Airbus COO John Leahy is opining that United Airlines will ultimately add the A380 to its fleet because, in his opinion, it is the only way to be competitive in the Asia Pacific markets United serves.

I would suppose that anything is possible but I would also offer that I think this is highly unlikely for the near term.  By that, I mean you shouldn’t go looking for a United announcement about this over the next 5 years. 

United already struggles to figure out what to do with its 747 aircraft (as do most US based airlines) and that’s based on the fact that people here in the United States are looking for direct, non-stop flights rather than trips that require a flight to a “hub” city first.

The A380 might ultimately fit into the Asia Pacific strategies for both United and Delta but I don’t see it right now.  Other than the ability to “concentrate” more passengers onto a single flight, the A380 doesn’t offer these airlines anything more than what they already have in their current and planned fleets.  The idea that people *want* an A380 because it is an A380 is a bit foolish at best. 

What people want is market competitive inflight service and the best available travel time.  That can be accomplished profitably with the 777 and 787 fleets that these airlines will have.

Filed under: Airline Fleets by ajax