The head of Russia’s biggest aerospace company says his country’s airlines will likely never fly Airbus or Boeing designs after the airliners it appropriated from lease companies and those owned by Russian companies are no longer flyable. “Boeing and Airbus aircraft, which are unlikely ever to be delivered to Russia again, will be replaced by Russian-made passenger aircraft,” Sergey Chemezov, general director of state-owned Rostec, said last week. He spoke after state-owned Aeroflot ordered 339 airliners from manufacturers run by Rostec. The order included 210 Irkut MC-21s (230-seat single-aisle twin), 40 Tupolev Tu-214s (210-seat twin) and 89 Irkut SSJ 100/95 NEW regional jets.
Aeroflot specified that the aircraft be built without any components from countries annoyed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine so that the technical supply chain for them can’t be disrupted by unfriendly countries. That means the SSJ 100/95s will need domestic engines to replace those supplied in partnership with Safran in the current fleet. The prototypes are apparently already under construction. “Signing this agreement clearly demonstrates to the whole world that Russia is a great aviation power with great potential and rich experience in the field of aircraft construction, capable of producing reliable and modern aircraft,” said Aeroflot CEO Sergei Alesandrovsky.
Or Putin can end his maniacal folly and get back to playing nice in the sandbox.
Words are cheap.
Functional airliners… a bit less so!
Hey, I get it: Our dependence upon china for things we once produced domestically has become problematic. Hmm . . . we didn’t invade a neighboring country for no good reason either.
Like a car thief vowing to never steal a Mercedes again because he doesn’t like the colors they come in.
Why were there so many Boeing and Airbus aircraft flying in Russian airlines? Oh yeah…because the Russian made ones kept falling out of the sky or cost to much to maintain.
It is unwise to assume that Vlad is mad and hence because of his madness invaded the Ukraine. He doesn’t smile much but that doesn’t make him mad. 70% of the Russian population support Vlad’s invasion of the Ukraine. Ole Vlad had a lot of push for the war from his own countrymen.
God bless.
Ole Vlad has a lot of support for his invasion because there is no news media telling the public what a bloody mess the war has become. Some estimates are that up to 30,000 troops have been killed, wounded or captured in this year-long war, not to mention the thousands of tanks, aircraft and other military vehicles that have been blown to bits. So far, it makes their debacle in Afghanistan look like a victory. At some point a lot of families are going to start asking tough questions about why their sons are no longer writing letters to back home.
Ok, so I personally have never bought an airbus or a Boeing, and never will. The things are just too complex, too big, and too darn expensive. Of course, just like with the Russian airline guys, I’m sure the stockholders are very concerned about my proclamation of not being a prospective customer.
Where I have to part company with the vodka lovers is over their supply strategy. I would point out that if they think that they have friends, they should be more skeptical. The willingness of their current trading partners such as India and the CCP to trade at highly favorable (to them) terms seems more like opportunism than friendship. Just Say’n.
Russia doesn’t exactly have a sterling track record of aviation successes in commercial airliners. See the site https://www.rbth.com
Included on the list are:
1. The AN-2 single engine/fabric covered biplane/crop duster–first produced in 1947
2. Il-18 turboprop–looks like a Lockheed Electra from the 50s/60s
3. Il-62–4 aft-mounted engines, like a Jetstar–from 1963
4. The Yak-40 30-40-seat trijet from the early 60s.
5. The TU-144 Supersonic airliner–dubbed “Concordski”. Only 2 were built. While not a commercial success, NASA used one for research purposes.
6.TU-154–Most produced airliner in Russia, with 1026 units–though only one remains in service.
7. IL-86–an attempt at a wide-body aircraft to challenge the 747. 106 built.
8. IL-96–didn’t enter commercial service, but one does serve as the Russian “Air Force One.”
9. SSJ-100–an attempt for design of a regional airliner. Outside of Russia, Mexico is the only foreign operator, with 22.
10. MC-21–latest attempt at airliner production. First flight in 2017–production not yet started.
Not exactly a sterling record of commercial successes! (Much like Russian-built automobiles!) I don’t think the rest of the worlds airframers have much to fear from Russia’s withdrawal from non-Russian manufacturers.