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| Economy |
| Air India unveils ‘historic' orders for 470 Boeing, Airbus jets |
| 2023-02-15 |
| [Aljazeera] Air India has announced orders for a total of 470 Boeing and Airbus passenger jets as it races to tap surging demand for affordable air travel from the nation’s growing ranks of middle-class consumers. India’s largest international airline and second-largest domestic carrier is buying 220 Boeing aircraft valued at $34bn and 250 passenger jets from European plane manufacturer Airbus. The Boeing purchase is the United States plane maker’s third-largest sale of all time, in dollar value, and its second of all time in quantity. US President Joe Biden called the agreement "historic" and discussed it by telephone with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The call was part of a flurry of high-level reactions as the scale of India’s needs provided a rare bonanza for the competing plane giants in an industry where the winner usually takes all. Air India is seeking to reinvent itself by expanding its operations and modernising its fleet. The new jets will help the airline’s owner, Tata Sons, compete against upstart discount rivals including India’s dominant carrier, IndiGo. "India is going to be the world’s third-largest market in the aviation sector," Modi said in a videoconference with Tata Sons Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran and French President Emmanuel Macron. Over the next 15 years, it is estimated India will need more than 2,000 aircraft and "today’s historic announcement will help in meeting this growing demand", he said. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #6 Air India was state owned; a money bleeding socialist heavy train, nightmare for its customers and absolutely shitty experience. It was acquired by one of the biggest private players, Tata recently. They know how to get stuff done and any issues are now their problem. I'm just glad the Indian government has no part in this except for allowing the trade. |
| Posted by: Dron66046 2023-02-15 09:50 |
| #5 If it |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2023-02-15 09:19 |
| #4 Lots of Teslas here. I've never personally seen a wrecked one, but a couple of autonomous driving Tesla wrecks here made national news. My thought as a former ink-stained wretch: "If it breeds it leads." We don't get stories about routine flights that end well. My thought as a guy who had driven cars and trucks for going on 47 years: If I need both hands, I know how to steer with my knees and I still have most of my attention on the road and my own feet on the pedals. And I never do that for long. And I'm still here... |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2023-02-15 09:18 |
| #3 /\ "safer" Are you factoring in the Tesla factor Merc ? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2023-02-15 09:13 |
| #2 No easily available stats on airframes lost vs production over time (for Boeing or other makers). But flying remains safer than driving and you are most likely to fly in a Boeing or Airbus than all other makers combined. Some guy survived 3 commercial plane crashes. His advice: "Sit in the back of the plane." |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2023-02-15 09:02 |
| #1 Is Boeing still capable of making 220 aircraft that won't fall out of the sky? They seem to have drifted away from their core competency lately. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2023-02-15 08:56 |