Did AF bury its A380 too quickly ?
Aug 31, 23, 8:48 am
#2
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 4,122
Miss it these days when passing through CDG, while LH and BA can't get enough of it (although BA seems to be having lots of technical issues with them) but despite this, they seem to be keeping it for the coming years as they plan to renew the cabins soon.
Cheers!
Aug 31, 23, 9:23 am
#3
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: France
Programs: FB Plat for Life, UAMP, BAEC, Accor ALL Platinum, Marriott silver, Hilton, Meli silver.
Posts: 3,034
In one word : yes!
When AF got rid of them ("because of Covid"), they made the French state pay for it.....
Mind you, AF cancels LH flights because of lack of aircraft when they could have revived their A380 as LH and all others are doing.
The problem is that AF is "une Grande Dame". Quite arrogant in their corporate culture. The French government forced AF's hand to make them order this plane.
So Covid was a perfect excuse to ask the French government for a bailout and get rid of this plane they never wanted in the first place.
Sad for us pax and sad for taxpayers (but in France, taxpayers' interests are not factored in when making decisions on how to waste money).
When AF got rid of them ("because of Covid"), they made the French state pay for it.....
Mind you, AF cancels LH flights because of lack of aircraft when they could have revived their A380 as LH and all others are doing.
The problem is that AF is "une Grande Dame". Quite arrogant in their corporate culture. The French government forced AF's hand to make them order this plane.
So Covid was a perfect excuse to ask the French government for a bailout and get rid of this plane they never wanted in the first place.
Sad for us pax and sad for taxpayers (but in France, taxpayers' interests are not factored in when making decisions on how to waste money).
Aug 31, 23, 9:59 am
#4
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: FRA/SXB
Programs: FB Gold
Posts: 1,629
Perhaps, but the cost of refurbishing the A380s might have been too much, as they were long overdue for it.
Don't get me wrong, I loved the plane and flew it quite a few times. But financially not sure it was viable even today.
Don't get me wrong, I loved the plane and flew it quite a few times. But financially not sure it was viable even today.
Aug 31, 23, 10:12 am
#5
Join Date: Apr 2020
Location: DTW, IST, ESB
Programs: AF/KLM Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 275
Same story in every country, hah! I did read that the F/J cabins on the AF a380s were of the previous generation. In that case, refurbishing a majority of the cabin would've probably been cost prohibitive.
Aug 31, 23, 10:40 am
#7
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: FRA/SXB
Programs: FB Gold
Posts: 1,629
The AF A380 had a good F product but the dreaded NEV4 J product and an antiquated Y cabine. To refurb such a large aircraft......yeah doesn't work.
Aug 31, 23, 12:10 pm
#8
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: France
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Refurbishing the A380 cabin doesn't work for AF but works for other airlines. 
AF is refurbishing its 77W. Why not thrown them away then?
Come on...
AF is refurbishing its 77W. Why not thrown them away then?
Come on...
Aug 31, 23, 1:07 pm
#10
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: ORD/MDW
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BA is so strapped for lift, and the 380 fleet so prone to tech issues, it cannot spare even one example to go get refurbished. All 12 are scheduled to the limit, and scarcely a day passes when one or two are unready for duty resulting in cancellations. I am not sure BA wants to expand a really problematic fleet, but may be driven to it if the snakebit 77X program remains on delay.
Aug 31, 23, 4:02 pm
#11
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: France
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BA is so strapped for lift, and the 380 fleet so prone to tech issues, it cannot spare even one example to go get refurbished. All 12 are scheduled to the limit, and scarcely a day passes when one or two are unready for duty resulting in cancellations. I am not sure BA wants to expand a really problematic fleet, but may be driven to it if the snakebit 77X program remains on delay.
SQ, QF and if course EK (to name a few) are using, updating and refurbishing their A380 without known repeated tech issues, so is the A380 the issue at BA?
Aug 31, 23, 8:01 pm
#12
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Toronto
Posts: 25
I enjoyed flying AF#7 JFK-CDG A380 on several occasions in the Y cabin. There was a small Y cabin upstairs and if you sat in the emergency exit row had quite a bit of legroom.
Sorry to see the AF 380s disappear but I know senior management (CEO Ben Smith) could not wait to get rid of them.
Had very fond memories of them.
Sorry to see the AF 380s disappear but I know senior management (CEO Ben Smith) could not wait to get rid of them.
Had very fond memories of them.
Aug 31, 23, 9:34 pm
#13
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: SEA once more (previously CDG and NRT)
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Posts: 2,443
Air France never really wanted the A380, but ordered it for political reasons. The 77W was something Air France really wanted (IIRC, they were the launch customer for it).
Sep 1, 23, 2:57 am
#15
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LH didn't have the capacity on the short term as the Boeing 77X keeps getting pushed back, and their outdated 2-2-2 J cabine wasn't slated for replacement. Hence, the A340 and A380 were brought back as a stopgap measure.
The AF A380 had a good F product but the dreaded NEV4 J product and an antiquated Y cabine. To refurb such a large aircraft......yeah doesn't work.
The AF A380 had a good F product but the dreaded NEV4 J product and an antiquated Y cabine. To refurb such a large aircraft......yeah doesn't work.
It is impossible to keep this 20-year old F seat while advertising the new P (and even the forthcoming one).
