Already IndiGo, whose current fleet of 34 aircraft consists exclusively of Airbus A 320s, has 66 more planes (again all A320s) in the pipeline.
Documents and testimony produced in a case against two USAirways mechanics for allegedly falsifying maintenance documents involving inspections of Airbus A-319 aircraft (the case was dismissed on appeal on timeliness grounds) indicate that FAA regulators may have crossed ethical lines in sharing enforcement information with USAirways in the course of a related, major investigation of its maintenance practices.
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This month, Airbus signed a deal dubbed the biggest single order in commercial aviation history which will secure factory jobs.
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Airbus conducted a successful trial of the GTF 18 months ago.
While Airbus announced a smaller 13-plane order from Turkish Airways, some U.S. airlines announced different levels of price hikes in order to cover surging fuel prices.
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Airbus, in turn, claimed that about 70% of Boeing's allegations had been dismissed by the WTO, which also failed to detect any price undercutting by Airbus as a result of the subsidies.
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What is most striking is the self-confident approach to globalisation taken by Airbus, a company that over the years has suffered more than its share of petty squabbles, especially between its French and German tribes.
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While Airbus announced a much smaller order from Turkish Airlines, some US airlines like Jet Blue and Delta have been hiking fares and even charging fuel surcharges on certain routes to compensate for rising fuel costs.
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Wall Street would also be wary: defence margins are thinner in Europe than in America, and Americans still think of Airbus as a workers' paradise, even though it has snatched half the world market from under Boeing's nose and makes profits.
Making heavy losses, stuck in state hands and with over-manned, expensive factories, it dragged its feet over the conversion of Airbus into a company, fearing that this would lead to a loss of French jobs as work was contracted out to lower-cost countries.
Negatives included a B-scale for the Airbus A319, a six-year term, outsourcing and extensive code-sharing.
On a recent day, four jetliners -- two Boeing 737s, an Airbus A320 and a Boeing widebody 767 -- were parked in the massive Gore hangar, their tail markings and aircraft registration numbers shrouded under plastic to protect the identities of their owners.
It was such a momentous occasion that Airbus trumpeted the news in a press release the following month.
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Attempts to refloat a ship carrying Airbus aircraft wings which is stuck on a sandbank in the Dee estuary have been postponed for a week.
It happened when the pilot of a TAM Airbus A320 overshot the rain-soaked runway and slammed into a gas station and a TAM building.
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So far this year, Airbus has received a total of 236 plane orders.
But US Airways operated two Airbus A320s on a total of 43 flights without complying with the ordered inspection.
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Emirates is expected to follow up the Airbus order with a purchase of Boeing 777 wide-bodies later on Monday, Reuters said.
In the event, the Americans grew tired of waiting for the Europeans to turn the Airbus consortium into a proper company.
Le Monde newspaper reported that Airbus was sending a warning to operators of A330 jets with new advice on flying in storms.
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That is why the Airbus conversion to a company, making its finances more transparent, might have to come before a Lockheed move.
Already there are rumors that Airbus is planning a plane with similar wings, which will be similarly sourced from Toray and Mitsubishi.
Yet Boeing is convinced that Airbus is making a huge strategic error.
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In May 2012, UNESCO granted patronage to the Airbus Fly Your Ideas challenge, part of the Future by Airbus programme with a vision of sustainable air travel in 2050.
Airbus has been a spectacular success, but the nexus between government financial support and the displacement of Boeing jetliners in many markets has reinforced U.S. doubts about the company.
But Airbus is claiming a similar step-change to the one that accompanied the launch of the 747: operating costs will be 15-20% lower than those of any rival aircraft, it says.
But as it turned out, the German government was just as unrelaxed about allowing EADS - owner of Airbus and therefore a strategically important manufacturer - to run itself in an arms-length and commercial way.
Airbus signed agreements for the purchase of 88 A320 single-aisle aircraft with China Aviation Supplies Company (CAS) and ICBC Financial Leasing Co, Airbus said in a press release posted on its website on June 28.
As it is, airlines that want simply to use Boeing aircraft will still go on doing so, but at least Airbus now has a chance to flog them a new product which could outperform Boeing's ageing jumbo technology.
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