Confident Airbus gambles with superjumbo jet
September 6, 1998
Web posted at: 1:19 p.m. EDT (1719 GMT)
TOULOUSE, France (AP) -- British wings, German fuselages and Spanish tail sections are joining here with French cockpits to make the Airbus jetliners giving Boeing a run for its money.
After recent strategic sales coups, most recently breaking Boeing's grip on British Airways, the European consortium is talking confidently of deposing the U.S. giant as the world's No. 1 commercial jetmaker.
For Airbus, beating Boeing depends on a superjumbo gamble -- the A3XX, which seats up to 650 people and cost at least $9 billion to develop.
At the Farnborough International 98 air show in England this week, Airbus will seek more companies to participate in the project and spread the risk.
There's no scale mockup yet; the air show instead will feature wind tunnel and other testing. But diagrams show the interior of a cruise ship, with wide staircases, two decks with rows up to 10 seats across, and lower levels for shopping, a gym and sleeping quarters.
"We are investing heavily in this program," says Philippe Jarry, Airbus vice president for marketing. He said the company plans to firm up the plane's design by the end of the year and get it flying by 2003.
Is Airbus sticking its neck out too far? Up to now, it's chipped away at Boeing's dominance with sales of its A310s, 320s, 330s and 340s. But it has no jumbo jet, and the A3XX is aimed at far surpassing the 350-seat 747.
"If we're successful in four years with the A3XX, we won't be limited to 50 percent of the market," says Airbus spokesman Alain Dupiech.
There are other "ifs."
Will Airbus, a four-nation consortium including the state-owned Aerospatiale of France and Casa of Spain, be able to restructure soon into a private stock-issuing company that can raise money for expansion?
Talks are under way between those companies and partners British Aerospace and Germany's Dasa. For that to happen, said BA President John Weston in Friday's Le Monde daily, Airbus must "satisfy criteria of profitability. ... It's not the case today." Can Airbus build the A3XX at an attractive price?
"It certainly is a big gamble," said Paul Jackson, editor of the London-based Jane's All The World's Aircraft.
While Airbus predicts demand for about 1,400 A3XXs, Boeing officials "don't see a market for a bigger plane right now," said Boeing spokesman Craig Martin. But they're keeping a stretch 747 on the drawing boards, just in case.
Past concerns about Airbus' fly-by-wire planes, with a computer between the pilot and the control of the aircraft, appear to have evaporated. Boeing stuck with directly linked controls for thrust and steering until it came out with the 777.
But strong Airbus sales confirmed the airline industry's faith in fly-by-wire -- used in modern military jets -- as lighter and more fuel-efficient. Airbus claims the A3XX's direct operating cost per seat will be 15 percent cheaper than that of the 747.
Airbus is hoping for 40 percent risk-sharing, and so far, Jarry said eight European companies and one American firm have signed on for 30 percent of the program.
In addition, 20 airlines from Europe, Asia and the United States have joined as consultants in the development stage. "When we said the price would be around $200 million to these airlines, they were not surprised," Jarry said.
The Asian financial crisis "will go away in say, two years, and it won't change the fact they need a bigger plane."
Copyright 1998 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Its time for condit to go!!!
canal
|
