including Boeing execs, said it was a mistake. Big planes were not the future. Yet Airbus went ahead with this giant plane and sold 1/4 of what they needed to break even.

I wonder what consequences, if any, there were for the decision makers who so terribly misread the market were? Golden parachutes while the workers are screwed or are forced to relocate to maintain employment.

The lack of accountability at the corporate level globally would stun the average worker.

I work in the corporate world, the amount of bullshit you hear from executives on a daily basis would fill the Grand Canyon. The further you go up the chain, the less accountability there is.

[Wellstone ruled]

3. Your statement about the Corporate World

is so true. Been there and smell the same bullshit. This friggin A-380 should have never been built. There is just a finite number of Air Travelers and we have 737's and A-318's and 320's flying around partially filled. It was a poorly conceived Jobs program for the EU countries.

[Johnny2X2X]

4. People put money on a pedestal

As I've moved up the corporate ladder I've noticed 1 thing, the more senior they are, the less work they do. And it's not a matter of being super smart either. It's just a matter of being able to recognize a few indicators around them and then being able to relate that to their role. CEOs are salespeople, nothing more, nothing less. Some of them are easy to recognize as such, some of them are way slicker.

There are some great and talented CEOs in this country, but there are more of them that are total buffoons than are great IMO.

Won't say the name of my company, but we had a CEO that was on CNBC regularly, was looked at as a titan, a real genius whose every word was pored over by analysts. Guy ran the company into the ground all the while talking (and being believed) about how great things were for the future. Guy oversaw the stock lose literally 96% of its value and was still getting invited to CNBC and when he stepped down had his pick of dozens of companies who wanted him as their leader. Had a golden parachute that could softly land Yankee stadium if it was dropped from 30,000 feet. No one has failed more miserably than this guy, and yet companies were lining up to give him $tens of millions to lead their company. It's the equivalent of a MLB team giving a record contract to a guy who went 0-500 at the plate in each of his last 10 seasons.

I swear, if regular working people got to see what corporate life was really like, they'd think they were viewing an alien civilization, and then they'd revolt.

[Wellstone ruled]

5. You nailed the real truth about

the how and why inside Corporate Management. Oh boy,think I now know whom you called Employer. Again,it is access for those talking heads on the Squawk Box. Truth be know,this CNBC is and was always known as the Day Trader Network. And Your CEO was just reinforcing the Shorts in your Companies Stock.

Did you find out if your CEO was using a Straw Man to self enrich himself? He would have not been the first. Seen this first hand in my last Business to Business employment.

And the worst for over paid Corporate Distructionist are Stock Brokers. What people don't see is the real garbage that happens to their Investment Money.

Again to your point,watched a true bullshit artist move from a Route Sales Person to District Manager and up to Corporate Vice President and then to CEO all in a time frame of ten years. Used to cringe when the memos came down to cross sell his division knowing full well he would cut out throats and screw up our contracts and agreements. One mega Bullshit artist.

Interesting thing,six months after I retired,this sucker was shown the door. The Audit Committee found the truth.

[Johnny2X2X]

7. This will give it away

But, ahem, lol, ahem cough cough. Our CEO likened himself so important that he traveled the globe with not 1, but 2 private jets. He had an empty jet following him because he once was delayed because his jet needed maintenance, so he had the 2nd jet following for years to avoid it ever happening again. Those jets cost over $100 Million and tens of millions a year to own and operate, he had a 2nd just so he wouldn't potentially miss a T Time someday.

[Wellstone ruled]

9. Ah ha,do remember the 2 Jet stories.

But,it tells one just how these Person Care about their Employees. My First Interview with a Fortune 100 Company ended with the VP saying,there will always be unemployment and poor and hungry people. What,where the hell did that come from,like right out of left field,proud to say,only stayed a year and half. Just got tied of doing someone else's failed experiments,because that is how we do it.

[yortsed snacilbuper]

6. Maybe they can hual cargo in it?

[DFW]

8. I have flown in these things

I can well imagine that well-appointed business and first class lounges on super-long haul routes are great, but on a 17 hour trip in economy with 450 other people, I wouldn't want to be there. Being based in Düsseldorf, I love it when I can get nonstops to other destinations in North America than New York City. An A380 couldn't even land in Düsseldorf, and they probably couldn't fill it even if it could. The nonstops from Atlanta and Chicago are usually full, but those are on A330s or B767s. The short time that Air Berlin expanded their nonstops from Düsseldorf to Boston, L.A. and San Francisco, they were always full, too, but never using anything bigger than a twin engine A330.

At first, it even looked like the A380 would succeed, but I guess the thrill wore off when the cost of running them, as well as the limited number of airports they could land at made them impractical and uneconomical.

Bigger isn't always better. OK, who is shocked at THAT "revelation?"