5-month jet orders put Boeing in boom period

[question everything]

The Daily Breeze

Thursday, June 09, 2005

5-month jet orders put Boeing in boom period

Aerospace company is back in its stride with the narrow-body 737 and the fuel-efficient 787, which is to debut in 2008.
By Elizabeth M. Gillespie
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SEATTLE -- After two years of trailing its chief rival, Boeing Co. is fighting to reclaim the lead from Airbus SAS in the commercial jet market, backed by a hot new plane and a revamped sales team that has been freed to offer big price discounts.

The Chicago-based aerospace company had one of its strongest sales runs ever in the first five months of the year, booking orders for almost 280 planes -- as many as in all of 2004 and four times the order total at this point last year. Many of those are for the fuel-efficient 787, a long-range wide-body jet that is scheduled to enter service in 2008.

Airbus has reported 196 orders from January through May 31, but it could surge ahead at next week's Paris Air Show. John Leahy, chief salesman of the European airplane maker, said he expects several airlines to place up to 100 orders for the new twin-engine A350, a direct competitor to the 787 that Airbus is promising to be on the market by 2010.

(snip)

In addition to a recovery in jet sales, Boeing said in its last earnings report that it posted higher sales for its Future Combat Systems, maritime aircraft and other defense programs that compensated for reduced deliveries of F/A-18 and F-15 fighter jets.


More..

Find this article at:
http://www.dailybreeze.com/business/articles/1615246.html

[Massacure]

1. Whats better, the A350 or the 787?

On what basis do the two compete against each other?

[gulfcoastliberal]

3. I would way rather fly in either the 777 or 787 than the A350/A380

The 777 set a new standard for comfort and in-flight amenities. Airbus planes seem to be just that, Greyhounds of the skies. Imagine waiting to board the super-jumbo A380 as 555+ people lug the crap to the overhead bins and baggage-loading time. If one of the A380s ever crashes, it will set a new record for a single-plane crash fatalities. I dunno much about the A350, though. Maybe it will be nicer than previous Airbus's, which I've found to be incredibly uncomfortable. Flying transatlantic on the 777 is alot like having a private suite, assuming you're in business class (I fly Delta, which eliminated 1st class cabins on international flights). Thanks Mom, for working for Delta and getting me standby privliges!!!! Hope they don't go bankrupt, but even if/when they do, they won't do away with the standby program. It fills seats that would otherwise go empty, and I do pony up a fee to cover gas and airport/fed costs, but it's hardly anything (~ around $400 round-trip international and coast-to coast domestic RT is about $180, and I usually get 1st class to boot). Gotta love those pre-taxi cocktails!

Edit: I really miss the L1011/Tristar. I have fond memories of flying 1st class in those beasts back in the day when flying was fun, eating delicious filet mignon in mushroom sauce. Those planes rocked.

[Kellanved]

4. The Airbus

The Airbus Wings are designed for a gentler flight, and it might be my imagination, but they really seems to make a difference with minor turbulences.


As to the competition: the A380 is a gamble to create a new market, while the 787 / A350 is a battle in a segment which already exists. Basically it is like this: the 787 is a copy of the successful A330; the A350 is an update of the A330. Time will tell, but my guess would be that there won't be a major difference for passengers between the two new models.

[MrPrax]

2. Wonder Where the Boeing Orders are Coming From?

E-Mails Detail Air Force Push for Boeing Deal
June 7, 2005

For the past three years, the Air Force has described its $30 billion proposal to convert passenger planes into military refueling tankers and lease them from Boeing Co. as an efficient way to obtain aircraft the military urgently needs.

But a very different account of the deal is shown in an August 2002 internal e-mail exchange among four senior Pentagon officials.

"We all know that this is a bailout for Boeing," Ronald G. Garant, an official of the Pentagon comptroller's office, said in a message to two others in his office and then-Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Wayne A. Schroeder. "Why don't we just bite the bullet," he asked, and handle the acquisition like the procurement of a 1970s-era aircraft -- by squeezing the manufacturer to provide a better tanker at a decent cost?

<snip>

"In the copy of the report obtained by The Washington Post, 45 sections were deleted by the White House counsel's office to obscure what several sources described as references to White House involvement in the lease negotiations and its interaction with Boeing."

WP Link Here

Another angle on the scandal here:
http://villagevoice.com/blogs/bushbeat/archive/000981.php

I am sure the new orders by Boeing are on the up and up...