Gilesdavies From United Kingdom, joined Dec 2003, 2882 posts, RR: 1 Posted (6 years 9 months 10 hours ago) and read 3965 times:
Could someone please enlighten me on the original Airbus order US Airways placed before 9/11. If anyone has exact details of what the order contained and the exact number delivered that would be great...
If I remember correctly this order was was one of the largest orders Airbus ever received back then. Was the ultimate aim of the order to replace the whole of US Airways' mainline fleet exclusively with Airbus?
If the whole order had been fulfilled and US Airways had not faced Chapter 11 twice would we still see 737's, 757's and 767's in the fleet today? Would I be right in assuming the A321's were to replace the 752's, A320's the 734's and the A319's the 733's?
Please forget for one minute that the A321 can ever be a direct competitor to the 757 as is all to often discussed on here... But if this is the case that the A321's were to replace the 757's, how would have US Airways operated these out of destinations like LAS and PHX? I have read on here several times that the A321's would never be able to operate to CLT or PHL from these destinations due to the heat and how the A321 is too underpowered and the 757 is the only aircraft of this size capable of operating these routes, as they do at present.
USPIT10L From United States of America, joined Mar 2006, 3266 posts, RR: 8 Reply 1, posted (6 years 9 months 9 hours ago) and read 3903 times:
Quoting Gilesdavies (Thread starter): If the whole order had been fulfilled and US Airways had not faced Chapter 11 twice would we still see 737's, 757's and 767's in the fleet today? Would I be right in assuming the A321's were to replace the 752's, A320's the 734's and the A319's the 733's?
Correct. I'll have to go through my old US Airways archive and find out the exact number.
Ouboy79 From United States of America, joined Nov 2001, 4001 posts, RR: 23 Reply 2, posted (6 years 9 months 7 hours ago) and read 3817 times:
Quoting Gilesdavies (Thread starter): Could someone please enlighten me on the original Airbus order US Airways placed before 9/11. If anyone has exact details of what the order contained and the exact number delivered that would be great...
Spoke2Spoke From United States of America, joined Oct 2004, 190 posts, RR: 0 Reply 3, posted (6 years 9 months 6 hours ago) and read 3689 times:
30 A333 airframes? That's interesting. Even if the 762's are replaced, there are still about 10 net widebody airframes added. Did the pre 9/11 US have their eyes on South American routes with these aircraft? I can't imagine they could keep 30 busy over the atlantic alone, even with flights from PIT in addition to CLT and PHL. The A333 doesn't have the legs from the east cost to Asia.
Spokes
...carelessness and overconfidence are usually far more dangerous than deliberately accepted risks. - Wilbur Wright
I can't remember the mix of orders/options off the top of my head.
Around 150 were firm orders. The entire order, including options, was at the time in 1998 considered (IIRC) the largest order in history by any airline.
It shows the grand plan Wolfe and his #2, Gangalwal (sp?), had at the time for the carrier.
AirEMS From United States of America, joined May 2004, 684 posts, RR: 3 Reply 10, posted (6 years 8 months 4 weeks 1 day 19 hours ago) and read 3316 times:
Why did US choose the A333 over the 772? cost? timing?
Ouboy79 From United States of America, joined Nov 2001, 4001 posts, RR: 23 Reply 11, posted (6 years 8 months 4 weeks 1 day 11 hours ago) and read 3106 times:
Quoting RedFlyer (Reply 7): It shows the grand plan Wolfe and his #2, Gangalwal (sp?), had at the time for the carrier.
Its Wolf...and Gangwal.
Quoting AirEMS (Reply 10): Why did US choose the A333 over the 772? cost? timing?
Timing and price. Oh...and US Airways hated Boeing.
Any opinion/comment posted is that of my own and not that of Southwest Airlines Co.
RedFlyer From United States of America, joined Feb 2005, 4179 posts, RR: 30 Reply 13, posted (6 years 8 months 4 weeks 1 day 11 hours ago) and read 3067 times:
Quoting Ouboy79 (Reply 11): Oh...and US Airways hated Boeing.
So why did US Airways hate Boeing? I thought their contract dispute emanated from the fact that Wolf saw more money savings in switching to Airbus given the price Airbus was willing to give them and simply wanted a way out of the Boeing contract for existing orders. Was there something else that poisoned the well?
To be accurate, the order, placed on Nov. 24, 1998, was for 7 A330-300s, plus 7 options and an additional 16 potential delivery positions.
3 options were converted into firm orders in 99.
On Apr. 01, 2003, 9 additional A330-200s were ordered.
Early 2005, 10 orders out of the 19 were differed and cancelled against the order for A350s.
US Aw. operates the 9 remaining A330-300s.
RedFlyer From United States of America, joined Feb 2005, 4179 posts, RR: 30 Reply 16, posted (6 years 8 months 4 weeks 1 day 10 hours ago) and read 3015 times:
Quoting Asturias (Reply 14): Until US decides otherwise or Boeing admits design failure of the 733
What's there for Boeing to admit? It was already shown that the probable cause was a defective actuator, and ADs were issued subsequently requiring their replacement in all 73 classics.
Bdl2dca From United States of America, joined Jan 2006, 313 posts, RR: 0 Reply 17, posted (6 years 8 months 4 weeks 1 day 8 hours ago) and read 2888 times:
Quoting Asturias (Reply 14): Until US decides otherwise or Boeing admits design failure of the 733, then US Airways will not buy a Boeing plane again.
Seeing as the management in charge of US is now HP management, I doubt the crash will really weigh on their minds when the time comes to order more aircraft.
Rev3oh2 From United States of America, joined Apr 2004, 141 posts, RR: 1 Reply 18, posted (6 years 8 months 4 weeks 1 day 8 hours ago) and read 2851 times:
Quoting Asturias (Reply 14): Until US decides otherwise or Boeing admits design failure of the 733, then US Airways will not buy a Boeing plane again.
That's an interesting explanation. Did anyone in top management under that regime at US Airways ever actually make such a statement in public? Or is it simply a deduction based on the facts? Not arguing, just wondering. I haven't checked, but is it true that US has not even acquired any other 757s since that particular crash? Or would leasing not count as buying under this scenario?
Quoting Bdl2dca (Reply 17):
Seeing as the management in charge of US is now HP management, I doubt the crash will really weigh on their minds when the time comes to order more aircraft.
That's the other part of this equation. But I seem to recall US saying when it made that huge Airbus order that it wanted to be able to get the best bang for their buck by having pilots trained on the A319/320/321 models due to cockpit commonality. And isn't HP also a large Airbus customer?
Also, given US Airways' somewhat limited international operations, and no expressed long-range goal calling for expanding those operations to Asia, would they really need to buy 777s or 787s anytime soon?
...let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
Steeler83 From United States of America, joined Feb 2006, 8811 posts, RR: 19 Reply 19, posted (6 years 8 months 4 weeks 19 hours ago) and read 2649 times:
Quoting Asturias (Reply 14): They had a disagreement with beoing over this accident.
Oh, yeah... I remember that crash alright. Who wouldn't...
I remember hearing that the DL727 wake was the direct cause of the crash, but then years later, another plane, a metrojet 732 encountered similar problems near Baltimore(???) and the voice recording indicated rudder problems. That metrojet plane, however, landed safely, unlike the misfortunate outcome of US 427...
Quoting Asturias (Reply 14): Until US decides otherwise or Boeing admits design failure of the 733
Quoting Rev3oh2 (Reply 18): That's an interesting explanation. Did anyone in top management under that regime at US Airways ever actually make such a statement in public? Or is it simply a deduction based on the facts? Not arguing, just wondering. I haven't checked, but is it true that US has not even acquired any other 757s since that particular crash? Or would leasing not count as buying under this scenario?
The overall design of the 733 was not a flaw by anymeans if that's what you're getting at. Then again, after a similar incident occurred on another plane, they did come to that conclusion and I believe that all 737 aircraft were grounded until all aircraft were inspected and the problem rectified. Now, they're among the safest planes in the sky. If boeing still denies that the flaw even existed, I guess they really have their heads up their pie-holes.
That was 12 years ago; they have different aircraft now. Admit the design flaw, realize it, get over it, and move on...
Do not bring stranger girt into your room. The stranger girt is dangerous, it will hurt your life.
Ouboy79 From United States of America, joined Nov 2001, 4001 posts, RR: 23 Reply 20, posted (6 years 8 months 4 weeks 11 hours ago) and read 2476 times:
Quoting Steeler83 (Reply 19): I remember hearing that the DL727 wake was the direct cause of the crash, but then years later, another plane, a metrojet 732 encountered similar problems near Baltimore(???) and the voice recording indicated rudder problems. That metrojet plane, however, landed safely, unlike the misfortunate outcome of US 427...
One of the Eastwind 737s had the same issue over North Carolina during the same time. I know they evaluated the UA crash in COS to see if that was related, but left that one alone.
Any opinion/comment posted is that of my own and not that of Southwest Airlines Co.
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