Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES
Airbus Industrie is pitching its proposed A319M5 head-on against the Boeing 717 in the campaign to sell Northwest Airlines up to 100 of the 100-seaters to replace its McDonnell Douglas DC-9s. The US carrier, which is also planning a 30-seater order, could purchase a total of 160 new jets, worth around $3.5 billion, later this year.
Although a selection was widely expected as early as June, competition sources say this has slipped and may not now be revealed until September - possibly at the Farnborough air show. According to the sources, the BMW Rolls-Royce BR715-powered 717-200 was originally considered as an almost unopposed front runner until the A319M5 study emerged in February. Boeing says only that "-we've been talking". Airbus declines to comment.
The European consortium continues to insist that the A319M5 is only a design study as it continues to hold talks with China over launch of the 100-seat AE31X. Protracted negotiations and the inability to come up with a viable business plan are rapidly pushing the AE31X schedule beyond its intended start date of 2003, however, leaving it with a gap in its range that only the A319M5 can fill.
The A319M5, a 108-seat shortened version of the A319, is believed to be attracting interest at Northwest because of commonality with the airline's existing Airbus narrowbody family, and also because it is forcing Boeing into a price war. Although the small airliner was originally offered with up to four potential engine types, the choice is now thought to have been narrowed to the CFM International CFM56-5A4 and Pratt & Whitney's PW6000.
The engine battle is as intense as that of the airframes because it represents P&W's first - and possibly best - opportunity to launch the PW6000, into the narrowbody market. Airline sources close to the contest say that "-the real driver is price. How deep is CFM willing to dig to keep P& W out?"
Figures obtained by Flight International indicate that, on paper, the PW6000-powered version of the A319M5 could have the edge over the CFM56 model. Based on the Northwest mission rules (96kg/passenger) and Airbus baseline weight estimates for the aircraft (58t), the P&W-powered A319M5 will have a range of roughly 1,870km (1,010nm) compared to around 1,610km for the CFM56-5A4 powered version.
In the second fleet contest, Northwest has issued a request for proposals to manufacturers for a 30-seat regional jet. Candidates are the Embraer RJ-135 and Fairchild Dornier 328JET.
Source: Flight International
