Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Despite the title, this book is more of an Airbus history than it is about the marketplace competition between the two title contenders. There are several technical errors and inconsistencies, but this seems to be par for the course for aviation industry books and they don't distract greatly from the main discussion.
The author should be commended for getting to the core of Airbus' raison d'etre: that Airbus is not so much about making airplanes as it is about creating aerospace industry jobs for Europeans. The author also touches on a very revealing insight into Airbus' motivation when he quotes a BAe Airbus official as saying: "even if we don't make a penny (on the A3XX), it would still be worth it because it would stop Boeing from having a monopoly with the 747." Unfortunately, he fails to delve further into this "I can bleed more than you" business strategy! What successful business today is run with this kind of punitive strategy? This appears as a great lost opportunity for this volume, in my opinion. Another area that I found lacking was the Airbus decision making strategy that resulted in Toulouse being selected as the final assembly site for the A380 over the port city of Hamburg. I was left with the impression that the author didn't want to air too much dirty Airbus laundry in the end. Finally, the book suffers from the timing of recent events. With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight we can see that delaying publication by just a few months would have allowed coverage of the recent production delays, management resignations and threatened A380 order cancellations. Of course the author cannot be held accountable for this.
In general, I would not recommend this book to serious students of the commercial aviation industry - it offers very little new insight.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Flight of the Titans: Boeing, Airbus and the Battle for the Future of Air Travel
In the Super Bowl of the airline industry, there are two opposing sides: Airbus of Europe versus Boeing of America. Both sides have only one goal – to become the world’s leading aircraft maker. This is the remarkable account of Airbus’ launch of the largest passenger plane ever to fly, how they risked everything in a heavyweight contest, where the money is staggering and the political stakes are high. The Airbus A380 will be a monster above the clouds with gyms, nightclubs and a 550 passenger capacity compared to Boeing Dreamliner’s 200-350. Will the A380 super-jumbo succeed when it is launched in 2006? With Boeing determined that it will fail, it is up to the dealmakers and geo-politics to decide its fate. From technological winners to global prestige, this amazing story of rivalry and risk is a fascinating insight to both sides in this mighty war, their rise to power and the final steps to take-off.
0 comments:
Post a Comment