Tim Clark_ Other Airlines Rejected The Airbus A380 To Weaken Emirates

While the A380 rarely sees widespread usage at major airlines these days, the exception to this rule is Emirates. Indeed, the Dubai-based carrier has almost 120 examples of the quadjet at its disposal. However, Tim Clark, who has served as the president of the Middle Eastern Airlines since 2003, now claims that other carriers have used Emirates' reliance on the A380 as a weapon against it. Specifically, Clark, via a podcast, alleges that US airlines and the Star Alliance effectively sabotaged the A380 by not buying it. The goal? To force Airbus to cease production of the type and thus weaken Emirates. Quite the allegation. As reported by One Mile at a Time, Tim Clark made these comments on a late October episode of The Airshow podcast. In short, he alleged that certain airlines banded together in a concerted effort to bring production of the A380 to an end by not buying it. This, given its reliance on the type, would serve to weaken Emirates' market position by forcing it to diversify its otherwise A380-dominated fleet of Y-bodies. On this front, Clark was quoted as saying, American carriers weren't having anything to do with the A380 anyway, because in those days, this was the weapon in the armory of Emirates. The airline executive says that this led them to hold the position that airlines should, quote, stop using them because that allows them to go to Airbus to build more and more and more. the A380, because it gives immense power to Emirates. If we don't buy it, eventually its demise will come about. In case you need a reminder about how things went down with the A380, the airframe's production was indeed brought down by a lack of sufficient commercial interest, notably having zero success among major US-based carriers such as American Airlines, Delta Airlines, and United Airlines. Missing out on this lucrative market may have contributed to the A380's downfall, although we're not sure how many airframes would need to be ordered to keep the program going further into the future. And so, basically, Clark asserts that US legacy carriers could have made the A380 work if they wanted to. Indeed, he said this on the airshow, Who could say to me you could fly from Los Angeles to Tokyo with the A380, whether United, American, or Delta, and not make money? With this route being among the most lucrative of trans-Pacific corridors, Clark's assertion has some logic. However, US carriers seem to operate differently. The allegation is most certainly eyebrow-raising. On one hand, we're sure there are some routes that would have worked for US Airlines and A380s. On the other hand, it's generally agreed that large but easier-to-fill twinjets were-are the way of the future. Thus, Clark's comments have left many scratching their heads and wondering if they have merit. But what do you think? Is this a plausible conspiracy theory? Let us know by leaving a comment. In addition to our daily YouTube videos, Simple Flying publishes over 150 articles every week. If you're looking for the latest aviation news and insights, visit SimpleFlying.com.