90 aerei per US

[SQpps]

US Airways plans to order at least 90 Airbus aircrafts valued at more than $10.7 billion to replace planes and add long-range jets, a person with direct knowledge of the sale said.

US Airways will purchase about 60 single-aisle Airbus A320 aircraft, eight wide-body A330s and 22 long-range A350 XWB jets, said the person, who asked not to be identified before today's announcement at the Paris air show. US Airways, the seventh- largest U.S. carrier, chose the Airbus planes over Boeing's 737 and 787 Dreamliner models after months of negotiations.

Newer jets would save money on maintenance and fuel and enable US Airways to fly nonstop U.S.-China routes as the number of daily flights between the countries more than doubles by 2012. The sale also is a victory for Airbus, which trails Boeing in orders of 300-seat jetliners like the A350.

US Airways declined to comment on the order. Mary Anne Greczyn, a North American spokeswoman for Toulouse, France-based Airbus, didn't immediately return a phone call or e-mail seeking comment yesterday. Phone messages to Boeing after regular business hours weren't immediately returned.

Deliveries of the A320s would begin about 2010, the A330s in 2009 and the A350s in 2014, the person said. The A320s seat about 150 passengers, while the other two planes can carry about 300 people, depending on how they're configured.

For US Airways, buying A350 XWBs is a modification to an order for 20 A350s that the carrier placed in November 2005. That transaction came in exchange for a $250 million Airbus loan that helped finance the merger of US Airways and America West Holdings Corp.

US Airways has 358 aircraft in its main jet fleet: 205 from Airbus, 148 from Chicago-based Boeing and five from Brazil's Embraer. The A320s will replace the airline's 55 Boeing 737- 300s, while the wide-body jets will enable the carrier to retire models including Airbus A330s and Boeing 767ERs, US Airways has said.

The carrier's twin-engine 737s date to the late 1980s and are its oldest aircraft, according to Airclaims, an industry database.

US Airways already had 37 firm orders for Airbus planes to be delivered in 2008 through 2010 and also has firm orders for 22 Embraer E190s. Those 100-seat jets will be delivered this year through 2012.

Che dire? US sembra l'unica delle 7 sorelle a prendere marcatamente le distanze da Boeing preferendole abbastanza lapalissianamente Airbus.

[Steman]

C'entra qualcosa il fatto che Airbus e' creditore di US Airways e l'ha aiutata ad uscire dal Ch.11?

[AZJumbo]

mah, un mese fa davano per fatto l'acquisto di parecchi 787.

[Steman]

Forse era un modo per fare pressioni su Airbus.
Ormai c'e' una vera e propria Guerra Fredda tra i due costruttori e i clienti possono giocare a proprio favore minacciando l'uno di fare acquisti dall'altro.
Un po' come facevano i Paesi "non allineati" negli anni della Guerra Fredda...
se tu, America, non mi aiuti, allora lo chiedo ai Sovietici!

[AZJumbo]

sì, è anche vero che forse è economicamente conveniente ora comprare da airbus, in quanto 560 ordine per il 787 portano a non fare sconti, anzi.

[glk11]

Inoltre mi domando- ordinare adesso i 787 vorrebbe dire averli tra quanti anni?
Cioè quali sono i tempi di consegna per coloro che vogliono comprare l'ultimo nato in casa Boeing?

[Steman]

Credo che si possa avere qualche esemplare gia' dal 2011. Dovrebbe esserci la possibilita' di inserirsi in qualche slot libero nella produzione di quegli anni.
Anche perche' le compagnie non vogliono sempre le loro macchine tutte insieme...ma vogliono il tempo di addestrare gli equipaggi e adattare il proprio sistema

[glk11]

Più o meno siamo li.Nel senso che SE TUTTI I TEMPI DI CONSEGNA dell' A350 saranno rispettati (parliamo quindi di 2014),ormai essere tra le compagnie lancio del 350 o essere in coda per i 787 non fa grande differenza.Certo, per quegli anni i 787 saranno una realtà consolidata mentre i 350 una novità. E nel frattempo molte altre grosse compagnie ordineranno molti altri nuovi aerei dilatando ulteriormente i tempi di consegna (mi viene in mente ovviamente BA che ha ribadito di piazzare un grosso ordine entro fine anno, ma sono sicuro molte altre, come ad esempio le americane che stanno uscendo dal post 11settembre e devono svecchiare la rosa....).

[glk11]

Infatti oggi c'è stato l'annuncio ufficiale di US leggerissimamente diverso da quello fatto dall'anonima fonte di ieri:

US Airways Announces Plans to Acquire 92 Airbus AircraftAirline positioned to take delivery of 60 replacement narrowbody A320 family of airplanes beginning in 2010 Deal includes firm orders for 32 widebody aircraft including 22 A350 XWBs Affirms US Airways' fleet of modern aircraft for the future while reducing fleet types and complexityTEMPE, Ariz., June 18, 2007 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ -- US Airways (NYSE: LCC) has agreed to terms with Airbus S.A.S. for 60 single-aisle A320-family aircraft and 32 widebody aircraft, including the next generation A350 XWB. The A320-family planes would replace 60 older aircraft in the airline's fleet. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050223/LAW097LOGO)
The airline is also reaffirming its commitment to the A350 widebody program by increasing its previously announced order of 20 A350s by two to 22 A350 XWBs in both the -800 and larger -900 series configuration. This allows for modest international expansion or replacement of existing older technology aircraft should market conditions warrant.
The airline expects to take delivery of the first A350-800 in 2014, becoming the North American launch customer for the fleet type, featuring Rolls Royce engines. Purchase rights for additional planes are included, allowing for the eventual retirement of all other widebody jets and leaving the airline with a single intercontinental fleet type of A350 XWBs.
Today's announcement also includes 10 A330-200 aircraft with deliveries starting in 2009 and flexibility to convert to A330-300 or longer range A340s.
The new A330-200s share fleet commonality with US Airways' fleet of nine existing A330-300s, but with a longer range and slightly smaller seating capacity. Finally, these deliveries will facilitate the eventual retirement of US Airways' B767 fleet.
The transaction also includes 60 A320-family aircraft with deliveries beginning in 2010.
Increased commonality in the US Airways fleet will be substantial. By 2012, more than 80 percent of the narrowbody fleet will be Airbus A320-family aircraft. All three core types of the A320-family fleet are included in the firm order.
US Airways currently holds firm orders for 37 A320 family aircraft for delivery in 2009 and 2010, increasing total commitments to the plane type to 97. Classic Boeing 737-300/400s will be eliminated from the fleet as the A320s are delivered. The narrowbody fleet count is expected to remain stable.
Doug Parker, US Airways Group, Inc. chairman and chief executive officer said, "We are very pleased to once again partner with Airbus. This transaction sets the stage for the next generation of the US Airways fleet, which will be among the youngest and most efficient in the U.S. airline industry. We're very excited about the A350 program and have every confidence that Airbus will manufacture a truly innovative and revolutionary aircraft.
"We know that all of these aircraft will serve customers and employees well for many years to come," Parker said.
US Airways President Scott Kirby added, "After much analysis we concluded the A320 family is the perfect replacement for our retiring narrowbodies, and the expanded widebody order is consistent with our needs to both replace current aircraft and expand modestly internationally. These new planes will improve economic efficiencies by not only reducing fuel consumption but fleet complexities, which will lower maintenance costs, streamline training and help realize flight crew synergies, specifically with cockpit commonality."
"This new widebody order also allows US Airways to continue development of our international gateway in Philadelphia as well as new service from our other primary hubs with two to three new international destinations per year being added across the globe. The A350 XWB will have significantly longer range and payload capabilities but much lower costs than the A330s and 767s they replace, opening up new profitable markets across the globe to Asia, the Middle East and India," Kirby added.
"US Airways operates the largest A320-family fleet in the world, so the benefits of Airbus aircraft are already well known to the airline and its millions of passengers," said Airbus President and C.E.O. Louis Gallois. "We are very pleased to partner with US Airways as they modernize their fleet of single-aisle and long-range aircraft and create new travel and shipping options for their customers."
The order is contingent upon execution of definitive purchase agreements, expected in the coming weeks.

[AZJumbo]

il 787 dovrebbe essere non prima del 2012 o addirittura 2013, quindi effettivamente siamo proprio vicini alla EIS del 350XWB. Anzi, se airbus riuscisse a sfornare un prodotto competitivo e migliore del 787, come ci si aspetta con 5 anni di ritardo allespalle, sarebbe il caso si aspettare per quest'ultimo