|
Airbus Pushes It's 'Baby' A318
Airbus is launching a new campaign to sell its baby 100- to 125-passenger A318 with Pratt & Whitney PW6000 engines.
The aircraft is currently available only with the CFM56-5B engine after the PW6000 proved too thirsty. Pratt-powered A318s will now be certified in November 2005.
Orders for the A318 stand at an unspectacular 83, with 12 delivered, six each to Frontier Airlines and Air France. The latter reportedly spotted an engine play: it immediately removed the brand-new CFM56-5Bs and bolted them onto its bigger A320s, replacing the A318s' engines with tired powerplants it could derate for the small airliner.
But the question remains: Why would anybody want an A318 with a new PW6000 on it? Performance, according to Airbus chief test pilot Jacques Rosay, is identical with either engine.
Pratt & Whitney president Louis Chenevert has an answer. The PW6000-powered A318 costs $3-4 million less than the CFM powered airplane. Newer technology and far fewer parts also make the PW6000 much cheaper to keep—matching the economic scenario of low-cost carriers and regional airlines, he says.
CFM never wanted to be on the airplane, anyway. "If you want to give the farm away, you can give the farm away," says CFM President Pierre Fabre. Airbus is in Hall 4, Stand A14 and Chalet D5-9.
—John Morris
back
to ShowNews home
|
