Originally Posted by
garykung
True (although CX is exactly #5 ). But the problem is CX only has 88 Boeing planes in its current fleet. Other operators, like AA, has more Boeing plans (about 4-5 times more) than CX.
The logic here is quite simple - the more you buy from Boeing, the more discounts you can negotiate. There is a reason why Chinese airlines do not negotiate alone, but instead, a single bulk order for the entire country.
And there is a reason why I said even Ryanair is a bigger Boeing customer than CX (The price of 737 is about 1/4 of 777).
In a seller's market, as was the case in the past few years with huge order backlog, a bulk order could draw discounts. For the foreseeable future, we are now in a buyer's market and that is quite different. Besides existing orders, many of them being possibly cancelled, it is hard to envision new bulk orders in the near future.