"We are saying to the manufacturers, 'Here's what the
plane should look like.' Our loyalty is to the airline industry
that serves the public, and the product has to be optimized for the
airlines and not for the manufacturers. We are thinking about what
the customer and what the industry need 20 years from
now."
Source: Steven F. Udvar-Hazy, founder and chief
executive of Los Angeles-based International Lease Finance
Corporation. Hazy reportedly continues to pressure Airbus on its
design of the upcoming A350 XWB, specifically telling the European
planemaker it should change its design to a composite-barrel
fuselage, similar to the Boeing 787, instead of Airbus' choice of
composite panels over an aluminum frame.