What actually was needed by the market, small planes, that could be recombined into a bigger plane on demand..
What they got: Lots of small planes derived from old planes..
United orders 50 new Airbus long-range jets to replace Boeing 757s
291–300 of 301 posts
Re: United orders 50 new Airbus long-range jets to replace Boeing 757s
#292Earlier quoted context omitted.
If it was a 1978 Ford Pinto (one of the most unsafe cars ever made), you bet I would not get in it. The MAX is basically a Pinto for me.
That's a silly comparison. The risk of death from flying in a MAX is still wildly lower than the risk of dying in the safest car on a mile by mile basis.
I 100% agree that is a silly comparison. Just a reminder that you initially made the analogy, not me.
Re: United orders 50 new Airbus long-range jets to replace Boeing 757s
#293Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because Europe has not legalized corruption to the same degree as the US. Massive campaign contributions is not as common in Europe, hence large European multi-nationals likely don't have the same opportunity to change regulations to serve them. Of course they can still influence politicians by talking about all the jobs they will provide etc. Also power in Europe is not centralized the same way as it is in the US. I…
It is funny how you think there is no corruption in Brussels. Of course it is there! The rules of the game are though that we don't touch our own Corporations. So Brussels will look the other way when VW cheats their customers in the US and Washington won't care when let's say Google has its way in EU. The real difference is that corruption is somehow legalized in the USA (a.k.a "lobbying") while it's not in the EU,…
Have you ever looked at the list of companies, which mwere massively fined by the EU?
It's not that European companies get the kid glove treatment if they violate the law.
Re: United orders 50 new Airbus long-range jets to replace Boeing 757s
#294Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would so love this. It seems like it shouldn't be too much to ask to spend 50% more and actually get an armrest and a seat that doesn't make my tailbone numb after a few hours. In percentage terms, it's not a lot of space. If a couple inches for an armrest is to wide to fit in an existing plane in a 3+3 config, maybe they should plan better for the next generation of planes.
Some writers say the bombardier C has widened the middle seat in 3 abreast, which would be a significant thing if true. My personal view, (from the luxury of Business, now moving back south as I cease work travel) is that seat pitch, seat size, and seat density should be regulated. That removes competitive tension around "who suffers more for price" but at a socialized cost of travel costs more than bucket seat price…
Regulated for what size person? The average ( then still too small for a good proportion ), or 60%, 70 or 80& of average?
Also people are different proportions - length v body, top versus bottom part of leg etc.
You might also deprive diminutive people one of their few perks - cheap and comfortable air travel :-)
Re: United orders 50 new Airbus long-range jets to replace Boeing 757s
#295Looking at the bigger picture - I wonder if we are at 'peak' air travel - because: 1. Improved video conferencing quality and availability 2. potential future green initiatives - like adding tax to air fuel or frequent flyer taxes. Sure people will still want to travel, but might do less.
Unlikely. Air travel has been rising at 2-3x population growth for the last decade or more due to rising incomes in Asia: https://www.statista.com/statistics/193533/growth-of-global-...
So essentially it has, and is predicted to rise strongly due to effectively becoming relatively cheaper for lots of people.
So if it became relatively more expensive for lots of people, the trend might well go the other way....
Re: United orders 50 new Airbus long-range jets to replace Boeing 757s
#296Earlier quoted context omitted.
> They’re far too vertically integrated. In what sense? I work with a lot of Aerospace, Transportion and Logistics companies and I've personally seen tens of hundreds of companies that are suppliers for Boeing/Airbus. What do you think GE, United Technologies, Rolls Royce Aerospace, etc. all do?
Yes, there are hundreds of other manufacturers and many moving parts, which reminded me of SpaceX. One of the reason SpaceX has been abled to save so much cost was that they made / design all the parts themselves, truly vertically integrated. And this has led to better design, lower cost, higher level of knowledge in every part of the system, and more innovation. I remember there were so regulation that forbid AirCra…
> they made / design all the parts themselves, truly vertically integrated
Do you have a source for that? Even Tesla isn't really that vertically integrated (for example - its Gigafactory is a JV with Panasonic).
Re: United orders 50 new Airbus long-range jets to replace Boeing 757s
#297Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, there are hundreds of other manufacturers and many moving parts, which reminded me of SpaceX. One of the reason SpaceX has been abled to save so much cost was that they made / design all the parts themselves, truly vertically integrated. And this has led to better design, lower cost, higher level of knowledge in every part of the system, and more innovation. I remember there were so regulation that forbid AirCra…
> they made / design all the parts themselves, truly vertically integrated Do you have a source for that? Even Tesla isn't really that vertically integrated (for example - its Gigafactory is a JV with Panasonic).
I thought the example of SpaceX was quit well known [1], and the reason why SpaceX Rocket in itself, excluding the cost reduction of reusable luncher were much lower.
There were also numerous article and Interview from Elon Musk himself confirming that.
[1] https://www.investopedia.com/news/how-spacex-reinvented-rock...
Re: United orders 50 new Airbus long-range jets to replace Boeing 757s
#298Earlier quoted context omitted.
Some writers say the bombardier C has widened the middle seat in 3 abreast, which would be a significant thing if true. My personal view, (from the luxury of Business, now moving back south as I cease work travel) is that seat pitch, seat size, and seat density should be regulated. That removes competitive tension around "who suffers more for price" but at a socialized cost of travel costs more than bucket seat price…
Regulated for what size person? The average ( then still too small for a good proportion ), or 60%, 70 or 80& of average? Also people are different proportions - length v body, top versus bottom part of leg etc. You might also deprive diminutive people one of their few perks - cheap and comfortable air travel :-)
Presumably, anything better than what we have today would be... better.
Re: United orders 50 new Airbus long-range jets to replace Boeing 757s
#299Earlier quoted context omitted.
> they made / design all the parts themselves, truly vertically integrated Do you have a source for that? Even Tesla isn't really that vertically integrated (for example - its Gigafactory is a JV with Panasonic).
I thought the example of SpaceX was quit well known [1], and the reason why SpaceX Rocket in itself, excluding the cost reduction of reusable luncher were much lower. There were also numerous article and Interview from Elon Musk himself confirming that. [1] https://www.investopedia.com/news/how-spacex-reinvented-rock...
FTA
> Because SpaceX is a private company, it has not divulged the secret to its pricing.
?
> There were also numerous article and Interview from Elon Musk himself confirming that.
Do you honestly believe everything Musk says? He has a history of embellishing the truth.
I'm not saying SpaceX isn't vertically integrated, I just find claims surrounding anything Musk says dubious unless it's confirmed by 3rd party reporters.
Re: United orders 50 new Airbus long-range jets to replace Boeing 757s
#300Earlier quoted context omitted.
The Airbus A220 (formerly the Bombardier C-Series) is a clean sheet design and by most accounts, one of the best designs of its class today. It widely considered to be a next generation commercial aircraft, and will be unsurpassed by competitors for a couple of years until they catch up with newer designs. It’s enjoyed rave reviews by consumers and airplane nerds love it. Delta has already bought a bunch and I look f…
IIRC, Boeing muscled the C-Series out of the market with race-to-the-bottom tactics, which eventually led to the Airbus acquisition of the program. If Airbus manages to meet its targets with the A220 this might constitute in ironic justice.
My memory is that Bombardier expanded into territory they had never been in; outsourced to their partners a lot of details; had significant issues during major-part integration; and faced huge timeline crunches and overruns.
They also missed completion and delivery of air-frames on contracts with regional airlines. And other signs of "we messed up" on a project.
There seemed to be lots of complaints at the time (on Canadian forums and news-stories) about how the family that owns Bombardier would have been fired as C-levels in a public company based on this fiasco.
OTOH, I haven't heard anything about this in a long time.