FedEx cancels A380 order

[Torpedo Fodder]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...g7U&refer=home

FedEx Scraps Airbus A380 Order, to Buy 15 Boeing 777s (Update2)

By Mary Schlangenstein

Nov. 7 (Bloomberg) -- FedEx Corp., the world's largest cargo airline, scrapped its order for the troubled Airbus A380 jumbo jet and said it would purchase 15 Boeing Co. 777 jets instead. It was the first cancellation of an A380 order.

...

Yet another reversal for Airbus; Perhaps they should christen the A380 the "Albatross", as that's what it's proving to be around Airbus's neck. Add to the fact that the A380's "break even" point was recently revised to 420 aircraft, and I'm having a hard time seeing how this prigram is going to turn a profit. And while they're busy getting the A380 airborne, their other widebodies are suffering: The A340 is being decimated by the 777 (so far this year, ten times as many 777s as A340s have been sold, and five times as many have been delivered), and all orders for the A330 have dried up past 2008, the year the Boeing 787 enters service. Meanwhile the 787's competitor, the A350 now likely won't be ready until 2013 due to gross miscalculation and incompetence (the current A350XWB was what the aircraft should have been from the start). About the only bright spot is that the A320-series is still selling quite well. While I seriously doubt Airbus will go out of business, they're definatly in for some lean times in the next few years.

[Bort]

I make no attempt to cover up my dislike of Airbus and their aircraft, but objectively, the A380 is and always has been a huge mistake. Airbus got too cocky and thought they could crush Boeing with this enormous airplane, by exploiting an entirely new market which plainly does not exist. This cancellation has to hurt, and I have a feeling it will get really painful when the big passenger airlines start to cancel their orders once they realize that a) their planes will be delayed for an unacceptably long period of time b) that the cost and difficulty of operating an aircraft of a size uncompatable with all but a few airports is prohibitive and c) that Boeing offers better airplanes of innovative design (ie 787, 777, 747-X) and can deliver them on time for a lower price. I think that it will end up being one of the worst aviation flops of all time, and Airbus will suffer accordingly.

[Yahoshua]

Sounds like how Winchester nearly went under back in the late 1800's. They thought smokeless powder would be a fad and retooled entirely toward blackpowder.......their only saving grace were their lever-action rifles, but the finishing touch that put them under was bad customer service and a decline in quality products (Winchester folded up and was bought out overseas around August of '06).

[XabbaRus]

Hmmm I dunno. The 747 didn't get of to a great start initially and Boeing had to sack 60,000 workers to cover the cost.

I don't deny that Airbus management screwed up but what do you expect when there are two CEOs or whatever and the operation is a politcal gesture aswell as an economic one. We'll see what happens though.

[Konovalov]

Originally Posted by XabbaRus

Hmmm I dunno. The 747 didn't get of to a great start initially and Boeing had to sack 60,000 workers to cover the cost.

I don't deny that Airbus management screwed up but what do you expect when there are two CEOs or whatever and the operation is a politcal gesture aswell as an economic one. We'll see what happens though.

Exactly XabbaRus. I think we will all be able to better judge if this aircraft was a success or failure with time.

[SUBMAN1]

Originally Posted by Konovalov

Exactly XabbaRus. I think we will all be able to better judge if this aircraft was a success or failure with time.

That is true. I think it will be a failure personally, especially for US sales since there is no airport in the US that can accomidate it, so orders from here will be 0. The 747 didn't have that problem. To accomidate the A380, you need to widen the taxiways and change the terminals - I don't think anyone in this country wants to do that. In Seattle, they complain about the billion $'s that it will take to add a third runway and that still hasn't passed after many years. The thought of actually moving the existing runways let alone building a third to make way for a wider taxiway is unfathomable and will never happen. I don't know where they expect to sell that thing then.

-S