Sky High Hopes_ Airbus vs
pdf
keyboard_arrow_up
School
Utah Valley University *
*We aren’t endorsed by this school
Course
2150
Subject
English
Date
Apr 3, 2024
Type
Pages
7
Uploaded by AnonymousCuriosity
Sky High Hopes: Airbus vs. Boeing
Matthew C. Heslop
Smith College of Engineering and Technology (CET), Utah Valley University
AVSC 2150: Air Transportation Management
Dr. Ryan Leick
February 26, 2024
Sky High Hopes: Airbus vs. Boeing
Boeing and Airbus have been competitors since the 70’s and over the years the
competition has only grown between the two. The question is who is winning and who is
jockeyed for position to win in economic times both weak and strong? This paper seeks
to answer the following question while highlighting overall winners for a category and
highlighting why an obvious winner may or may not actually be winning.
Economic Strategy
First, the aircraft company most suited for success in poor economic times is
Airbus. The Airbus models work better by providing direct flights when flying
international routes skipping over major hubs when flying on the A350. The A320-neo
does extremely well in the domestic aviation field in the United States and does well with
flights throughout Europe. The Boeing 737 Max has struggled from the beginning and
faced two major accidents in 5 months (Wall Street Journal, 2019). Additionally, the 777
Max 8 and Max 9 have struggled due to their groundings in 2021 and 2022. Later on, I
will highlight Boeing and Airbus on a more intimate level looking at competition
between specific planes. Overall, Boeing has struggled to gain momentum ever since.
Airbus is also positioned well to succeed during strong economic times. The old
quad-engine aircraft that both Airbus and Boeing provided were a great example of
aircraft designed for economic highs. However, the A380 and B747 are no longer feasible
aircrafts for most airlines and operations and both are no longer being produced and
many are being phased out of fleets if they have not been already with a few very rare
exceptions. The reason these planes struggled so much in recent years is due in part to the
Covid-19 pandemic. The planes had 4 engines, making fuel efficiency a dream that was
hard to realize by the operators, and the airplanes were limited to which airports they
could use for takeoffs and landings due to their sheer size. The pandemic also saw a drop
in international flights thus magnifying the issues these planes had in economic
downturn. The good news is that in economic recovery there is a winner between the two
aviation giants. The Airbus A350 is well-positioned in the market currently for
international flights, especially regarding long-haul flights. The A350 makes it easier to
fly internationally and skip major hubs that tend to have more fees for airlines which in
turn makes airfares more affordable as planes can ship over expensive and crowded hubs.
The A350 also helps with making flights more attainable to lower-yield passengers and
more enticing for international business travel due to the lower costs. The 787 from
Boeing would do well in this category if the plane did not suffer from quality issues that
caused Boeing to pause delivery not once, not twice, but three times (Rapier & Rains,
2024).
A Side by Side Comparison
In the narrow-body market, Airbus offers the A320 and Boeing offers the B737.
Both companies have a very successful product when it comes to narrow-body,
single-aisle airlines. When you count standing orders, the A320 surpassed the B737 to
become the highest-selling airplane in history. As of 2023, 10,256 were in service with
340 operators (Brassaw, 2023). The A320 model enabled Airbus to compete with Boeing
on a global scale. Overall, Airbus has been able to take the cake in the narrow-body
single-aisle airplane market.
As we look at the wide-body market we have the A330 and A340 from Airbus
and the 767 and 777 from Boieng. The A330 is a wide-body, medium to long-haul twin
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
- Access to all documents
- Unlimited textbook solutions
- 24/7 expert homework help
jet option. The A340 on the other hand, is a quadjet airplane meant for long-haul flights
that was designed to be more fuel efficient, The A340 struggled to find success and when
doing a Google search the top result was why the A340 is so rare. The short answer is
that the Airbus A340 is the world’s least successful wide-body plane (Pearson, 2023).
The competition’s 767 is a twin-engine aircraft that was discontinued due to more
stringent emissions and noise limits that will go into effect in 2028 (Hamilton, 2022). The
777 from Boeing was grounded for engine issues back in 2021 and 2022 (Josephs, 2022)
and has struggled to bounce back ever since. The offerings in the wide-body market are
shaky at best and I can not find a clear winner in this market.
The next category consists of the A350 and the B787. Both are well-placed
aircraft and offer competitive seating and value to airlines. However, the Boeing 787 was
grounded in 2021, 2022, and 2023 due to a forward pressure bulkhead (Isidore, 2023).
This hiccup has allowed the A350 from Airbus to excel in recent years. It is important to
note, however, that more Boeing 787s have been built. The A350 has more seating,
capacity, cargo space, and range than its competitor. The Boeing 787 is better for flights
under 7 hours and is more economical on these flights (Pande & Karuwa, 2023).
Otherwise, the A350 is the better option.
In the last category, we have the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 747. Both planes
are quad jet, long-haul, high-volume aircraft that focus on getting the cost per available
seat mile as low as possible. With Covid, both jets struggled and the pandemic was the
final nail in their mutual coffins. The cost to operate a quad jet with fluctuating fuel
prices and a lack of demand for international flights during lockdowns made the planes
ineffective. The 747 was the Queen of the Skies and still inspires many to this day. The
A380 was a bold endeavor and during economic growth could have done well. The issue
for Airbus and for the airlines that purchased this plane was that of being able to predict
market demand down the road. Overall, the 747 was the most successful plane in this
category though the category is seeing a break during the current economic situation after
the pandemic.
Future Plans
Both plane companies have been eyeing the new midsized category of aircraft.
Airbus has come up with the A330neo to fill this section (Brassaw, 2023), but Boeing on
the other hand has no plane slated to fill this sector. Part of the reason for this is Boeing is
busy working on PR after several incidents across its product range the least of which is
doors falling off during flight.
Conclusion
Overall, Airbus is the winner currently and most likely to succeed in the
foreseeable future. Airbus has beaten Boeing in deliveries for the last 5 years (Insinna,
2024) and they can deliver more planes each year than their competitor. While both
companies suffer from a tremendous backlog due to COVID-19 complications that
include logistics and supply chain issues, Airbus is slated to excel in the coming days and
years. It is a guarantee that Airbus will excel for at least 3 years due to the backlog and
the time it takes for an order to be processed and delivered. After the next 3 years, Airbus
will still take the lead due to buyers' confidence in the brand and a lack of competition in
the recent past as Boeing tries to work through some PR and safety issues. Boeing has
struggled to distance itself from the quality and safety issues that have riddled the 737
Max and 777. The company has failed to shift buyers' confidence and views of the
company in the last 3-4 years. In conclusion, I can say with confidence that Airbus is the
clear winner.
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
- Access to all documents
- Unlimited textbook solutions
- 24/7 expert homework help
References
Brassaw, B. (2023, October 17).
Boeing vs Airbus: Showdown of the Giants
. Thrust Flight.
https://www.thrustflight.com/boeing-vs-airbus/
Hamilton, S. (2022, June 23).
FAA adopts ICAO 2027 emissions, noise rules; death knell for new
production 767F, 777F
. Leeham News and Analysis.
https://leehamnews.com/2022/06/16/faa-adopts-icao-2027-emissions-noise-rules-death-k
nell-for-new-production-767f-777f/
Insinna, V. (2024, January 9).
Boeing hits 2023 jet delivery goal but Lags Airbus | reuters
.
Rueters.
https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/boeing-hits-2023-jet-delivery-goal-
blockbuster-sales-year-2024-01-09/
Isidore, C. (2023, February 24).
Boeing forced to halt 787 dreamliner deliveries once again |
CNN ...
CNN.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/24/business/boeing-787-dreamliner-halt/index.html
Josephs, L. (2022, May 17).
United Airlines says FAA has cleared 52 Boeing 777s to fly again
after they were grounded for engine failure
. CNBC.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/17/united-airlines-says-faa-cleared-grounded-boeing-777
s-to-fly-again.html
Pande, P., & Karuwa, T. (2023, November 17).
The Boeing 787 vs the Airbus A350: Which plane
is best?
. Simple Flying. https://simpleflying.com/boeing-787-vs-the-airbus-a350/
Pearson, J. (2023, December 26).
Just 2 airlines operate the rare Airbus A340-200
. Simple
Flying.
https://simpleflying.com/just-two-airbus-a340-200s-are-used-by-airlines/#:~:text=The%2
0A340%2D200%20is%20among,it%20a%20less%20economical%20choice.
Rapier, G., & Rains, T. (2024, January 10).
Boeing’s fuselage blowout is the latest in a string of
headaches for the planemaker. here’s a roundup of its past issues.
Business Insider.
https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-crashes-groundings-timeline-737-max-777-air-f
orce-tanker-2024-1
Wall Street Journal. (2019, October 28).
Boeing vs. Airbus: Why aviation’s biggest rivalry is in
flux | WSJ
. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7d__yk0Phc&ab_channel=TheWallStreetJournal