Washington – As Airbus SAS readies its new super-jumbo jet for its first test flight in France today, rival Boeing Co. is showing signs of a comeback in aircraft sales after a year of setbacks and public stumbles.
Chicago-based Boeing on Tuesday said Air India intends to purchase 20 of its new 787 Dreamliner airplanes. The announcement follows a major Boeing win Monday when Air Canada – a major Airbus customer – announced an order for 14 787s and options for 46 more to replace the carrier’s aging fleet. Boeing also won 10 orders for the 787 from Korean Air Lines and is said to be in talks with Northwest Airlines.
The 787, a new long-haul plane promising impressive fuel efficiency, will seat up to 289 passengers and is scheduled to begin service in 2008.
“This is better than we ever could have imagined,” said Michael B. Bair, Boeing’s program manager of the 787.
Bair said one of his biggest problems is to work out a delivery schedule for the new plane orders. Boeing’s manufacturing line is booked for 787 deliveries through 2010, he said.
“Its hard to put a word on it,” Bair said. “We’re really, really pleased with how this is unfolding.”
Airbus North America Holdings Inc.’s chairman, T. Allan McArtor, said Boeing’s sales announcements were “disappointing,” but he said Boeing offered sweet deals to the carriers to get the sales. “You will find some generous terms (in those deals) – on pricing and extra sugar on top,” he said.
The competition between the two aircraftmakers has turned intense in recent years as Boeing’s once-predominant position has come under a strong assault from its European rival. Airbus, which receives development funding from four European countries, surpassed Boeing last year to become the world’s biggest maker of commercial airplanes.
With national pride also at stake, the rivalry erupted into a trade dispute last year between the United States and Europe. Airbus argues that Boeing gets tax breaks and military contracts that amount to subsidies. Both sides recently agreed to settle the dispute instead of pursuing formal action before the World Trade Organization.
Airbus plans to roll out its A380 today at its headquarters near Toulouse, France, for the first test flight of a double-decker jet designed to carry as many as 1,000 passengers.
Hundreds of spectators and journalists have camped out for days near the airport runway to get a glimpse of the mammoth plane. The flight test will not have passengers on board – only a handful of test pilots and engineers – and is expected to last for a few hours.
Boeing’s Bair said the recent sales of the 787 have little to do with the apparent slowdown in sales of Airbus’s megaplane, since the planes are designed to serve different markets and different customers.
But, he said, the swift 787 sales indicate that Airbus is having difficulty selling its newly announced competitor to the 787, called the A350.
