Saturday 16 April 2011

Saj Ahmad and Fleetbuzz: getting it wrong on airline analysis

Saj Ahmad has been a regular contributor to the Arabian Supply Chain website, and is often called by certain Middle Eastern press to provide analysis and commentary on airline matters in the Middle East.

But his track record at Arabian Supply isn't any better than his track record on matters involving Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, and Pratt & Whitney.

Take a look at this one example. It's typical; note the comments by readers. Another example, also ar Arabian Supply Chain, is also the subject of a "Fact Check". Or this one, in which Ahmad once more misrepresents the facts about the CSeries. The readers justifiably challenge Ahmad on this "analysis."

His column touting the COMAC C919 is another episode in the Saj Ahmad and Fleetbuzz industry comedy show. While he praises the C919 here, in other columns--including on his now-hidden Fleetbuzz Editorial--he's dismissed the C919 threat to Boeing. He can't even keep his own opinions straight.

Ahmad has this to say about the C919:


“China may well have broken the barriers to entry and emerge as a viable rival to Airbus and Boeing, but given that it has based the ARJ21 on an old design and the C919 is more than likely a rehash of a reverse-engineered Airbus A320 – China has to find a way of producing airplanes that it can sell en masse beyond its borders.

"Airbus and Boeing already have great relationships with many carriers – will these airlines really support a state producer if Airbus and Boeing already fit the bill for them?

"Unlikely. What China needs is innovation, not emulation. Right now their aerospace activities bear a striking and scary resemblance to their carmakers, who have plagiarized many cars by bigger and better automakers.” Sept. 11, 2009.

It hardly gets more harsh than that. Or more contradictory of his own opinions. He may as well be chasing his own tail.

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