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Friday, September 20, 2019

Missing The Market 

Airbus, the European passenger plane manufacturer, has a fault of missing the market.  It did so with the Concorde, a supersonic aircraft that never found a profitable place to operate, and it is doing so again with the largest passenger plane ever built, the A380.  The company has announced that it is retiring the plane and will build no more.  It was only successful in selling the plane to Middle Eastern airlines that use it for the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.  Airbus has been successful with smaller aircraft but its signature designs have led to failure.  One wonders why it has happened.  Guessing the commercial air market five to 10 years in advance is risky.  One can't know the status of economies, the desire of the public to travel, the price of fuel.  It's a crapshoot even though one has an ear fixed to the needs of world airlines.  Boeing has also missed the market for smaller planes.  Its rush to get the 737 Max 8 into production led to tragedy and a loss of reputation that will take years for the company to overcome.  The passenger airline business is only for the strong of heart and always will be. 

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