The A350 is Airbus’ next generation of widbody jet and is the European manufacturers’ competition for the Boeing 777 and 787. Among the airlines that have committed to the A350 is US Airways, which has 22 on order, mainly as a replacement for older aircraft.
How can one plane effectively compete against two? Good question. A lot of industry analysts question whether the A350 can do that, that something has to give among the three versions Airbus has planned. The versions are, from smaller to larger, the -800, -900, and -1000 with the -900 being the baseline. US Airways’ order is for 18 -800 and four -900 with delivery scheduled from 2017.
As Aviation Week & Space Technology reports:
Airbus officials insist that the -800 remains a member of the A350 family. However, John Leahy, chief operating officer for customers, stresses that while production slots are scarce, he is focused on selling the higher-margin -900. In fact, there is an effort underway to convert -800 buyers to the -900. Airbus has 118 firm orders for the -800, which is currently due to emerge in 2016.
And:
The -800’s wane is compounded by concerns among potential customers about its performance and per-seat costs. In analyzing future fleet requirements, one airline executive found the -800’s per-seat costs were no better than the Boeing 767’s, let alone the A330-300’s.
All of which has some serious implications for US Airways and Charlotte. If the A350-800 is a dud, then the airline’s ability to continue to operate its existing international routes from CLT is questionable, much less growth to fill that big new international terminal that Jerry Orr wants to build. If were to convert to the bigger -900, that limits the amount of markets that would work from Charlotte. So definitely an issue to watch.
