Boeing’s ongoing battle has disrupted the race by airlines to replace aging fleets worldwide, but easyJet has avoided both these issues and the engine issues plaguing some Airbus operators. In an interview with Bloomberg TelevisionCEO Johan Lundgren thanked having Airbus aircraft with CFM International engines.
“The engine choices we have made and the partnership with Airbus are a better alternative than some of our competitors,” he said.
Rivals such as Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair and US-based peer Southwest Airlines have changed course and otherwise publicly grumbled about their problems with Boeing’s production problems and delivery delays. But some companies also have problems with their Airbus aircraft.
Before filing for bankruptcy, Spirit collected about $200 million in cash through compensation from Airbus for capacity under attack from its Pratt & Whitney engines. JetBlue Airways CEO Joanna Geraghty has complained about ongoing problems with the Pratt & Whitney powerplants that have grounded parts of her company’s fleets. At an aviation conference in September, she said this was especially frustrating because JetBlue was going all-in on an exclusive Airbus fleet.
“They are great planes, we want to fly them,” she said at the Skift Global Forum travel industry conference.
Other airline executives, such as United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby, have publicly called for a new competitor to replace the global duopoly of Airbus and Boeing aircraft. Earlier this year, United froze pilot hiring and asked its regular pilots to consider taking some unpaid leave because United was not receiving the Boeing planes it expected to fly.
“I think we need more competition in the aerospace industry,” Kirby said on The Air Show, an aviation podcast.
For the latest news, Facebook, Tweet and Instagram.
