Originally Posted by
cheltzel
Its not doom and gloom. Change is a constant in the market. From my perspective, it is just that some aircraft have a shorter operational life than others due to economics. I think the 747-800 and the 380 are in that group.
I am not driving the same kind of car that I did 10 - 15 years ago and I don't think twice about it.
Not every aircraft will be a 737, 319/320/321, 777, original 747, 330, etc with a lengthy production run.
I actually like flying on the 747 and am looking forward to an F award seat in the nose of a LH 747-800 soon. I have never flown an A380 but I am sure it is a great plane as well.
If I do a similar F flight on a 777X or A350 in 5 or 6 years, I expect it will be equally as nice.
Good point. Change is indeed constant for the commercial aviation market just like any other business.
But your analogy with your car is not quite right. The average car model has a production run of 5-7 years max, but a jetliner model can go on for decades. And the cost of a jetliner to an airline is quite different to what a car is for your average driver. So the airlines do think twice about which jetliner to keep.