2014 hasn’t been a great year for jumbo jet manufacturers: according to a report by Jalopnik, neither Boeing nor Airbus netted any orders for their newest and biggest airplanes in 2014. For Boeing, this means that its 747-8 production would be reduced to just 16 aircraft per year to meet existing orders and keep the assembly line at Everett running; Airbus has its A380 production run allocated for three years, but no one is buying past that.
The lack of orders for the big four-engined jets isn’t necessarily unexpected, although it has to be a disappointment for company officials in both Chicago and Toulouse. Boeing has spent considerable effort in modernizing the 45-year old 747’s design, applying improvements from its newest 787 to the big jet to increase its efficiency and lower its operating costs. Airbus has also invested tremendously in making the A380 a workable, affordable plane for airlines to purchase and operate.
Instead, aircraft operators have focused on replacing existing four-engine jumbos with twin-engine jets like the Airbus A330 and Boeing’s 777 and 787. As Jalopnik explains, without additional orders to keep the big four-engine jets in production, Airbus will have to cease production in 2018; Boeing would cease 747 production at approximately the same time.
reader comments
130