Airbus may have won the order battle at Paris, but a clear vision of the reinvented A350 has yet to emerge from Toulouse
Airbus will look back on the Paris air show as the watershed in its recovery from a disastrous 2006 and its efforts to get the reinvented A350 onto a firm footing. The airframer's order and commitment tally reached 728 aircraft during the five days of the show, of which 425 were firm orders, elevating Airbus's total orders for the year beyond 600 and about 90 ahead of Boeing.
Show announcements included some important votes of confidence for the A350 XWB, with blue-chip customers Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines signing firm contracts for 80 and 20, respectively. Airbus racked up 141 firm orders for the A350 from five customers - including existing clients Alafaco and CIT, which confirmed the switch of their existing firm contracts from the old version to the XWB. A further 52 commitments were secured, taking total sales for the twinjet to 232 (excluding contracts yet to be switched from the old version of the A350).
Design concerns
But despite the impressive sales performance, the fact is the show raised more questions than answers about the A350. Concerns about the way Airbus is going about the design were expressed by both existing customers and some key potential buyers, with some wondering whether yet another redesign of the twinjet might be on the cards.
Airbus president and chief executive Louis Gallois began the show responding to criticism from James McNerney, boss of rival Boeing, that the A350 still had a rather fuzzy definition. Gallois batted that away, describing the comments as "completely unfair" and adding: "With orders from airlines like Finnair, Aer Lingus and Qatar Airways, it is because the aircraft is completely defined."
But the fact is Airbus is not due to reach the final design freeze on the A350 until late next year. Speaking exclusively to Flight International - having just signed the firm contract for 80 aircraft - Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar Al Baker criticised Airbus's speed in defining the new aircraft and is pushing it to tighten up the programme. "We have been provided with remarkably limited information on the evolution of the A350 XWB design," he said. "We hope that now the purchase agreement is signed, we will be able to have a more detailed understanding of what specification choices are being considered."
Gallois said Airbus, "working full speed" on the A350, was at the stage "where we can guarantee performance to customers".
The issue of the lack of a second engine to compete with the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB will not go away. With no General Electric powerplant option on the A350 XWB, customers who signed for the original A350 (which had GE GEnx engines) have either had to go knocking on R-R's door - as Qatar Airways did - or put their A350 plans on hold pending a deal with GE. The engine company's sister leasing division, GE Commercial Aviation Services, has made it clear the A350 will not figure in its buying plans until a GE engine is on the aircraft. "I don't believe the A350 has the best engine on it yet," said GECAS president Henry Hubschman at the show.
The A350's powerplant will be key to the performance of an aircraft that is designed to tackle two families produced in Seattle - Boeing's 787 and 777. And it is in the requirement to power the A350-1000 variant that will compete with the 777 that the problems lie.
Airbus's chief salesman John Leahy has rejected GE's offer of a GEnx-based engine to power the smaller A350-800/900 models because it does not offer a technology step over the 787's powerplant, but in reality Airbus needs GE to provide an engine that will span the entire family. And for the moment at least, GE is not prepared to consider this.
Three sizes
Firstly, GE does not want to dilute the sector in which it competes as exclusive engine supplier to the 777-200LR/300ER. Secondly, many people - GE included - remain sceptical that a single engine design with thrust ratings between 75,000lb and 95,000lb (334kN and 423kN) can be optimised to power three sizes of aircraft with differences that span 70 seats and 50t in maximum take-off weights. But R-R is sure it is feasible because it believes emerging technology will achieve the goal.
Probably the area of greatest debate among potential A350 clients is the concept Airbus has adopted for the fuselage structure - a hybrid design with large composite panels attached to aluminium frames.
The Airbus concept has certain advantages over the configuration chosen by Boeing for the 787 fuselage, which is manufactured using the mandrel method with huge one-piece barrels spun from carbonfibre. For the A350, the fuselage will be produced in three large sections, each with four long carbonfibre fuselage panels (top, bottom and two sides) attached to the aluminium frames. Airbus says that by having four separate panels, it can optimise the ply lay-up for each one depending on its role in the structure, saving weight. The use of an aluminium frame also helps with electrical conductivity throughout the fuselage.
However, the Airbus configuration has been questioned by Emirates airline boss Tim Clark and International Lease Finance chairman Steve Udvar-Hazy. The former is a serious candidate for a large A350 order, while the latter has an order for 16 of the original A350s, plus four options, and is in talks with Airbus about switching these to the XWB.
Clark says Boeing's mandrel construction method is "the future" and Airbus should follow suit, but, irrespective of the construction method, "it'll do the job". He thinks the A350 is well enough defined to evaluate it properly against the 787 and choice should be made before the Dubai air show in November.
Speaking during a Boeing conference at which he announced an order for 52 787s, Udvar-Hazy said he was in "extensive discussions" with Airbus about the final design of the A350 as ILFC negotiated the confirmation of its original order. But ILFC was "much more comfortable with what we've seen of the Boeing [construction] design so far", he said.
Udvar-Hazy said the Airbus talks had explored other potential structures such as "a composite frame" and he believed Airbus was "seriously evaluating all those issues".
Before Udvar-Hazy met Airbus at the show, Gallois said: "I will try to convince him we have made the right choice. I have good arguments to give him." Whether this succeded remains to be seen, but Udvar-Hazy left Paris without announcing any A350 order.
Source: Flight International
