777 RIVAL - The Airbus A350 Major Redesign

foreign the Airbus a350 is one of the leading wide-body aircraft in our industry today alongside the 787 it has really played a pivotal role in changing how Airlines complete scheduled long-haul passenger services with its efficient twin-engine nature however when the aircraft was still being designed there was actually a substantial redesign that took place changing the a350 as we initially knew it to now what is flying around the globe what was the redesign all about and why did it happen and has the a350 fared well since then before I begin over 70 of viewers aren't subscribed and as I try and push for 40 000 why not join up to never miss an upload to understand why the a350 exists today and especially the initial version that Airbus unveiled there also needs to be a subsequent understanding of why such a plane was studied and developed period the late 1990s and early 2000s were a pretty fun period for the industry a especially when taking a look at manufacturers there could be a documentary in my opinion on everything that took place in that decade alone from the misjudgments and manufacturers to other key decisions that laid out the groundwork for today's many successes and also failures however at Airbus following the launch of their A330 there was a lot of consideration about what would be the next plane and how they would continue to compete with the already well established Boeing portfolio of aircraft a question that was a lot harder than expected to answer all the while Airbus was trying to make sure that Boeing didn't run away with the next generation of aircraft in terms of market share so when the plane maker went as far as doubting the premise of the 787 a topic to be covered in a separate video for sure it was a response that was heavily criticized and eventually saw customers really requesting Airbus to come up with something that could compete with the 787 but really be its own aircraft as well the the design progressed from another A330 type towards a more thorough design and overall proposal that would see a multi-billion dollar commitment to the Future airliner the premise was an aircraft to fit the 250 to 300 seat Market which at the time was deemed to be highly lucrative and Airbus wanted to win more than half the available Market however while the a350 was unveiled around 2004 and did later receive backing from Qatar Airways in 2005. there were immediate concerns and questions that needed to be asked after many discussions studies and input coming directly from customers Airbus unveiled in 2006 a handful of years after we were first introduced to the type the a350 xwb xwb standing for extra wide body see the A380 while the world's largest passenger plane and a fantastic bit of engineering design and more caused the plane maker some pretty big issue that could have very quickly plunged it right out of the industry the redesigned a350 the xwb was what Airbus wanted to be it's Saving Grace the option to stick with the a350 naming was long debated but really keeping that name was eventually decided and the Airbus chief executive in 2006 when unveiling the planned redesign said that input coming directly from customers was that they wanted to see change and also something extra added on if you will that would push them over the line to commit to such an aircraft and taking that on board was no doubt Essential by Airbus for the long-term success and future of the program if it did even delay the program by a couple of years with their USD 10 billion development cost which at the time was what they said but it did end up Rising it was a staggering increase on the initially quoted figure before the redesign but there was hope that eventually by committing more money to the changes that they would break even by turning customers that question the initial plane into a firm customer so with the redesign where would the a350 be pitched this is still something I believe at least in 2023 that has always been up for debate what aircraft does it directly compete with what aircraft was it fully intended to compete with or is it just airbus's answer to Boeing's dominance in the long-haul wide body Market I'd love to hear your opinion just on that question down below in the comments but if we're putting it on airbus's word well the long-haul wide body Market but the plane maker if possible want to to try and have the aircraft be a response to the already existing triple seven series and the currently up and coming at the time 787 program it really attempted to prevent Boeing from running away with the demand and market share especially when at a time their A340 certainly wasn't hitting as hard as what the triple seven was doing at the time with the widest windows in the industry and a fuselage that saw many changes to allow for a more customizable seating range whether that was high density or low density configurations were present alongside a lower maintenance costs which were made possible thanks to changes in that very fuselage and a higher cabin pressure and humidity overall it was what many deemed a very suitable upgrade to the series that should have at the time cemented Airbus as the one to watch in the market once more remember at the time as I briefly touched on a minute or so ago the triple seven was really crushing their A340 and the A380 was seriously struck struggling to enter into service and was accumulating a lot of costly delays in production and delivery the a350 therefore just had to be bang on in every single sense because of the changes Airbus said there would be a delay into the entry into service and when Boeing was seen commenting on the a350 redesign they did mention that this would be a disadvantage to the program and was why they weren't totally concerned because they knew it would be a considerable period before it would actually enter into operations however eventually the entry into service date would balloon out and the first redesigned a350 arrived at Qatar Airways at the end of 2014 which was a relatively long time from when they initially said it was going to enter and if anything it shows what's happening at Boeing isn't abnormal there have always been delays that are going to be faced when putting a plane into service but what was ultimately crucial for Airbus was that the redesign actually converted interest into firm orders and that they could compete with Boeing once again now the a350 Flies widely worldwide it is still routinely produced ordered and delivered and is a pivotal part of many airlines long-haul operations soon it'll connect Australia to New York London and more without a single stop on the world's longest flights with Australian flag carrier Qantas as part of project Sunrise it is breaking barriers and is a favorite aircraft for many to fly on but would you say it is truly a success and do you believe the redesign was in the best interests for the European plane maker as without it maybe they wouldn't have been around now let me know your thoughts on all things Airbus a350 Down Below in the comments whether that's related to canceled variants the redesign some of your favorite a350 customers or something else in between and I'll be sure to take a look stay tuned for more Aviation analysis that will be coming on the Channel very very soon subscribe if you haven't already as the channel continues to push higher and higher thanks a lot take care and be safe and I'll see you next time for more analysis oh well [Music]

Channel: GlobeTrotting at Dj's Aviation

Views: 169,247

Keywords: aviation, airline, airport, globetrotting, dj's aviation, avgeek, airbus, boeing, daily dose of aviation, aviation analysis, aircraft analysis, planespotting, planes, aircraft

Id: i0WFeHz45rc

Length: 8min 2sec (482 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 07 2023