How many Airbus workers does it take to paint an A380 superjumbo jet?
Over the course of 21 days, 100 painters (working in four shifts) coated the world’s biggest passenger plane in more than 581 gallons of paint. They finished May 2.
The planemaker is slated to deliver its first superjumbo jet to Singapore Airlines in October. Airbus painted the carrier’s blue and gold logo and name across 108 feet of the A380’s fuselage.
Speaking of large jets …
Boeing’s Randy Tinseth, the new vice president of commercial jet marketing, has taken over the blog began by his predecessor and fellow Randy — Randy Baseler, who retired at the end of April.
In his second blog posting, Tinseth discusses the replacement cycle for jumbo jets (400 to 500 seats) and makes a case for the timing of Boeing’s latest 747 entry into the market. Boeing maintains that the demand for large jets will shrink as carriers turn to mid-size planes like the 787 and 777.
Airlines will begin retiring 747s en masse beginning in 2010 as those jumbo jets hit 20 years in service and more, Tinseth says. Boeing’s 747-8 Intercontinental will enter service (you guessed it) in 2010. The freighter version comes out the previous year.
Visit the new Randy’s blog at http://boeingblogs.com/randy/.
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