Aeroflot orders, USAF now may not
By IAG | March 5th, 2007 | Posted in aeroflot, airbus, boeing, eads | 5 CommentsAeroflot is going to acquire up to 15 Airbus A330s as a stopgap measure ahead of its much-delayed order for a new long-haul fleet. Is this is the end of the long winding saga – its the Babushka doll of the aerospace industry?
Airbus does have A330 slots, but not to Aeroflot at the price it’s prepared to pay. Also, the Russians are being coy because they think they can still tell Boeing (and the US) they have not ordered Airbus; after all leased aircraft can be returned and second-hand aircraft can be sold and, they think, the B787 can still be added.
Barring any other news, there goes the USAF tanker order. Lets see, 15 A330s for Aeroflot vs. nearly two hundred to the the USAF….? Great math. Mr. Putin against the USAF? No contest. Oh well, Boeing's stock should jump on this news.
I fail to see how you draw the conclusion that USAF will not order from NG/EADS because of this Aeroflot order… Can you please expans on this?
Vincent, institutional memories are long in Washington. It has been noted in DC that EADS has Russia as an investor. Mr. Putin has become increasingly unpleasant to deal with. The USAF, with its jaundiced view of Russia, is now more likely to buy from Boeing for its first tranche.
I hate to be naive, but I still don't understand why the USAF would ever consider ordering from our weakest ally – the French? The French love to defy our foreign policy any chance they get – and we would consider rewarding them with a $100 billion contract? Hopefully, the Aeroflot A330 order will be the nail in the coffin for the Airbus tanker.
I am still not quite convinced..! I don't see how the fact that Aeroflot will buy 15 A330 (and the possible implications on the long-haul strategy of this airline) will really influence a USAF decision.
Although I understand the link between the two decisions, this is a minor factor compared to more important ones: Russian investment in EADS, the fact that EADS is a European company, and (hopefully) technical and budget reasons…
Aeroflot intends to lease not buy A330s, but in so doing it will send a clear signal to the US that it intends to put aerospace business Europe's way. Aeroflot's decision is highly political (ask Boeing). The DOD's will be too. Given strained international relations between the US and Russia on the one hand and the US and France on the other, it is difficult to see how the US will now place business, particularly such strategic defense business as the USAF tanker replacement contract, anywhere other than with Boeing. The US to follow Russia and invest in France? Political non-starter, surely…?