MSN045 and MSN051 are still due for this year.
WSJ Link

The only surprise here is that it didnt happen sooner.

Airbus' 2010 & beyond production plans have been damaged now that 9 of 16 customers have deferred....

The only real surprise is that it took SQ this long to "adapt". I wonder if the cut-rate A330 leasing rates had anything to do with the inevitable delay in deferring these beasts?

I'm going to hazard a guess that Airbus' production schedule now allows SQ to defer planes without causing Airbus any issues (and therefore costing SQ money).

Somewhat 'unfair' - or one-sided - as a comment, Boeing777 ?

One wonders whether Boeing would have experienced the same fate with the B787 program, should it have been on-time and deliveries had commenced in May 2008, as originally planned ? With the GFC, swine flu and the global downturn in traffic, it is fairly obvious that the only thing that has saved Boeing from a similar fate on the B787 program .. was their inability to delivery to schedule in the first place.

Even with the 'new' revised Boeing schedule, a number of carriers are showing further lags in delivery of up to 12 months. Case in point : with the additional 6 month Boeing delay and no 'deferral' from Air New Zealand, their B787's are now appearently 12 months later than the last schedule. Those cancellations and deferrals (coupled with production issues) appear to be playing havoc at Boeing.

That said, I'm a little surprised at SQ's move. Given that it's commitment to the A380-800 is similar to QF's in actual numbers .. and that both carriers share identical routes, SQ has deferred 8 frames - whereas QF has only deferred 4 (and for less of a delay).

QF has just taken delivery delivery of it's 4th A380-800 in the last few days (the 'Fergus McMaster') and is still due to receive another 3 new frames by year end. Ah, QF will now jump ahead of SQ in operational A380-800 capacity. And in a time where travel numbers to the USA and UK are beginning to slowly recover.

In this part of the world, fares are also slowly on the increase. The AUD $950 Australia-West Coast 'specials' appear to have died .. and are being replaced by AUD $1150-1200 fares .. and Australia-UK already seems to be reverting from the bargain basement AU $1500 level to around AU $1750-1800.

^
The other day I found QF specials LON-AKL for USD 1070. QF was much cheaper than competition. Do they have big problems filling capacity currently since introducing A380?

No question, the 787 is in the poo-poo house big time - however, when you contrast the customer hit, the A380 has over 50% of its customer base deferring upto half the outstanding backlog.

That is terminal.

Airbus hasnt got a grip yet of the A380 production and this new deferral by SQ only jeopardises their future planning, not stabilise it. On reflection, I think my comment is an accurate representation of the current situation

On the 787, you have the likes of Alan Joyce complaining about the 787 delays, but he was very quick to lop 15 orders and defer 15 more - so clearly, given the state of the industry, QF is/was not as desperate for the 787 as they made out given the contractual amendment - particularly as QF, unlike JQ hadnt opted to take interim lift either (thats just an example BTW, not a criticism).

In relation to SQ specifically, their yields are eroding at a faster rate that BA's are in Asia and on routes into Europe. This deferral was written on the wall a long time ago.

Next up will be Emirates.

Emirates? That would devastate the supply chain. Some of those suppliers are in it for profit I expect. Surely, at these low rates they would have to re-evaluate their participation?

Well I don't see them re-evaluating remaining suppliers, but like many of Boeing's suppliers, they may start demanding financial support from Airbus to help cover the gap between projected revenues from the original delivery schedule and the significantly lower current one.

I still think one of the bigger potential decision lies with ILFC's Hazy. Remember, he did state that he can still cancel the A380 without any penalties.... Not to mention:



<a href="[Edited Out]/2009/06/udvar-hazy-takes-aim-at-a380-t.html" target="_blank">http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/flightbl...-at-a380-t.html</a>



http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/sto...s/ilfc06099.xml


http://www.fleetbuzzeditorial.com/2009/06/08/ilfc-a380/

His decision will be an important one regarding the Big Beast....if he keeps it, its a vote of confidence on the plane (at least as far as he's concerned). If not, well..it wouldn't be good.

If Udvar-Hazy pulls out of ILFC and starts his own company, as has been reported in various media this week, the decision to cancel won't be his. If I were on AIG's board, I would be very careful not to let him "cherry-pick" ILFC's assets and run.

I don't think AIG is going to let Mr. Hazy "cherry pick" what he wants and leave ILFC with some scrap meat... ILFC has already a lot of troubles..



"SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said Tuesday that it's keeping ratings of International Lease Finance Corp. on CreditWatch with negative implications"

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sp-keeps-...09-09-01-112450

Now one can say that by selling more profitable items, ILFC would be able to shore up its balance sheet. Given the recent run-up however in AIG, I'm not so sure the AIG board is going to be too keen to let Hazy "jump ship"...