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DATE:12/05/10
SOURCE:Flight International
United's A350 order 'unclear' under merger
By Laura Mueller
Airbus believes that the proposed US airline "mega-merger" will have no impact on its competitiveness during the campaign to replace United Airlines' huge Boeing 757 fleet, despite Continental's traditional favouritism for the US airframer's products.
However, a US investment bank has indicated that United's existing Airbus orders could become casualties of the planned tie-up.
The merged airline would have combined 50 Boeing 787s and 25 A350s on order - the latter being the legacy of a split deal United agreed last year for Dreamliners and XWBs. However, Wells Fargo senior analyst Sam Pearlstein thinks the merger could threaten the Airbus widebody contract. "Although management has said it was committed to United's A350 orders, with these deliveries more than five years away, it would not be surprising if there were adjustments," he writes in a research note.
"We believe that United's A350 backlog is unclear as it would add one more airplane type to the combined airline."
Pearlstein also notes that while Airbus list United with a firm backlog of 42 A320s, United's "10-K" financial report says it has "the right to buy" these aircraft, but they are not legally binding purchase orders. "From this language we assume United is far from committed to these aircraft; given the merger with Continental, we would think these airplanes may not be taken," he says.
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