CyBeR

The original plan was for AF and KL to both have A350s. In fact, they were ordered already. But then AF stole them from KL and gave them the shoddy 787s they ordered instead, under the moniker of "fleet harmonisation" (with AF's fleet being Airbus, ignoring the 777 and already operating 787, while KL operates mostly Boeing, ignoring that they had A330s already.)

Now we are apparently going back to that original plan, which is great news as the A350 is a noticeably more comfortable ride than the 787. I get the feeling AFKL is no longer happy with Boeing as an aircraft supplier. The 787s have been subject to years of delays, the 777X is nowhere near ready for delivery and let's not even begin to consider the issues with the 737MAX. All of this culminating in KL going Airbus for its mainline short-haul fleet after having flown exclusively 737s in that space for decades and now going for A350s again instead of 787s.

atflyer

Maybe also a factor is that policy in the Netherlands aims at reducing flight movements at Schiphol. That is not nice for KLM since they build their business model around frequent thin feeder lines connecting to intercontinental destinations (e.g. from the UK it is often more convenient to fly to AMS and connect there, than using a train to London and fly from LHR). Maybe KL now wants to have larger planes like the A350.

Digicola

I wonder what effect this will have on AF�s feeder network. Bigger planes means need for more feed, will be interesting to see what the second half of the narrowbody replacement order will be like.

Regarding any potential A321XLR order, also quite interesting. Years ago AF had their Dedicate service on a few A319LR (I believe??) they mostly flew to the Middle East and Africa but offered a lower risk way to launch routes and develop the market before upgauging on successful routes. The XLR could serve that exact purpose, plenty of potential in the Americas and MEA.

Lastly, an increase in the fleet size means AF will definitely outgrow their AM bank. I wonder if this means they�ll grow another departure/arrival bank. I am a fan of midday departures from CDG for those early/mid AM arrivals in Asia but places like SIN are just now getting a few frequencies during the bank as the late night departures have been favored until now.

Ben Lipsey

AF paid (not stole) KL for the 350s, and the 787s are far from 'shoddy.' KL has one of the most efficient fleets in the world. It's one of the only airlines in the world that I know of that has a common pilot type rating for the 777s and the 787s, which is a major competitive advantage for us. So getting more 787s was definitely beneficial for KL at the time, especially given the missions those aircraft fly.

Fleet harmonisation doesn't necessarliy mean only flying one type of aircraft. AF has 61 777s, this isn't being ignored - the 777 is a great airplane. And KL's 330s have to be replaced anyway.

Unfortunately nobody can predict the future, and as Ben mentioned in the Les Echos article, with the Russian airspace closed for at least the short to medium term, with this order we expect the A350s to provide better economics for both airlines.

CyBeR

You are looking at this from the perspective of the airline. Which of course you work for so that is perfectly sensible.

But from a customer perspective it is quite different. As I said the 350 is (in my opinion) a much nicer ride for the passenger. And of course I exaggerate regarding the 787, but it has been notorious for quality control issues, at some point leading even to their grounding.

So yes, given that we, KL customers, were initially promised A350s for which we were quite excited, them being reallocated to AF felt as though they were being stolen from us. Especially since this decision seemed to come more from Paris than that anyone in Amstelveen agreed with it, with then-CEO Pieter Elbers publicly denying this change only a few months before it was officially announced. I am of course not implying that KL paid for A350s and then received 787s instead or that anything else untoward happened, and of course we understand that a business will do what makes the most financial sense for it.

By the way I see your name pop up in threads every now and then, and I really appreciate that you take the time to do that and interact with some your company's most loyal customers (who are often at the same time its harshest critics.)