Karen Walker and Mike Martin
Farnborough '98 turned into the show that Airbus Industrie was able to relish, but which Boeing might want to forget..
Boeing's problem was mainly one of timing, however. The company came to the show still smarting from highly public production problems and the sacking of its commercial aircraft group president. It was also unable to unveil orders it hoped would be sealed by the show's opening. Airbus had no such obstacles.
Although both manufacturers unveiled new airliner deals worth billions of dollars, and overall market share remains almost exactly split 50:50, the upbeat smiles undoubtedly belonged in the Airbus chalet.
While Boeing's total new business announced topped $6 billion - respectable by anybody's standards - Airbus unveiled orders worth $12 billion, including the strategically important UPS widebody deal.
Delayed
But Boeing said yesterday that it does expect to announce a "large number" of orders for its 100-seat 717 aircraft by the end of the year.
Joe Ozimek, director of product marketing for Boeing Commercial, says: "I will guarantee that by the end of the year we will have lots of these aircraft sold, both inside the USA and outside."
It is understood that deals with airlines have been struck that Boeing was hoping to have been able to announce during the show. But industrial problems at the airlines involved have delayed those plans.
In a final blow to Boeing at the end of a tough two weeks, it was announced yesterday in the USA that a judge is allowing a class action lawsuit to proceed against the company.
The lawsuit, filed by a Seattle lawyer on behalf of shareholders, alleges that senior Boeing executives made false and misleading statements about the company's production problems.
The suit has been around for some time, so comes as no surprise to Boeing.
Although the judge ruled that partsof the suit relating to Boeing's accounting methods cannot proceed, the fact that the rest of the lawsuit is being allowed to proceed to court is another headache.
Confidence
The company is making no comment about the judge's decision.
Boeing's military presence at Farnborough, however, was strong.
The C-17 and F/A-18 made good impressions in the flying display and the US manufacturer pushed with confidence its prospects on several major future programmes, including the Joint Strike Fighter.
Source: Flight Daily News
