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5 Reasons to Boycott the Arrival of the Airbus A380
5. Airbus was actually going to dis LAX until a few weeks ago because the airport was so far behind on the infamous ~$50 million modifications needed to accommodate the 8-story tall village-in-the-sky. So while 550 Lufthansa passengers will arrive simultaneously (9:30 a.m. PDT Monday) at New York's JFK, the LAX-bound A380 is practically a test flight, with only handful of Airbus techs and some heavy equipment (although it's rumored that Samuel L. Jackson might be onboard... just in case).
4. The best plane-spotting and picture taking will most likely occur on the plane's Tuesday evening departure (around 7:30 p.m.). The behemoth will take off from northbound runway 25A, flying over Dockweiler State Beach at dusk. Now we're talking picnic and no need to ditch work.
3. Not only would a boycott be patriotic, it would be a nice display of empathy to Airbus employees in Europe, currently on strike in protest of 10,000 proposed job cuts. These job cuts were necessitated by delays in the roll-out of the A380 and as patriots, dammit, we're fine with our Boeings.
2. News outlets worldwide expect thousands of spectators to turn out at LAX to witness the scheduled 9:30 a.m. arrival. The LA Times suggests the same, and after dropping the somewhat insulting "IMAGE" section on us ("...a smart cultural observer of L.A.'s greatest obsession: the way we present ourselves to the world"), we'll steer clear of LAX if only to prove TribCo wrong clueless.
1. It's not a pterodactyl, it ain't Superman, nor is it the Enterprise. If thousands of Angelenos will skip work to watch a plane land, then we really need a pro football team.
AP Photo: Airbus/HO
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