To celebrate 100 years of Flight International, we want to discover the "100 Greatest" in aviation; by determining the top twenty civil aircraft, military aircraft, engine, people & moments. Here the best civil aircraft is put forward! |
So Airbus managed to overtake Boeing on gross orders, with an extraordinary 1,458 aircraft, but fell short with its net total of 1,341 – a result which Airbus sales supremo John Leahy described as a “diplomatic solution” when the airframer unveiled its much-anticipated 2007 figures in Toulouse last week.
Fair enough. But neither number matches the enigmatic ‘1,427’ which was said to have been spotted on a banner being readied for display at the Airbus Training Centre in Miami once the manufacturer had declared its hand to the world’s media. So what gives?
Enter a spokesman for the centre…who, it turns out, is just as baffled about the whole affair. “You’re the second person to ask me about this,” he says in bewilderment, explaining that he’s already denied all knowledge to a former member of the company’s North American communications team.
“There really is no such thing,” he says of the alleged banner, adding that he has no idea how the story evolved (although that’s easy – it started here, and was also picked up here).
“We didn’t know the numbers until we read about them in the press. We certainly didn’t have them beforehand,” he adds. “We’d have had our scalps taken if we’d put out a banner. We’d have been shot.”
Besides, he adds, the Miami centre simply handles the crew training and simulation side and doesn’t immerse itself in the annual orders scrap.
So there you go. If the banner ever existed, it’s vanished without trace. But then, since Miami is supposedly one of the three corners making up the Bermuda Triangle, unexplained disappearances are pretty much par for the course.
Has a sharp-eyed observer blown the gaff on Airbus’ 2007 order total, three days before the airframer’s surprise-party in Toulouse? It’s tempting to think so.
Buried on another aviation gossip site, a post refers to someone seen loitering in the car park at Miami Springs’ Airbus Training Centre with a large banner (the sort you’d probably splash out on if you wanted to engage in some transatlantic nose-thumbing) emblazoned with the number 1,427.
This figure would be consistent with EADS chief Louis Gallois’ hint that the final total would be very close to Boeing’s 1,413 – but would nevertheless push its US rival into second place.
Let’s indulge for a moment. Transferred A350s (plus the loss of A380F and old A340-600 orders) have resulted in an unusually high number of cancellations, and Airbus would surely face howls of derision if it dared to claim victory on the basis of gross orders and double-counting.
So let’s talk net. Subtracting the cancellations from Airbus’ end-November total gives a net figure of roughly 1,100. Which means Airbus would have had to land orders for some 330 aircraft in December to reach 1,427 net. My colleague Max Kingsley-Jones has already shown that it’s possible.
But there's another part to the Florida banner sighting which is equally intriguing:
…the number ‘53%’ in a green starburst next to the words ‘Widebody Market’...
This is where the speculation goes into overdrive. If it refers, for example, to net widebody orders then a 53% share would give Airbus some 639 against Boeing’s 567 – although that would require Airbus to have recorded around 250 widebodies in December, and wouldn't leave room for much more than 80 narrowbodies. And if it's talking about revenue share then the numbers are anybody's guess.
Airbus is due to declare its score on 16 January, the day before the alleged banner is due to be hoisted. Anyone out there still holding their breath?
British Airways recently revealed the identity of the mysterious 'Lauren', whose name has been firmly attached to its new transatlantic carrier project, as the grand-daughter of the carrier's managing director Dale Moss.
It's not the first time British Airways has been a bit cloak-and-dagger about these things. Before Project Lauren, a well-informed contact told me today at the airline's annual New Year lunch in London, there was Project Paddington.
Project Paddington? A code-name for new Oneworld routes to darkest Peru? Not even close. Just BA's cover title for the sale of its BA Connect regional operation to Flybe last year. "Flybe's in Exeter and we're in London. So when the executives needed to discuss the sale they always met in the same place," she says. "Paddington station."
Recent Comments