Word: airbuses
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...Bush should have asked that the protesters be allowed to wave their banner. It was another of Bush's missed opportunities and the only thing that made me smile on that miserable day. Kees Broertjes Amsterdam Transatlantic Aircraft Re your article on the competition between Boeing and its rival, Airbus, the European commercial-airplane manufacturer [Jan. 24]: As Airbus rolls out its new A380 jumbo airliner, you might have noted that U.S. companies provide much of the A380's expensive avionics equipment. If customers choose the model fitted with the GP7200 engines from Engine Alliance (a joint venture...
...A380 is Airbus' prized 21st century showpiece. The plane, which has a list price of $285 million (though airlines rarely pay the published rate on any plane), has been ordered by major airlines around the world, including Air France, Emirates, Lufthansa, Qantas and Virgin. Last month UPS joined FedEx as the second U.S. cargo airline to buy the freighter version. "The A380 is the most significant event in aviation in 40 years--since the introduction of the Boeing 747," says Stephen Forshaw of Singapore Airlines, which will be the first airline to fly the aircraft, in the spring...
Boeing isn't impressed. Airbus has got ahead, the company contends, because of unfair advantages--those launch-aid loans, to the tune of some $15 billion over the past 30 years. Airbus' retort: it will give up its state support if Boeing--the U.S.'s second largest defense contractor--forgoes its tax breaks and R&D support. In fiscal 2003, the E.U. estimates, total U.S. government support for Boeing R&D was $2.74 billion, representing 11.9% of the company's profits. That argument has stung Boeing, especially since it is involved in investigations of illegal or unethical behavior...
...Airbus' reaction to the 787, meanwhile, has been baffling. At first, Forgeard was quoted as dismissing Boeing's new plane as a "Chinese copy" of Airbus' similar A330. But last December, Airbus abruptly shifted and said it would build a derivative plane called the A350. Boeing spins the A350 as a sign of lost confidence in the A380. In an interview last month, Boeing's Stonecipher pointed to another European government-backed plane that never made a profit and has been grounded. "The A380 is a great engineering success, but so was the Concorde. The A380 could be a market...
...aerospace analyst with Bayerische Landesbank in Munich. Don't think Stonecipher isn't aware of that. He recently approved the firing of the head of Boeing's sales team. Stonecipher admits that his company has been overconfident in the past but says he sees the same trait among the Airbus troops: "Arrogance is just awful. It will kill you." So Stonecipher is hopeful, if not completely happy. And, yes, he has some travel plans in the very near future. --With reporting by James Graff/Paris