Posted on 06/12/2005 7:51:51 PM PDT by Righty_McRight
Boeing issued a new challenge to its arch-rival Airbus yesterday, saying it expected to regain its status as the world's biggest supplier of airliners by 2008 at the latest.
Alan Mullaly, head of the American group's commercial planes division, delivered a series of damaging blows to its opponent on the eve of the biennial air show at Le Bourget, Paris, which was meant to be a showcase for the European company's A380 super-jumbo.
First, he said Boeing was in talks with another 27 airlines over potentially 427 more orders for its new 787 Dreamliner - raising the prospect of nearly 700 orders for the fuel-efficient, long-range 250-seater jet.
Airbus has so far secured 10 orders for its A350 twin-engined jet compared with 266 for Boeing's 787. It is due to announce 100 more orders this week, although there are now serious doubts about whether the Emirates and Qatar Airlines will go ahead.
The official launch of the A350, the aircraft at the heart of a transatlantic trade dispute, has been postponed until September. It was supposed to have been approved by ministers from Britain, France, Germany and Spain today.
The plane has been hit by growing production difficulties at Airbus's plants, which have already caused a six-month delay in deliveries of the A380 to its first customers. Mr Mullaly rubbed salt in the wound by claiming that airlines had already seen or heard of four versions of the new A350.
Airbus has also been damaged by a long-running Franco-German power struggle at the top of Eads, its main parent, which has cancelled a series of planned events at the show because it has yet to appoint its new co-chief executives.
Boeing, said Mr Mullaly, expected to deliver 375 to 385 planes next year - 100 more than in 2004, when Airbus outsold it for a second consecutive year. The Europeans expect to deliver 360 planes this year compared with Boeing's 320, and substantially more in 2006.
However, Mr Mullaly indicated that his company's deliveries could be higher next year because it had the capability to raise output at its US plants and had already sold 80% of its 2006 production.
This would bring the date of its projected overtaking of Air bus even closer than 2008. "Our plan is to be the preferred leader in the marketplace where we have been for 99% of our history," said Mr Mullaly.
He indicated a further onslaught on Airbus's precarious supremacy with the expected launch of a stretched version of the venerable 747 jumbo, adding 50 extra seats to current capacity of about 400, compared with the basic 555 seats available on the A380. The Boeing board may give the go-ahead for the 747 Advanced later this month after receiving strong interest from airlines, including British Airways, which have been attracted by plans to fit it with the 787's new fuel-efficient, less-noisy engines.
It is also considering plans for replacing the best-selling 737 single-aisle family of planes, making it available in versions ranging from 90 to 210 seats and capturing a further slice of a market where the Airbus alternatives are much older.
Boeing executives, meanwhile, confirmed they were backing moves in the US Congress to ban Eads and its partners from bidding for the lucrative Pentagon contract for air-to-air refuelling tanker aircraft while the dispute over alleged subsidies remains.
The European Union and United States will formally lodge their tit-for-tat legal actions at the World Trade Organisation today.
Mr Mullaly said a negotiated settlement was still possible - if Airbus gave up the use of risk-free, soft loans from European governments to develop new planes.
No prob. I am currently on another thread where they have Triumph mocking MJ fans...
Yeah, when they promoted the SC, everyone thought it was so neat, but they didn't look at the fact that it was a concept without a need.
I gotta get up to the museum in Seattle and see the Concorde they have, I saw the one in DC, but you can't go inside.
It would have been great to fly in the 747SP , I never got to fly in one of them, but, I got the fly in 6 747-400 , and not sure if it was 747 100 / 200 / or 300 .. but the interior was defiantly from the 70's, so ? I am guessing it was a 747 200.
The difference is that the US can quickly switch to another carrier in case of problems. Not so easy when you have the infrastructure involved with aircraft.
On one hand I like the idea, because it essentially means that the European taxpayers would be subsidizing our military, since their taxes went into the subsidies that lowered our cost for the aircraft. On the other hand, bidding should be done with fair competition, and one of the bidders being subsidized isn't fair.
It's not as easy to switch your supply chain company mid-stream as one may think.
If the DHL supply chain broke down, it would cause major disruptions.
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