Posted on 04/27/2005 3:34:57 PM PDT by Paleo Conservative
BANGALORE, India, April 26 - Air India, India's flagship carrier, said Tuesday that it would order 50 aircraft from the Boeing Company in a deal worth $6.9 billion, a sale that had also been keenly pursued by its rival, Airbus Industrie.
In a statement, the government-owned Air India said its order included 27 of Boeing's 787 Dreamliners, its fuel-efficient model in development, with seating for 200 to 300 passengers. The 787 competes with Airbus's A350, and is expected to come into service in 2008.
Air India also ordered 15 of the 737 medium-range aircraft and 8 of the 777 long-haul jetliners. The announcement Tuesday came just ahead of the test flight of Airbus's superjumbo 555-seat A380 on Wednesday; Boeing has no competitor for that aircraft.
Dinesh Keskar, Boeing's senior vice president for sales, confirmed the order in a phone interview. He said the order was an indication that "Boeing has the right products and the right mix." Mr. Keskar, who is based in Seattle, spoke from Mumbai, where Air India has its headquarters. Boeing is based in Chicago.
While both Boeing and Airbus outdid each other with financial and technical offers to clinch the Air India deal, intense lobbying between governments may have finally swung the deal to Boeing.
President Bush spoke recently to India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh, about the purchase, and the American transportation secretary, Norman Y. Mineta, last week lobbied Aviation Minister Praful Patel.
Representatives of the European Union, including the French transportation minister, Gilles de Robien, pushed for Airbus. Airbus is based in Toulouse, France, and is controlled by the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company, or EADS, and BAE Systems, which has a 20 percent stake.
Air India's much-delayed decision in favor of Boeing comes at a time when rivals like Jet Airways and Air Sahara have received licenses to fly international routes from India. Air India has not expanded its fleet in the last decade and a half.
The airline has already announced that it will increase the frequency of its flights to the United States and add new destinations, including San Francisco and Houston, in the coming months. It plans an initial stock offering early next year.
If you want on or off my aviation ping list, please contact me by Freep mail not by posting to this thread.
It's always good news when an American contractor lands a big international contract.
It had to be while Willie Green was on his big road trip.
I'll ping him so he sees it first chance he gets. LOL
I absolutely LOVE this news!!!
Heh!
At least the A380 flew for the first time today. If there wasn't some good news coming out of Toulouse there might have been mass suicides at Airbus. LOL!
You'll have to take some pictures of an Air India 777-200LR at IAH.
I'd be nice to see. Depending on where I'm living at the time, I'll try to be there to see the first flight.
But that was with a low payload, much lower than maximum thrust and wheels down. When to they start flying with their maximum gross weight? When will they test stopping it with brakes alone? That should make an interesting picture, because the wheels will be glowing red hot.
I bet a flight IAH to BOM would be unbearably long.
Not totally unusual for a first flight.
When will they test stopping it with brakes alone? That should make an interesting picture, because the wheels will be glowing red hot.
The rejected take off test is always the most exciting and most dangerous. The brakes will catch fire and there is also the risk the fire will spread as they have to sit for 5 minutes before the firemen can put out the brakes. This is to prove the aircraft won't go BOOM while passengers are evacuating. Of course in the process every tire (except the nose gear) will be destroyed.
Supposedly that test alone costs millions of dollars.
When Boeing did the rejected takeoff test for the 777, the cost in tires alone (12) was $750,000.
Air Canada also is purchasing 32 new Boeing jets including 14 787's. This info came from the following article http://www.guardian.co.uk/airlines/story/0,1371,1471298,00.html.
What will the daley crime machine take on this be?
Did they have to rerun that test for the different gross weight versions or was the original certification test adequate for the additional versions?
I'm not 100% sure but I believe they do. I know it was done for the 777-300.
I understand that the production models of the A380 will have bullseyes painted on both sides of the aircraft so there is a target to aim at when the terroist fire a rocket.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.