Prices for the A320neo and B737MAX are not significantly higher than the current/older versions. They also have to deal with the fact that airlines don't want to see a big price increase. Since the avionics architecture is quite different between the A320/A330 and the A350, moving to it would add huge costs and a couple years delay in entry into service. They're trying to sell airplanes and they have to compete with Boeing. The FAA (or other regulatory agency) mandates that they have it.Īside from that, you should consider Airbus' side.In my experience in 20 years dealing with this market, airlines only spend money for two reasons: And if it drives a need for new type ratings, that would mean more training costs and making sure you have the crews with the right rating at the right time. With a new flight deck you'll have a huge increase in maintenance and spares costs due to the need for stocking more parts with new part numbers (just adding a part number to a logistics system costs significant money.) You'll also need new crew training simulators due to the different displays and controls, whereas the neo option can be handled with software upgrades. In fact, all it's likely to do is add costs. There's no cost benefit to a new flight deck, especially when (as others noted) you have a huge investment in an existing fleet. Putting in a new flight deck is a huge expense for the manufacturers which would drive costs up and the airlines won't pay extra for something that doesn't save them money. The airlines made it clear that any new aircraft purchases would be based on operational savings and that's primarily driven by fuel burn and the resulting costs. That's why the Airbus is the 'neo' new engine option. In this case both Boeing and Airbus came to the same decision - the airlines were being driven by one single factor to replace their A320 or B737 fleets, they just wanted to reduce fuel expenses. There is always a lot of discussions between the airlines and manufacturer's before Airbus or Boeing commits to building a new aircraft. The short answer is that it's what the market wanted.
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