Planeflyer wrote:Isn’t it commonly understood that AB can respond w a 322 w/i 4-5 years?
If so why rush when they have more immediate need. Seems like a good decision.
The tension comes because many have projected that Airbus would do the A320+/++ program and the A320neo production ramp up at the same time.
Airbus CCO is telling us that they need to focus on the A320neo production line efficiency before going forward with A320+/++.
Above we read that Airbus was planning to already be showing preliminary designs to customers by now, but they've put that on pause.
I think all of this makes sense.
The magnitude and timing of production line rate increase is more aggressive than what was projected.
Given the huge volume of product they've got in the backlog, every euro they can wring out of the production line is multiplied many times.
In an ideal world they'd have the A320+/++ available for offer right now because this is when Boeing is really trying to line up NMA launch customers, but you can't have it all.
In hindsight Boeing's decision to do MAX 9 instead of MAX 10 makes more sense, doesn't it?
If they had skipped MAX 9 they'd have nothing bigger to sell than MAX 8.
If they had done MAX 10 instead of MAX 9 they would have been trying to add the new larger sized aircraft just as the production line was trying to scale up.
Now they have MAX 9 already being built for those who wanted earlier deliveries and MAX 10 available for those who are willing to wait till 2020.
A nice orderly transition for both the production line and the order book.