Free Republic

PHOENIX — John Leahy may be getting gentler. But he's still the ultimate believer in Airbus. Airbus' chief commercial officer and supersalesman said Monday he's hearing from suppliers that Boeing's 787 could be up to six months late. Though he'd prefer that didn't happen, he added. "In this particular case, misery doesn't love company," said Leahy, "We wish them well, to get an airplane out the door on time." Leahy called the A350, Airbus' challenge to the new Boeing jet, a "world airplane," because, like the 787, it will be built in large sections around the globe. And he predicted...

John Leahy, the hard-driving, always entertaining super airplane salesman for Airbus, has made life miserable over the years for The Boeing Co.'s commercial jetliner sales people. He's kept them up late at night trying to figure out how to outfox him. But it may be Leahy who is burning the midnight oil these days. The German magazine Der Spiegel, in a report published this week, quotes from a fiery internal Airbus memo written by Leahy in which he blasts strategic mistakes made by Airbus in its showdown with Boeing. "In the view of the investors, Boeing has taken over the...