Word: airbus
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...safety procedures. As King tells it, he notified the FAA of problems with Eastern's maintenance procedures, including the fact that some repairs were not recorded in the mechanics' logbooks. In one instance last May, says King, his supervisor did not want to record a fuel leak on an Airbus A-300 jet because the plane might have to be taken out of service. King secretly made a tape of the supervisor's words: "I have no chance to move this aircraft with this stinking item in the logbook . . . We don't want any showstoppers. We want the plane...
...fared somewhat better in other areas. In Paris, Boeing and McDonnell Douglas announced combined sales of $2.9 billion. But once again the U.S. was outclassed. Western Europe's Airbus Industrie consortium brought along its new jetliner, the twin-engine A320, which has amassed orders worth as much as $14.5 billion even before getting its final certification for passenger service. A French exhibitor summed up the bottom line in Paris for an American colleague: "This was not your best year...
Whenever there is discussion about the rivalry between the European Airbus and its U.S. counterparts ((ECONOMY & BUSINESS, May 11)), the same old arguments about unfair competition crop up. However, you did not mention that the different versions of the Airbus are fitted with U.S. turbofans built by Pratt & Whitney and General Electric. The situation for the U.S. aircraft industry is therefore not as bad as you describe...
Although the Airbus is heavily subsidized by European governments and undercuts its competitors, it undeniably addresses the bottom line that airplane buyers are looking for: a quality product at low price. If American airplane manufacturers continue to blame the Airbus for their problems, they are deceiving themselves. It is time U.S. businessmen got rid of their complacency and took decisive steps to change the way they do business. If our airplane companies are unwilling to reorganize and cut costs, they are destined to follow in the footsteps of our steel, automobile and semiconductor industries...
...expects Airbus to surpass its U.S. rivals anytime in the foreseeable future. But if the European competitor keeps soaring, it is bound to clip more than a few American-made wings. For Boeing and McDonnell Douglas, prestige and big money are on the line, and the jet builders have no intention of giving up their dominance of the skies without a dogfight...