Originally Posted by
MemberBerry
Well, at the Paris air show the balance was 200 B737 MAX vs 234 A320Neo, so just 17% more for Airbus.
I think Boeing losing trust as a company could be a more important factor than the MAX name. After the recent revelations about Boeing hiding issues with their aircraft for years, from both the airlines and the FAA, I wouldn't blame airlines for thinking "What else is Boeing hiding from us? Is it worth the risk to keep buying from them when there is an alternative?"
Later edit: I just noticed you mentioned no firm orders. Indeed there were no firm MAX orders, but orders that were not firm represented 85% of the total number of aircraft ordered at Paris. So, with 4 MAX orders of 50 aircraft each, statistically there was about an 50-50 chance that one of those orders would be firm (0.85 to the power of 4 is about 0.52, so the probability that none of the 4 orders are firm would be around 52%). So it could be just a fluke.
All 200 were announced by the parent of the 4 listed entities (50 each), so the single LoI is for 200 aircraft - a single deal not 4 deals.
That changes the stats somewhat.
Airbus is the current type they use and Airbus did not get a chance to bit on this "order" - they still hope to. No doubt the MAX LoI will be attractive and Airbus will know this if negotiations happen for a competing bid for the 200 aircraft. It is similar to SWA position, do we mix the fleet or stay standardised.
* Krusty - yes very careful not to use the words "Stall Prevention"!
Risk assessment seems to have been a little off by the manufacturer - an area externals should be used, so shades of grey are not called white every time. It seems very sloppy and too many commercial pressures applied from elevated levels.