A380 Production Sadness

[kelvedon]

For the first time in my life, I’m saddened by the decision to stop building an aircraft !

 

[jase05]

For the first time in my life, I’m saddened by the decision to stop building an aircraft !

That makes 2 of us.
Sad day indeed

 

[Altair]

And make that 3.
Airbus did try to update the A380 as much as they could do with the airframe. The issue was neither of the 2 engine manufacturers were willing to update the engines due to the small market that wanted the A380.
I had hoped that there would be an update order for the A380Plus to keep it ticking over until the replacement cycle continued.

 

[Berlin]

And make that 3.
Airbus did try to update the A380 as much as they could do with the airframe. The issue was neither of the 2 engine manufacturers were willing to update the engines due to the small market that wanted the A380.
I had hoped that there would be an update order for the A380Plus to keep it ticking over until the replacement cycle continued.

Likewise and make that 4. I’m seriously devastated!

 

[straitman]

I am literally shattered. So so sad- the nicest plane ever, just getting axed. Airbus never really gave it a proper chance lately in my eyes. Emirates and others for so long asked for an updated version and Airbus just didn’t have the guts. Or their bean counters rather disn’t. From a customer point of you- this is a really bad and shortsighted decision but it has been a long time in the making. Sad, sad, sad.

I can understand your disappointment but need you to explain 'this is a really bad and shortsighted decision' as it was the only possibility as far as I can see.

 

[Daver6]

I wonder if this news might mean some carriers might re-consider the 748?

 

[Melburnian1]

On page 6 of this thread, on 17 November 2017 AFFer straitman copied an article from a magazine that by and large has proven to be remarkably prescient.

 

[Melburnian1]

...You could axe 300 economy seats, and just run the front end. Much smaller aircraft. Much lower costs.

But SQ tried that (initially with a fuel guzzler) and allegedly even now is having trouble filling some of the seats on its SIN - New York flights, despite its reputation as the world's number one airline.

 

[flyingfan]

Sad too... bit of a plane geek here (meaning my likes aren't rational... I kinda see the point about being economically unviable). I got to see the inaugural SQ flight, and have flown on it on QF, SQ and EK. The showers in EK made it the best status run ever.

 

[Solid]

Echo the comments about being sad that production will stop.

All of my flights on the A380 were enjoyable and memorable, just found it a nice plane to fly on, and have flown all the classes on a number of airlines that run them.

Just always seemed spacious, quiet and smooth.

 

[moa999]

I wonder if this news might mean some carriers might re-consider the 748?

Can't see it. It's also dead. 777x much more efficient.

The one interesting thing out of this is it seems that a 350-2000 is now on the cards for a 2025 introduction with the RR UltraFan.

This may tip the scales for Project Sunrise back to Airbus.
Get 350-1000ULR in 2021/22 with some tradeoffs, bit then the ability to switch to 350-2000 in 2025/26 and cascade the 1000s to replace the 330s on the Asian routes

 

[odysseus]

Of course it matters. And yes report it but verify, be critical, be skeptical

Journalism is not just reporting facts
Journalism is the "truth about the facts"

And what truth about the facts was not reported at the time?

Being critical and sceptical can easily move out of journalism into opinion.

 

[odysseus]

RIP superjumbo: Airbus axes the A380

So disappointed.

 

[OATEK]

My Son-in-law"s late Father was a QF engineer and regaled us with his tales of crawling around the insides of the A380s on the production line at Toulouse in France, and watching the early test flights. Like many on here I have loved flying on the A380, but in recent years have had little opportunity as I travel largely on 777, 350 or 330 as the fares on these (CX/AY in particular) have been far more competitive. I feel that tells part of the tale about why the production has ended. Even the ME carriers are reducing A380 flights to Australia as they look to wring some profit out of them on other routes.

 

[BAM1748]

On the plus side, it gives the 747 some clear air.

 

[Berlin]

I can understand your disappointment but need you to explain 'this is a really bad and shortsighted decision' as it was the only possibility as far as I can see.

Rarely a decision is the "only possible one" and in this case, it certainly wasn't. Years ago already Airbus should have had the guts to invest into a modified version with newer engines, a stretched body and ideally higher % use of composite materials. But they decided not to and now at this point, it was probably really the only economically sensible thing to do then to end it all.

There's also the position of the customers, us, and they have mostly been positive about the A380 as far as I can tell. Most companies talk much about how they are consumer-focused and so on but in the end, it's almost always just lip service because it's the Finance department making the real decisions. But that's all very short-term focused in my eyes but such is our economy and Airbus is certainly not the only one. The problem I see is that development of an aircraft model and future orders of aircraft are very much a long-term businesses and this doesn't really fit well with the short term gratifications that shareholders are seeking.

 

[tdimdad]

...Airbus just didn’t have the guts. Or their bean counters rather disn’t. From a customer point of you- this is a really bad and shortsighted decision but it has been a long time in the making. Sad, sad, sad.

This reminds me of Nokia as the big player in the mobile communications market. The company rose to dominance while it was largely engineer-led and customer & user experience focused. But there was a clear shift in management to bean counters and legal professionals who throttled many innovative ideas as "there was no business case". Years before iPhone was introduced, Nokia had prototypes going but they never eventuated as commercial products. And the rest is history for that company.

While from a traveller's viewpoint the A380 is by far "one of the better aircrafts" to travel with, the manufacturer and operators can't keep sinking money on it. If there is more money to be made elsewhere, it's only natural every company looks that way (and steer the operations to seize the opportunities). The question to us now is how long do the operators keep A380's flying and when & where will we see the last revenue flight. It may easily take another ten years - if not more - before that happens so many more happy miles are still to be flown on it.

 

[JohnK]

I can understand your disappointment but need you to explain 'this is a really bad and shortsighted decision' as it was the only possibility as far as I can see.

Very poor decision. There was time to modify both A380 and 747 to compete with the smaller aircraft.

Very sad day if the main options for economy travel are A330, A350 and 787.

 

[Altair]

There's also the position of the customers, us, and they have mostly been positive about the A380 as far as I can tell. Most companies talk much about how they are consumer-focused and so on but in the end, it's almost always just lip service because it's the Finance department making the real decisions. But that's all very short-term focused in my eyes but such is our economy and Airbus is certainly not the only one. The problem I see is that development of an aircraft model and future orders of aircraft are very much a long-term businesses and this doesn't really fit well with the short term gratifications that shareholders are seeking.

I wonder how much EK pax will stay with them. I would not really travel on their 777 aircraft, and especially in WHY I would not consider them over other airlines with 10 across, and I know that they have longer pitch and their much touted ICE but that don't impress my shoulders much.
With the A380 IMO EK was outstanding, I have not flown EY before and that will need to do something more on their new aircraft to at least match the comfort levels they offer on all classes in the A380.

 

[Berlin]

With the A380 IMO EK was outstanding, I have not flown EY before and that will need to do something more on their new aircraft to at least match the comfort levels they offer on all classes in the A380.

Good point- EK's 777 are in a total different class from their A380. In Why they're just horrid but even in the non-refurbed J class, not even in line with most competitors.