Why Is United Airlines’ Airbus A350 Order So Important?

The success of high-profile widebody programs is often what defines aerospace manufacturers. For Airbus, the success of the carrier’s widebody operations hinges almost entirely upon a single aircraft type, the Airbus A350. While the Airbus A330neo is certainly a modern widebody, it is not a cutting-edge clean-sheet design and is essentially just an upgraded version of what is almost a 30-year-old airframe. Furthermore, the A330neo’s success in the sales department has been lackluster, lagging behind the Boeing 787 Dreamliner by nearly a factor of six.