what was wrong with the A380?
Feb 16, 2019, 4:10 pm
#16
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Catania, Sicily/South Jersey (PHL)/Houston, Texas/Red Stick/airborne in-between
Programs: United Global Svs, AA PlatPro, WN RR, AZ/ITA Freccia, Hilton Diam, Bonvoy Gold, Hertz Prez, IHG
Posts: 3,540
Cost, ROI, Economics, as all have said. Basically Boeing was right in that more people want to fly direct point-to-point versus connections as well. There is a reason the 330 does so well for Airbus, as well as the 787 for Boeing. The A380 does not make routes like Houston-Auckland, Austin-London, Nashville-London, Philadelphia-Prague, etc etc work. 787s and 330 NEOs do.
Feb 16, 2019, 4:36 pm
#17
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 1,695
The wing was engineered for the -900 so it is sub optimal on the -800, which is all they produce. Combine that with the inefficiency of 4 engines and you have a CASM nightmare at a very large gauge.
Last edited by audio-nut; Feb 16, 2019 at 6:08 pm
Feb 17, 2019, 3:36 am
#18
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 9,304
One article I read said that even though it would lose money on it's own, it impacted sufficiently on 747 sales such that Boeing could not subsidise smaller aircraft costs using profits on the 747. As such, Airbus smaller aircraft sales rose making much 380 losses have much less impact than many think.
Feb 17, 2019, 6:41 pm
#20
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 10,209
The plane looks horrible but it is a pleasure to climb the stairs and enjoy a long haul flight on the second deck. It's smoother than any other airplane I've flown on and extremely quiet. I seek them out when I get the chance, which looks like it'll be happening less and less in the future.
Feb 17, 2019, 8:04 pm
#22
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: NY Metro Area
Programs: AA 2MM Yay!, UA MM, Costco General Member
Posts: 49,025
Feb 17, 2019, 9:23 pm
#23
Suspended
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: PDX
Programs: AS DL
Posts: 9,038
The plane looks horrible but it is a pleasure to climb the stairs and enjoy a long haul flight on the second deck. It's smoother than any other airplane I've flown on and extremely quiet. I seek them out when I get the chance, which looks like it'll be happening less and less in the future.
Looks like there have been 11 deliveries of the 747-8i to VIPs versus none (?) of the A380. 12 deliveries of the 787, 13 of the 777.
Feb 19, 2019, 3:42 am
#24
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 9,304
Feb 19, 2019, 10:50 am
#27
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: New York, NY
Programs: AA Gold. UA Silver, Marriott Gold, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt (Lifetime Diamond downgraded to Explorist)
Posts: 6,776
I can't see a Saudi buying a second hand A380. Airbus might give a really good deal on 1 if another cancelation occurs.
Feb 19, 2019, 5:32 pm
#28
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Long Beach, CA
Programs: AA PLTPRO, HH Diamond, IHG Plat, Marriott Plat, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 3,559
Feb 19, 2019, 7:43 pm
#29
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: New York, NY
Programs: AA Gold. UA Silver, Marriott Gold, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt (Lifetime Diamond downgraded to Explorist)
Posts: 6,776
Feb 20, 2019, 12:37 am
#30
Join Date: Jun 2017
Posts: 167
Cost to operate.
Two modern 280 seat twin-engine flights are cheaper than a single 560 seat quad-engine flight.
It's also restricted to major airports that have the capacity (runway/taxiway width, gate height, etc.) to manage such a large aircraft. Smaller long-range twins give flexibility to connect more and more long-range smaller airports. A 380 couldn't fly Hartford-Dublin (Aer Lingus), Oakland-Stockholm (Norwegian), etc.
Two modern 280 seat twin-engine flights are cheaper than a single 560 seat quad-engine flight.
It's also restricted to major airports that have the capacity (runway/taxiway width, gate height, etc.) to manage such a large aircraft. Smaller long-range twins give flexibility to connect more and more long-range smaller airports. A 380 couldn't fly Hartford-Dublin (Aer Lingus), Oakland-Stockholm (Norwegian), etc.
Surely (for example) a single 560 seat quad engine 380 is cheaper than 140 4-seater prop puddle jumpers?