Originally Posted by
forgot to bid
We need the 225, but Airbus doesn't. Neither does the rest of the world. Just us.
I don't look at it as stepping on another product. Airbus has to do something with the manufacturing line they're creating for the A220. If an A225 is something that keeps that line going, because Delta wants 100 of them, they will probably go for it. I doubt the A220 affects sales of the A320 for the very reason you cite, lack of commonality.
It's not feasible for any manufacturer to develop a clean slate design for any midsize narrowbody at this time. There isn't enough savings in a new design to justify the cost of the program. That's why Boeing is hurting so much on the 737 as we talked about in the other thread. They are stuck with that thing no matter what.