Boeing Backlash: India’s IndiGo To Order 300 Jets From Airbus

It was only last week when we reported Florida-based Spirit Airlines bought 100 new Airbus SE A320neos. The low-cost air carrier was contemplating between Airbus SE A320neo and Boeing 737 Max planes, but since the 737 Max has been grounded across the world for nearly eight months due to severe design flaws, Spirit went with Airbus. 

As we noted last week, the backlash has begun, Boeing’s name is a disgrace to American aerospace, nevertheless, the company cannot be trusted due to its shady practices and negligence behind the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), a flight control computer of the plane,  that malfunctioned in two separate crashes, one on October 2018 and the other March 2019. 

Reuters reported Tuesday morning that Indian budget airline IndiGo “is close to placing a near-record order for over 300 Airbus A320neos.” 

Sources told Reuters that the deal is expected to be worth $33 billion, which is roughly $110 million per plane.

The order includes Airbus’s most high-tech passenger plane, the long-range version of the A320 called the A321XLR.

The deal would be the largest-ever order Airbus has ever received from a carrier. Most importantly, it represents how global carriers are abandoning Boeing for Airbus after the 737 Max crisis.

IndiGo is quickly expanding across the Indian market. One reason behind the large order is that the carrier expects to outperform its closest competitor SpiceJet, an airline in the country that mainly operates Boeing planes. 

IndiGo has also ditched American engine supplier, United Technologies unit, Pratt & Whitney, for French-U.S. engine maker CFM for 600 engines to power the Airbus planes. 

The Boeing backlash is only in the beginning innings. We expect more carriers around the world to continue ditching 737 Max orders for A320neos.