BBD.B has head start, Airbus needs 15 yr for new pMONTREAL - Bombardier's (TSX:BBD.B) CSeries fuel efficiency advantage could be threatened as Airbus says it will decide this year whether to put new engines on its A320s.
Airbus chief executive Tom Enders said the world's largest aircraft manufacturer will continue this year with its investments to upgrade its popular narrow-body jets.
"We intend to decide this year on a possible re-engining of the A320. All this to keep our bread & butter program selling and flying well into the next decade," he said at a briefing in Seville, Spain.
Boeing is also expected to adopt new engines for its single-aisle 737s.
Both manufacturing giants are considering several engines types that would deliver about 15 per cent fuel savings to defend their business from Bombardier and China's Comac C919.
Airbus is in talks with Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce and CFM International, a joint venture between GE Aviation and France's Snecma. Preferred designs could be selected as early as the end of March.
The first planes could be delivered by the second half of 2015, two years later than Bombardier's new CSeries.
Airbus chief operating officer John Leahy told Flight International that any all-new single-aisle aircraft is unlikely before 2024-25.
Richard Aboulafia of Teal Group said adopting new engines would threaten the CSeries' profitability.
"The only way the CSeries was destined for greatness is if Airbus and Boeing did nothing," he said in an interview.
"Otherwise it's just going to be in a niche position, potentially a small niche position depending on fuel prices."
The analyst said many airlines would favour the two industry giants over Bombardier because they could maintain a commonality with their existing fleets that are comprised of so many Boeing and Airbus planes.
"I think a lot of carriers are sitting on the fence and watching Airbus and Boeing and that unfortunately explains the order drought for the CSeries."
Montreal-based Bombardier has so far only received 50 firm orders for the 110-to 145-seat composite plane. It is expecting at least one more order by month's end, but that could be delayed.
Spokesman John Arnone said the fact that Airbus is considering Pratt's geared turbofan engine is an endorsement of Bombardier's decision to use it for the CSeries.
"We have a head start, we have an established global presence and we have already begun testing an aluminum-lithium fuselage which will be a key part of the weight savings and therefore fuel savings equation of the CSeries," Arnone said from Toronto.
Unlike its competitors that are still deciding what to do, Bombardier has a tangible product it is working to bring to market, he added.