Who would have thought ... in 1974 ?

[oldchina]

http://www.airbus.com/typo3temp/_processed_/csm_A350-900_SIA_10000th_Airbus_Aircraft_details_5b13929e8b.jpg

[seafire6b]

Quote: "Who would have thought ... in 1974 ?"

Probably not Boeing!

[El Bunto]

Well it did take Airbus about 15 years to cotton-on to the correct market segment. Flight International, 1967: [quote] Some soothsayers contend that the biggest market is not for jumbo airbuses, but for 180-200-seat aircraft like the Two-Eleven, and that Europe ought not to leave this market to the Boeing 727-200 and its derivatives. They say that the airlines may buy 1,000 or more 200-seaters between now and 1980. [\quote]

[Allan Lupton]

Nor the UK government of the day which left Hawker Siddeley to go it alone as the British partner.
The market research people were only looking at A300-sized aeroplanes in those days and would also have been surprised that (a) Airbus would enter the narrow-body market and (b) that when they did, it became the success it is.

ETA written before El Bunto's contribution, but anent that I can say that in 1967 Boeing and Douglas had aeroplanes in the sub-200 seat market and Douglas, Lockheed and Boeing had aeroplanes that were 350-seat plus so the gap was around 250-300 seats.

[PAXboy]

Also, from 1974, count all the manufacturers that have been bought up/folded. Then count the increasing production from Russia, China, Canada, Brazil - especially in the categrory we now know as 'RJs'.

[A30yoyo]

And more than 70% were single aisle A320 series

[Rengineer]

Nobody thought so at the time, not even the greatest optimists. It comes down to having the right aircraft at the right time - several times over - , to skilful and shrewd marketing, and to a continuous drive to be the best.
There have been great successes - like selling the A300 to Eastern - and some sad stories, as you'd expect. But most of all it was and is just hard and exceptionally professional work.

[Volume]

But most of all it was and is just hard and exceptionally professional work. Lots of it was luck. Without the oil crisis, nobody would have asked for fuel economic aircraft... And we would all fly supersonic today.