Lehpron From United States, joined Jul 2001, 7027 posts, RR: 31 Posted (6 years 4 months 3 weeks 2 days ago) and read 901 times:
which airline is "THE" airline for an aircraft company? Like if they make a sale to them, other airlines will follow suit, like the red carpet was just rolled out for'em. I know the sale depends on the airplane, which airline for which type of plane?
The meaning of life is curiosity; we were put on this planet to explore opportunities.
Manni From Korea, joined Nov 2001, 4220 posts, RR: 24 Reply 1, posted (6 years 4 months 3 weeks 1 day 23 hours ago) and read 842 times:
I'd guess that SQ is somehow a good indication for other airlines to consider a new aircraft or not. I read somewhere that when SQ decided not to order the MD11, the MD11 was doomed.
Ex_SQer From United States, joined Apr 2002, 1417 posts, RR: 7 Reply 2, posted (6 years 4 months 3 weeks 1 day 23 hours ago) and read 803 times:
SQ is well known for being shrewd and prudent in its aircraft evaluations, but in recent years they have not wanted to be the launch customer for any aircraft (they had a negative experience launching the 744), but this will of course change with the A380. Given this policy, I don't think SQ can really be viewed as "THE" airline right now, but they certainly are an important purchaser.
Re: The MD11.
SQ initially signed an LOI for 20 MD11s - 5 firm 15 options. The aircraft was primarily investigated for nonstop point-to-point SIN-Europe flights. MD promised SQ that the MD11 would be able to operate SIN-CDG year-round without payload restrictions, and that they would make modifications to it. However, MD's progress wasn't satisfactory (in one famous story, a senior engineer sketched out proposed modifications on a piece of scrap paper), and SQ cancelled the LOI. This caused MD's stock price to plummet and it set the stage for Boeing's takeover of MD.
NZ767 From New Zealand, joined Nov 2001, 1582 posts, RR: 2 Reply 3, posted (6 years 4 months 3 weeks 1 day 21 hours ago) and read 733 times:
Ex SQer,
Northwest was the launch customer for the 744.
In past years, certainly Pan Am was the one to watch especially when it came to the 747.
Nowadays, an order from any of the major world carriers (or not so major, eg, Virgin Atlantic) would determine the success or otherwise of a new airplane.
Keesje From Netherlands, joined Apr 2001, 9765 posts, RR: 51 Reply 4, posted (6 years 4 months 3 weeks 1 day 21 hours ago) and read 715 times:
I think an order from a big old commercial conservative airline has more impact then from start ups, oil financed toy airlines and airlines constantly looking for publicity ..
However those airlines tend to have policys to avoid being launch customers, probably they know better...
Ex_SQer From United States, joined Apr 2002, 1417 posts, RR: 7 Reply 5, posted (6 years 4 months 3 weeks 1 day 19 hours ago) and read 639 times:
NZ767: Yeah, I know. SQ got the 2nd 744 and quite a number of the early deliveries. The point I was trying to make was that since the 744, SQ has preferred not to be the one that "debugs" the planes - it prefers to let other airlines do it, and then bring it into its fleet after the debugging is done.
Flyingbronco05 From United States, joined May 2002, 3768 posts, RR: 4 Reply 6, posted (6 years 4 months 3 weeks 1 day 18 hours ago) and read 592 times:
I would say BA because they seem to operate a lot of different kinds of planes and seem to always make a profit.
However, sometimes you have to look at how Southwest and JetBlue operate.
IndustrialPate From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 8, posted (6 years 4 months 3 weeks 1 day 17 hours ago) and read 566 times:
I think UA is THE airline because they operate the most B777! Unfortunately, their financial condition may prevent them from ordering the B777SuperLR in the near future!
Caribb From Canada, joined Nov 1999, 1528 posts, RR: 12 Reply 9, posted (6 years 4 months 3 weeks 1 day 17 hours ago) and read 560 times:
I guess it depends on the type of plane and the region you are aiming to sell many in... American, United, British Airways, Lufthansa, Air France, KLM, Japan Airlines, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Varig, Virgin Atlantic are all influential airlines manufacturers want to woo and win for intercontinental aircraft sales.. For shorter range maybe Southwest, Jetblue, Mesa, American Eagle, Ryanair etc can be added to some of the airlines on that list. AA, UA, BA, JL, SQ can each be "The" airline with AA and UA probably being number one since both can order very very large numbers of jets and influence other carriers as to what type of plane they must buy in order to compete with them. The US domestic market and the internal European market can be a world to themselves... look how the 767 took off within North American while the A310 better suited Europe. Boeing need AA and UA, Airbus went after LH and BA.. not that it worked, the 767 eventually made it into most major European airline's fleets but it took a while even to the extend of KLM making a switch after flying the A310 and Air France picking them up later than most other carriers... Lufthansa is only introducing some this year..
Rupertvander82 From France, joined Dec 2002, 411 posts, RR: 0 Reply 11, posted (6 years 4 months 3 weeks 1 day 14 hours ago) and read 439 times:
I wonder what is the impact of the 343 when SQ got rid of them. It certainly does not reflect very well on Airbus when SQ decided to get rid of them before the last new plane even got delivered to them!
But Emirates recent multi billion Airbus/Boeing order might propel it to be amongst one 'the' airline!
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