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Comment by mikece | Hacker News Reader

I have to wonder how seriously Southwest and Alaska Air are reconsidering their relationship with the Boeing and the 737. Rumor is that SWA might be considering a switch to Airbus.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-boeing-737-ma...

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I just want to let you know that there are concerns with Airbus also. Article in the Oct/19 issue of Flight International Magazine the following:

It is worthwhile mentioning that the Airbus A320 wing was designed 35 years ago for a 70t platform, and has remained the same on all versions, from the A318 through to the A321.

While unchanged, the wing has seen a steady loading increase: to 83t on the first A321, then 89t and 93.5t, and is finally expected to go up to 101t on the A321XLR. This increased wing loading has meant higher take-off speeds, reaching close to the maximum tyre speed limits, and a lower safety margin at altitude – in other words, a tighter “coffin corner”, and lower stability protection.

Where and when would the civil aviation authorities stop manufacturers from creeping ever so closer to the performance limits of a product?

> Where and when would the civil aviation authorities stop manufacturers from creeping ever so closer to the performance limits of a product?

You hit the nail on the head. These manufacturers and the airlines are compromising safety for dollars: trying to put more people on a plane than it was designed for.

You are saying that Airbus is close to the limits. It is immensely different than Boeing being the certifier of its own planes, and having two major failures already on record with hundreds dead (the Duncommon airframes and the MAX).

If only they could quickly get high quantities immediately, I'm sure they would switch in a heartbeat.

Part of Southwest's competitive advantage has been that the vast majority of their aircraft use the same platform which simplifies training of crew and maintenance of aircraft.

Switching to Airbus would necessitate complete retraining of thousands of people and would increase costs at least in the short term substantially.

Luckily, they can look at AS post VX merger as a good example of how to integrate A320s into an all 737 fleet. So while they will absolutely have costs, they may be able to bring in folks who've done it before.

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