summary
- Airbus has won orders from former Boeing customers such as Japan Airlines and Korean Air, partly due to the troubles with the Boeing 737 MAX.
- The manufacturing crisis facing Boeing, combined with safety concerns and production curbs, is benefiting Airbus and its A321neo.
- Airlines in Japan and South Korea are diversifying their fleets by ordering Airbus aircraft in addition to Boeing aircraft to reduce risk.
And there were two… Airline manufacturers such as Fokker, British Aerospace and Bombardier have largely exited the commercial jetliner market, leaving a duopoly of Boeing and Airbus. Boeing and Airbus are pretty evenly balanced in many ways, but Boeing’s woes with its once-touted Boeing 737 MAX have allowed Airbus to win over some of Boeing’s longtime customers. . Japan Airlines and Korean Air have ordered large quantities of Airbus jets and have largely avoided Boeing.
Boeing 737 MAX predicament
In March 2024, Reuters Airbus reported that it had secured orders for approximately 65 aircraft from Boeing’s two major Asian customers. Earlier this year, Alaska Airlines was forced to ground a similar number of Boeing 737 MAX 9s after the doors of its Boeing 737 MAX were blown off.
Boeing has been forced to limit production of narrow-body aircraft after a series of debacles with its Boeing 737 jets have triggered a manufacturing crisis. The Alaska Airlines incident follows high-profile fatal Boeing 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019.
Photo: EQ Roy | Shutterstock
Boeing is currently facing an investigation into its safety and quality standards, and Reuters reports that regulators are curbing production of the plane. The crisis plaguing Boeing’s 737 MAX has been a boon for the A321neo. Airbus is currently challenging Boeing’s 65% market share in Northeast Asia (Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan). The A321neo has the longest fuselage of the A321 family and is a competitor to Boeing’s 737 MAX.
Boeing 737 MAX: Its rise, fall, and re-emergence
The 737 MAX continues to be Boeing’s long and successful narrowbody aircraft. Although there were some issues, orders from airlines have been steady.
Asian airlines pay attention to Airbus
Japan Airlines announced it will purchase 10 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, as well as 21 wide-body A350-900s and 11 narrow-body A321neos. This is the first time that Japan Airlines has ordered a narrow-body aircraft from Airbus. The order is expected to be delivered between fiscal years 2025 and 2033 and will cost approximately $12.4 billion. Japan Airlines is also purchasing a replacement aircraft for the A350-900 that was damaged in January’s Haneda airport runway crash.by Japan Airlines websitecurrently operates (in addition to Embraer and ATR):
Photo: Gabe Smith | Shutterstock
- Airbus A350-900 16 aircraft
- Boeing 787-9 22 aircraft
- Boeing 787-8 30 aircraft
- Boeing 777-300ER 13 aircraft
- 3 Boeing 777-200ERs
- Boeing 767-300ER 27 aircraft
- Boeing 737-800 62 aircraft
At the same time, Korean Air announced it would order 33 Airbus A350s in preparation for its merger with Asiana Airlines (another Korean airline). Korean Air is South Korea’s largest airline and flag carrier.according to Plains SpottersKorean Air’s fleet of approximately 160 Boeing and Airbus passenger aircraft consists of:
- Boeing 787-9 14 aircraft
- 49 Boeing 777s (-200ER, -300, and 3-00ER)
- 20x Boeing 747 (-400F, -8F, and -8I)
- 23 Boeing 737s (MAX 8, -800, -900, -900ER)
- 10x Airbus A380-800
- 25x Airbus A330 (-200, -300)
- Airbus A321neo 9 aircraft
- Airbus A220-300×10
Photo: Thiago B. Trevisan | Shutterstock
Boeing’s problems are likely part of the reason the company lost a longtime customer, but they are not likely the only factor. Japan Airlines also wants to diversify its risk by not relying on just one manufacturer, as it doesn’t want to keep all its eggs in the same basket, according to Reuters.
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