An escalation in trade friction between Europe and the US would hurt industry on both sides of the Atlantic, a Boeing official warned yesterday.
Nevertheless, although it is having to defend its planned merger with McDonnell Douglas before the European Commission, Boeing will fight any opposition to the deal.
Boeing seems to have been surprised by the extent of suspicion in the EC that the creation of a US company the size of Boeing and McDonnell Douglas combined might be anti-competitive.
Message
The company has clearly chosen Paris '97 as the time to drum home its message that it works extensively with European industry and has deep-seated relationships with many European airlines and manufacturers.
"It's clear that breaking down barriers in this industry is good for all of us, whether you're an airline customer, an aircraft manufacturer or an engine supplier," says Ron Woodard, president of Boeing Commercial Airplane Group. "Ultimately, everyone wins."
Woodard, who says Boeing still expects to get approval for the merger, points out that the company's recent batch of long-term, exclusive arrangements with airline customers have nothing to do with the merger, describing those deals as "totally an industry thing".
Sole-source
Since the end of last year, Boeing has signed sole-source contracts with American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and, just last month, with Continental Airlines.
Woodard also highlights the fact that it has sole-source, exclusive contracts for the 737 with CFMI, the joint venture company of GE and French-based Snecma.
"This arrangement has been good for us, good for our customers and certainly good for Snecma," says Woodard. "It's interesting to note that no-one in Europe has ever objected to this exclusive contract."
In the last five years, says Woodard, the 737 has generated $2.5billion for Snecma and will yield another $2billion by 2005.
Rolls-Royce, meanwhile, has harnessed $3.8billion from sales generated by Boeing aircraft and is expected to earn another $9.2billion from them by 2005.
"Aerospace is a truly global business in which we all have an important stake," says Woodard.
Source: Flight Daily News
