United orders 50 new Airbus long-range jets to replace Boeing 757s

Re:United orders 50 new Airbus long-range jets to replace Bo... by CydeWeys on Wednesday December 04, 2019 @10:51AM (#21703180)

It lost them money but it didn't hurt their brand. Those are great planes to fly in as a passenger, they're just not profitable in the end for Airbus.

Boeing can't even keep its newest plane in the skies, and may have killed off the 737 line for good. Think another revision after the MAX is ever going to be approved?

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Re:United orders 50 new Airbus long-range jets to replace Bo... by philjohn on Wednesday December 04, 2019 @06:04PM (#21708150)

As well as being great to fly in (seriously, business class on the upper deck by the window is an absolute dream) they have that "WOW" factor that I haven't experienced since first seeing a 747 or Concorde.

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Re:United orders 50 new Airbus long-range jets to replace Bo... by yardie on Wednesday December 04, 2019 @11:49AM (#21703822)

The 737 needs to go away. It's a great plane from a different era (staircases instead of jetways). That era has long passed. They've been trying to shoehorn it in. Rather than scale up the 737 cockpit flight controls they could have scaled down the 777 cockpit. Or even developed an all new one license cockpit in the same vein as the A320 series.

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Re:United orders 50 new Airbus long-range jets to replace Bo... by usr1106 on Wednesday December 04, 2019 @04:48PM (#21707511)

One of the bigger 737 operators is Ryanair. They mostly fly to small airports, so it's staircases not jetways.

Their product and their brand are worse than bad, but they make a lot of money.

Yes, I agree the 50 year old design seems to have reached its end of life.

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Re:United orders 50 new Airbus long-range jets to replace Bo... by joking on Wednesday December 04, 2019 @11:06AM (#21703334)

the a400m plane has been a brand failure, it's military and on a different league than civilian planes however.

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Re:United orders 50 new Airbus long-range jets to replace Bo... by throw0101a on Wednesday December 04, 2019 @11:16AM (#21703429)

And how has the KC-46 done compared to the A330 MRTT?

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Re:United orders 50 new Airbus long-range jets to replace Bo... by dsfyu404ed on Wednesday December 04, 2019 @11:51AM (#21703851)

Per a quick check of Wikipedia it seems like they're about equal.

The KC46 is being fielded by the US and a few nations that the US traditionally use the same arms.

The A330 is fielded by the UK, a couple commonwealth nations and KSA

Total number built is in the 30s for both.

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Re:United orders 50 new Airbus long-range jets to replace Bo... by throw0101a on Wednesday December 04, 2019 @12:30PM (#21704415)

The MRTT is being used in the field. The KC-46 not so much:

* https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/29933/air-force-says-i...

* https://www.aerotime.aero/clement.charpentreau/24184-no-fix-...

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Re:United orders 50 new Airbus long-range jets to replace Bo... by rsynnott on Wednesday December 04, 2019 @10:54AM (#21703220)

I think a more modest re-engine of the 737 would absolutely be approved. They’d have to sell it at a discount vs the a32x, obviously.

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Re:United orders 50 new Airbus long-range jets to replace Bo... by cameldrv on Wednesday December 04, 2019 @11:26AM (#21703541)

I think that the MAX was about as modest as they could make it. That was really the point of the whole exercise. A more modern engine core with a smaller fan wouldn't have moved the fuel economy needle enough to justify a new model I don't think, and Boeing would have lost a lot of orders to the A320neo.

Everything would have been fine except there was so much pressure to make every change as modest as possible that it didn't quite all work. They needed to either make significant changes to the landing gear or significant changes to the flight control computer and they chose neither.

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Re:United orders 50 new Airbus long-range jets to replace Bo... by dsfyu404ed on Wednesday December 04, 2019 @11:48AM (#21703808)

>Boeing can't even keep its newest plane in the skies

The 787 is the newest airframe and it's fine. The 737 is the Windows XP of the sky and there's only so much you can fix with service packs.

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Re:United orders 50 new Airbus long-range jets to replace Bo... by snickerbockers on Wednesday December 04, 2019 @02:48PM (#21706164)

787 doesn't fill the same role as 737 and A320, it's a much larger plane that carries more passengers. 737 and A320 seem to be much more popular for domestic flights within the US than larger planes.

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Re:United orders 50 new Airbus long-range jets to replace Bo... by philjohn on Wednesday December 04, 2019 @06:05PM (#21708161)

And the economics of a small single-aisle plane for medium haul, e.g. the East Coast, seems to be what is pushing the needle.

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Re:United orders 50 new Airbus long-range jets to replace Bo... by inferiorhuman on Wednesday December 04, 2019 @02:02PM (#21705714)

The 787 is the newest airframe and it's fine. The 737 is the Windows XP of the sky and there's only so much you can fix with service packs.

How about the KC-46 and 777X?

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Re:United orders 50 new Airbus long-range jets to replace Bo... by rsynnott on Wednesday December 04, 2019 @05:54PM (#21708066)

They need a replacement for it, then, tho. The 737/a32x size is hugely important. Nearly all the planes I’m on are one or the other.

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