Originally Posted by
Buford
Emirates decimated Qantas in Oz. Once they entered the market in 1996 it was all downhill from there.
Qantas and many of the European airlines flying to Australia were decimated by Singapore Airlines. Back in the 1970s back when Singapore was nothing more than a fishing village they put a massive order in for 747s. That order was funded by the Singapore soverign wealth fund. Qantas actually helped MSA back then to train them on how to operate and maintain jets. The Singapoeans were good students and ended up gaining about 45% of the market share between Europe and Australia, in the process most European airlines stopped flying to Australia, and Qantas pulled out of many destinations in Europe. In the process Singapore airport became a major hub and supplied significant employment and a significant percentage of the Singapore GDP.
What happened at another fishing village in the Middle East was to put the Singapore Airlines plan on steroids, the biggest loser in the ME expansion has been Singapore Airlines, not Qantas. Like Singapore the Dubai airport now earns a significant amount of GDP for Dubai.
I find the video hypercritical, Americans are all for free trade and competition, except when they are inefficient and cannot compete. One of the biggest reasons why they find it hard to compete is their fleet is so old, the other is US company law and the tax they have to pay.
In this world of globalisation, around 45% of any Airbus is built in the US, Airbus is the largest export customer of the US aerospace industry. Boeing does not build the 787, they assemble it. Major assemblies are built by other companies and are joined together by Boeing. Have a look at the Dreamlifter swallow two 787 wings when it visits Japan and then flies them to the Boeing for assembly.