The version in Serbian also reads that a meeting between Airbus representatives and Jat Airways is to be held in May. Airbus representative (Gunter Schubert, not certain of spelling) said that there was no such case in history of this company that a contract was simply cancelled. He announced that Airbus could sue Jat Airways.
It is also said that Airbus became a part of EADS (European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company), so that they could realize certain "pressures" on Jat Airways not to cancel the contract. This was not elaborated...
Jat Airways also claims that not a single dollar of interest was collected from $23 million that are on Airbus' account for years. Jat Airways is thinking to get this money back by means of "compensations" since Airbus purchases 40% of spare parts from Boeing?!?
Any comments?
Ivan
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AirPortugal310 From United States, joined Apr 2004, 1510 posts, RR: 1 Reply 1, posted (5 years 6 months 4 weeks 1 day 23 hours ago) and read 2650 times:
Im sure that Airbus is not worrying to much about this...however!
Boeing is having a really great day today First their 7E7 orders (congrats to them of course) and now apparently this!
PU151 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 2, posted (5 years 6 months 4 weeks 1 day 23 hours ago) and read 2590 times:
OK, I was trying to write down a reply before the thread got "edited" let's say, so here we go again.
I'm not sure about this article. Don't take it as a personal attack BEG2IAH, it isn't one, but there are many points that make me think that this story is not true.
1. I couldn't find any mentions of it in JAT's website.
2. In the English version they say that Airbus is threatening to make S&M suffer the consequences or something like that. Now, I may not have been there, but basically, NO exec from NO company would EVER speak like that, at least since 1880, and particularly in the EU (the guy would have been fired by now).
3. The "Airbus director" is not identified, not even once, at least in the English version.
4. The reason behind all this would be "economic". Now, I would expect the journalist to be somewhat more specific. OK, I'm being nitpicky, and the original version has probably more details, but, sorry, I can't read Serb quite yet .
5. "It is also said that Airbus became a part of EADS (European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company), so that they could realize certain "pressures" on Jat Airways not to cancel the contract. This was not elaborated..."
You bet it wasn't... I somehow don"t think that the main motivation behind the creation of Europe's largest aerospace group was the possibility of losing a contract of what...8 narrow-bodies?
Now, problem from my side is that I basically know nothing about Blic. Do you know if it's considered a serious newspaper BEG2IAH? If it is, I would say that the article got grossly mistranslated.
BEG2IAH From United States, joined Apr 2004, 497 posts, RR: 12 Reply 3, posted (5 years 6 months 4 weeks 1 day 22 hours ago) and read 2500 times:
Hello PU151.
OK, I'll try to answer your questions. And no hard feelings, I just found the information and posted it.
"1. I couldn't find any mentions of it in JAT's website."
Jat's website is not the best source of any information about the company. Even the data on the fleet has nothing to do with reality, not to mention some other issues. They are pretty busy these days, and I don't think they pay much attention to their web-site, which is wrong attitude.
Questions 2.
No name of the guy who threatens is mentioned, but I think it's all about financial and legal consequences of contract cancellation. I don't think it's anything more serious than that.
"3. The 'Airbus director' is not identified, not even once, at least in the English version."
The name is hard to cite just from the Serbian translation, since there is no original, but I'll do my best: Chariras Gerome.
Question 4.
The reasons are economic on part of Jat Airways, because they can't afford to forget about approximately 40 years of experience with Boeing, and spend much money on Airbus they have no experience with. In terms of economics this would be a clear suicide, at least now. The final fleet replacement decision will be completely political. The current CEO is from a political party whose leader is the minister of foreign affairs, who's pretty much biased towards the US. Believe it or not, this could have a role in the whole story. Boeing considers opening a big service and cargo center at LYBE (BEG - Surcin). In a way politicians were always more concerned with what the US has to say, compared to Europe. This doesn't mean nobody cares about Europe (the country is in Europe), but my impression is that the US influence is much greater. Also, Jat owes some $350 million to Boeing already. As you can see, it's a lot of mess.
When it comes to translation of the original article it's not pretty good, but the basic story is more or less the same. The newspaper belongs to a group of 4 biggest in the country, and they have their sources. I can't confirm how reliable they are, but this story is around for some time, so I don't think it's far from reality. Anyway, Blic is not a tabloid, it's more serious definitely.
That's all I can tell you.
Best,
Ivan
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PU151 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 4, posted (5 years 6 months 4 weeks 1 day 8 hours ago) and read 2219 times:
OK, I'll go for it then... I didn't say Blic was a tabloid, it's only that these days anything can go into a newspaper, even a respected one can make a mistake or two from time to time. Anyway, good news for Boeing.
Not that I'm happy about it...imagine, if Boeing had gone bust, maybe our neighbor's Embraer would have had a shot at the widebody market! Yeah, I know, just daydreaming.... I actually love Boeing and would cry if they went out of business (my favorite plane is the 732).
Any idea of what plane they might be buying? 737s or 717s.
Teahan From Virgin Islands (British), joined Nov 1999, 5199 posts, RR: 72 Reply 5, posted (5 years 6 months 4 weeks 1 day 4 hours ago) and read 1998 times:
Something along these lines was mentioned in a recent Flight International. Pretty clear that they will be paying penalties.
@PU151: They are interested in 737-700s for commonality reasons.
J.
Goodbye SR-LX MD-11 / 6th of March 1991 to the 31st of October 2004
BEG2IAH From United States, joined Apr 2004, 497 posts, RR: 12 Reply 6, posted (5 years 6 months 4 weeks 23 hours ago) and read 1834 times:
Hello PU151.
I also guess it's gonna be 737-700. I just hope they get into the old shape when they were flying to Australia, North America... When it comes to wishful thinking 7E7 would be nice, but...
Ivan
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Kl808 From United States, joined May 1999, 1547 posts, RR: 11 Reply 7, posted (5 years 6 months 4 weeks 22 hours ago) and read 1771 times:
I doubt that EADS is crying over the cancellation of this order.
However, I Think a big penalty is in order.
And one loss of order and placement in the manufacturers line, would be a gain for another airline who's willing to take those aircrafts at an earlier stage. Besides the A32X line is pretty busy, and its hard to find early deliveries. So somebody else will come to gain from this cancellation if it does push through.
JU101 From Canada, joined Mar 2001, 832 posts, RR: 6 Reply 9, posted (5 years 6 months 4 weeks 4 hours ago) and read 1521 times:
JAT is in a very unfortunate situation, and sadly to say, they are the victim of politics. The original million dollar contract for purchasing a new fleet of A319s was a failed foreign policy manifestation by the government of Slobodan Milosevic, dating back in 1998. The thing that upsets me is the fact that Milosevic was, at the time, regarded as the person who ended the war in Bosnia & Herzegovina, while his government negotiated the Airbus contract. However, today he is accused of crimes alleged prior to 1998. This follows the same lines as the Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, a former terrorist and now an ally of the west. Its amazing how money does wonders.
Of course JAT did not need these aircraft, nor is the A319 order economically and technically feasible for the airline. The current situation has nothing to do with EU versus US sentiments. It is common knowledge that the previous government (09/2000 - 02/2004) also wanted to cancel the contract with Airbus, and assuming the new Serbian government is doing this because of a change in foreign policy is simply wrong.
In the meantime, I do not anticipate any new aircraft purchases for the next few years. Perhaps an order will be made within a year or two, however the resulting deliveries are unlikely to take place before 2007. I expect JAT to be most interested in the Boeing 737-700 and 737-800 models, as it would be an excellent replacement for the currents 737-300s and 737-400s.
On thing is for certain, JAT should be considered a drop in the bucket when it comes to aircraft purchases; however, LOYALTY and TRUST cannot be measured in terms of money.
BEG2IAH From United States, joined Apr 2004, 497 posts, RR: 12 Reply 10, posted (5 years 6 months 3 weeks 6 days 18 hours ago) and read 1377 times:
Hello JU101.
"It is common knowledge that the previous government (09/2000 - 02/2004) also wanted to cancel the contract with Airbus, and assuming the new Serbian government is doing this because of a change in foreign policy is simply wrong."
I mentioned that foreign policy in general could have an impact, not a change in foreign policy. Economics and politics are intertwined, and more so in the Balkans. I believe that the US has a more powerful lever towards Serbia at this point, compared to Europe. We'll have to wait for a few years 'till just economics kicks in. In the meantime, it's all politics, which is by definition bad.
Maybe the previous government wanted to cancel this contract. This is the first time someone announced the meeting with Airbus, which is pretty concrete action.
Ivan
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JU101 From Canada, joined Mar 2001, 832 posts, RR: 6 Reply 11, posted (5 years 6 months 3 weeks 4 days 23 hours ago) and read 1195 times:
I do not see what is political in the attempt to cancel a deal that would not have served in the best interest of the airline to begin with.
JAT was the first airline from mainland Europe to operate the Boeing 737-300, and it would only make sense that the company would eventually purchase an aircraft that has commonality with this original model. Thus, any decision to eventually purchase aircraft from Boeing is based on economics more than anything else.
A different story can be said for widebody aircraft. JAT should have no specific preference here, as the DC-10, and its derivatives, are no longer in production. Neither Boeing nor Airbus would have the advantage here...
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From United States, joined Apr 2004, 497 posts, 
First their 7E7 orders (congrats to them of course) and now apparently this!
From , joined Dec 1969, posts, 
.
Yeah, I know, just daydreaming.... I actually love Boeing and would cry if they went out of business (my favorite plane is the 732)..gif){kind=small}
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