Originally Posted by
etudiant
If memory serves, the 747 was similarly an aircraft that sold poorly during its first decade. If that precedent holds true, the 380 should see a resurgence, perhaps in another couple of years.
Real challenge is whether Airbus is prepared to invest in a stretch, which would be the next logical step.
Imho, the gating item is the ground processing, not the market demand. We need to be able to process a planeload of passengers instantly, rather than serially.
Boarding procedures that date back to the age of sail need to be brought up to date if aviation is to step into the future.
re the 747 early sales, once the PW engine probs were sorted out after the 2nd year of Ops 1971 the 747 was ordered by almost every legacy airline in the world and 200B models plus the option of RR and GE engines came along PDQ
initial sales were not that bad but the project did almost break Boeing as we all know
the 747's size and weight at first caused airports to have to get ready to receive 747's so perhaps AB should have stayed their design on the same platform as the 747 thus its route availability would have been the same as the Jumbo