European Planemaker Has Been Making Significant Inroads In Orders

The Airbus A320 is giving the Boeing 737 a run for its money for the designation of "best selling airplane of all time," according to a report from MarketWatch.

Since opening the order book for the 737 in 1965, Boeing has taken orders for 13,298 737s over the years. Nearly 9,000 have been delivered.

But Airbus has been gaining ground in the past decade. Since its introduction in 1988, Airbus has taken orders for 12,463 A320 aircraft, and has delivered nearly 7,000 A320 family airplanes to customers.

The 737 was the first jetliner to be certified for two-pilot operation, rather than two pilots and a flight engineer ... though that third crew position was kept by some airlines due to labor disputes for some time. It was in a "sweet spot" for airlines when it was introduced, according to consultant Robert Mann. It was big enough to offer a competitive cost per seat, but small enough that filling the airplane was relatively easy on most routes.

Mann told MarketWatch that Airbus has been very aggressive in marketing the A320 as a competitor to the 737, and that competition is likely to continue into the foreseeable future, he said.

(Images from file)

FMI: www.marketwatch.com/story/the-best-selling-airplane-of-all-time-may-not-be-no-1-for-much-longer-2016-03-19