dispatches from the new world of work

My Hunch

While the Rockies and the Red Sox are battling in the World Series, halfway around the world the Airbus A380, courtesy Singapore Air, will make its first commercial flight.

Here's betting that when aviation history is written 25 years from now the Boeing Dreamliner will be more or less forgotten—and the A380 will get its own chapter.

I can hear the howls now—and I won't be around 25 years from now to pick up-pay off the debt, or if I am hanging in, unlike Peter Drucker, I damn well won't be prattling on about management.

In any event, hats off to recently maligned Airbus and the service fanatics at Singapore Air!

Tom Peters posted this on 10/24/07.

Comments

Surely Concorde will also get a chapter - and the de Havilland Comet (world's first commercial jet liner). The Europeans are good at aviation chapters, but not so good at aviation dollars ....

Posted by Mike L. at October 24, 2007 6:57 PM

Tom, you will likely be around at 89 or 90. If not management excellence...what would you expect to be "prattling on" about?

Posted by Steve Dragoo at October 24, 2007 9:14 PM

A380 or Boeing DL or XXX â€“ if itâ€™s clean & green; its gonna be seen!

Posted by K.Sriram at October 25, 2007 5:29 AM

Actually, I'd take you up on the bet. Not about Airbus and boeing. The bet about you not still opining about management. Don't you think that Deming and Drucker would have given it up if they could have?

Posted by Ron Davison at October 25, 2007 2:08 PM

I loved watching the clips about today's flight.
Personally I don't think it will be a problem to fill those, especially on longer haul routes. The number of connections a day can be decreased because of this new accomodation. The SQ seat layout is just 70 more than the 747.

Posted by Piotr Jakubowski at October 25, 2007 10:55 PM

In the Great Book of Aviation the A380 will amount to a footnote. Rumor has it that Airbus is greatly discounting the plane, so of course they attract a few sales here and there, but the bottom line is Airbus loses planeloads of euros on each A380 sale, euros that they can't devote to developing the A350.

No problem, right? Airbus will just turn to their government masters for more launch aid.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is something of a half-revolution. Same-old same-old visually, but a nearly all-new way of building a plane, starting with the materials to the supply chain. The 787 and its descendants will take up a good portion of the book.

Posted by James at October 29, 2007 6:29 PM

Tom, I suspect like me you are looking for the successor for the 747 - and the 380 should be it. On about 15 intl trunk routes it will end up being dominant. The delay though has allowed Boeing to reconsider retiring the 747 - it is planning the 747-8 version (see link below). Also, if US airlines - American and Delta get healthy again it is going to help the 787...they have never liked the 300+ capacity planes ...the biggest they have in their fleets is the 777...

http://florence20.typepad.com/renaissance/2007/08/boeing-747-8-in.html

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What do you think about that one person paying $100k for his seat? Also, did you see they have started asking people to refrain from sex in the first class double beds??

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