Seks hvaler flyver hen over Europa
Airbus · Konkurrencen · Read the study: maxnoble.com/study/0002
For the class
1What is a duopoly, and why are there in practice only two makers of large passenger planes?
2What are switching costs, and how do they protect Airbus?
3Airbus ended 2025 with a record 8,754 planes on order. Why is that not the same as safety?
Answers · for the teacher
No. 0002 · Seks hvaler flyver hen over Europa
1What is a duopoly, and why are there in practice only two makers of large passenger planes?
A market with only two sellers: Airbus and Boeing. Not because nobody else has tried, but because the barriers are extreme. China's COMAC began developing the C919 in 2008; its first flight with paying passengers came on 28 May 2023, 15 years later, and it could still fly only inside China.
In the study: Screen: The competition
2What are switching costs, and how do they protect Airbus?
Everything it costs a customer to change supplier. Pilots are trained for one aircraft family, mechanics learn one system, and spare parts, simulators and maintenance deals are built around the maker. Switching means doing it all again for the whole fleet, so an airline that picks Airbus is tied for decades.
In the study: Screen: The competition (Switching costs)
3Airbus ended 2025 with a record 8,754 planes on order. Why is that not the same as safety?
An order is not a payment. Airbus books the sale of a passenger plane only when it is delivered, and a plane without engines cannot be sold. Pratt & Whitney would not commit to the number of engines Airbus ordered, so Airbus lowered its A320 target to 70 to 75 planes a month, first reached at the end of 2027. The biggest threat is not Boeing but the supplier that cannot keep up.
In the study: Screens: The weak spot; Your verdict
Hand out page 1 after the reading. Page 2 holds the answers. Every answer is in the study; nothing new is added.