US delivers snub to Paris Air Show over Iraq

Financial Times | 6/14/03 | Mark Odell

[kattracks]

Saturday, Jun 14, 2003

The organisers of the Paris Air Show, which opens Sunday, are counting the cost of France's row with Washington over Iraq after it emerged Friday that the head of Lockheed Martin of the US, the world's biggest defence company, has pulled out.

The snub means that there will be no senior representation from the US aerospace industry or the American military at the event.

For Pentagon officials it is the coup de grâce, capping months of behind-the-scenes lobbying against US attendance at the biennial show - usually the biggest gathering of its kind for military top brass and senior figures from the defence and aerospace industry.

Pentagon planners have delivered their own snub to the French by refusing to send any officers above the rank of colonel and banning the use of US military aircraft in the show's trad itional flying displays. They have also urged their major suppliers to stay away.

Boeing, Raytheon, General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman were happy to oblige. But the biggest fish of all - Vance Coffman, chairman and chief executive of Lockheed Martin - had said h e would attend. Among all the top US defence and aerospace companies, his has the biggest presence in Europe.

On Friday, however, it emerged that "a scheduling issue" would keep him away from Paris, leaving the US representation at its lowest level since the world's oldest airshow started in 1909.

By Mark Odell

[donmeaker]

Don't worry folks, Northrop will be well represented.

[Lucy Lake]

Ping.

[snopercod]

LMT stock is up on anticipation of all the money which will not be spent on airfare, wine and cheese..

[The Duke]

I find it interesting that the will of "the US" is being equated here to the will of a US company. Have we indeed become *that* facist?

[Jumper]

Now all we need to do is have a US Air Show and deny entry visas to all French investment companies; begin open divestment of French assets in American Owned companies and break all bilateral military cooperation on technology/production via expiration of contracts and breaking of others....

[tupac]

How many times has France closed it's airspace to US forces? Payback is a bitch froggies. Fly the American flag from atop the Eiffel Tower, then we'll talk.

[USMCVet]

I think we shot both of our feet again: The airshow at Le Bourget is all about selling airplanes to the rest of the world. If we're not there, we leave all of those very ambitious French and Russian marketers to wine and dine the customers our companies would normally have won over.

In the past we walked all over them - now we left the field to the French and the others.

Almost as bright an idea as Carter's boycott of the Moscow Olympics!

[skinkinthegrass]

In the past we walked all over them - now we left the field to the French and the others.

Point taken, but to be there after the Gulf War II...business as usual...not smart... :/

[Pharmboy]

I sat next to a guy on a flight from San Diego to Chicago yesterday. He works for an aeorspace company and was on his way to France for the show. He told me that the directive came from the DOD; he was glad it happened because he never went before and only got his chance because the upper level guys and gals were told to stay home.

[ditto h]

What do the French fly in their flying display, white flags?

[Texas Lizard]

If I want a " widget " and I goto a store and can't get it,
I goto the store that has them ! If you think that anyone who wants to place an order for an American product doesn't know where to find them , well what can I say.I personaly think this is another in a string of moves this administration has made that is smart or the right thing to do.

[SJSAMPLE]

The big aircraft manufacturers don't keep "spare" aircraft around, as they have contract deliveries to make to the various Armed Services. As such, many of the manufacturers must lease-back the equipment they sold the the Army/Navy/Airforce/USMC, so they have something to bring to the show. The Bush administration made it clear that no equipment would be leased-back for that purpose.

[hattend]

How did you get that huge blank space in there?

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

The new Iraqi Scud missile:

[USMCVet]

Now that Airbus has won the largest airliner contract in decades at the Paris Airshow and Boeing didn't, does what I've said make sense to you? For the first year in history, a foreign aircraft company is selling more airliners than our firms. That will have the usual effect on American jobs...

Or do you still recommend that we stay home and wait for someone to come buy our 'widgets'?

We're not going to win business away from our competitors by hiding from them, any more than you win American security by hiding under a bed.

[DanDan]

From this morning's The Guardian:

Boeing was left reeling from another blow yesterday at the Paris airshow after Airbus swept up a $5.1bn (£3.3bn) deal from Qatar Airways for 18 new planes. On Monday, Airbus beat the US aeroplane manufacturer to a $12.5bn contract from Emirates for 41 aircraft, but only last week Qatar was saying Boeing was still in the running for this latest order.

Airbus is up 59-to-0 on Boeing at Le Bourget on firm orders. Furthermore, they've been doing it with a 30% increase of the euro and Boeing has no short term equivalent to the giant 555-seat A380 jet, which is due to enter service in 2006.