From the SA Business Report : Interesting ..
After the launch of the new Airbus A380 this week, I was surprised to see the number of critics that came crawling out of the woodwork to predict the future misfortunes of the 'suprejumbo'.
Of course, Boeing has made their stance on the new jet very clear. During an interview held with the German publication Stern in September last year, the company's chief executive, Harry Stonecipher, said the aircraft was a 'mistake'.
Stonecipher added that the market for the new plane would not be large enough to the huge development costs of some 10 billion euros.
This is also the same company that is rapidly restructuring its European sales force to take back market share - which translates to lost sales - from Airbus.
All this leaves me with the feeling that Boeing's reaction is one of envy and anger, at having being beaten to the finish line. But it's just a feeling.
One local news channel described the A380 as "the plane that had yet to fly" - displaying an extreme ignorance of the Airbus track record, as well as Bernoulli's Principle. They then went on to change the foot in their mouth and noted that no airport in the world could yet accommodate the craft. I thought the reason for that would have been obvious, the kind of information you learn on a Business Basics 101 course.
Airports, such as London's Heathrow, have indicated they are more than willing to spend hundreds of millions to erect new terminals, walkways and other facilities for the A380. However, if they build these any earlier than required, the terminals simply stand idle, chewing cash like a cow chews cud, until the new craft came into service.
So, while many are predicting the Airbus A380 to be the 'Concorde of the new millennium' - a reference to the failure of that supersonic plane to generate enough business - I will gladly give my vote of confidence to this new creation. Not that I will ever get chance to fly in one.
If, as Boeing predicts [or wishes?] the giant aircraft turns out be a giant mistake, then I will be proud to have been part of one of the greatest failures of the early twenty-first century.
Regards
Philip Devine
Business Report Online Editor