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Feb. 4, 2019, © Leeham News: It’s time for Airbus to launch the A321XLR.

Boeing last week announced a program launch for the New Midmarket Airplane won’t come until 2020 at the earliest.

Authority to Offer (ATO) may come as early as March or April. It had been widely expected a program launch would be announced at the Paris Air Show in June.

Airbus has been mulling the XLR launch since 2017. Inside information says a November 2017 launch was planned when all the distractions over the corruption scandals, coupled with key executive retirements, overwhelmed events.

Fifteen months later, Airbus dithers while Boeing vacillates.