As the show begins, Boeing has reiterated its position that it will not be playing the "orders race" game and announcing a raft of stored-up deals at Farnborough this week.
It has long been an air show tradition for the manufacturers to line up their customers for high-profile photo opportunities as they sign for new orders and commitments. This is a game at which Airbus is a past master, but one that Boeing now consciously abstains from, says the US airframer's vice-president marketing Randy Tinseth.
"About seven or eight years ago we changed our strategy about orders at air shows. Over the last five Paris and Farnborough air shows Airbus has announced 1,261 'orders', we've done 477," he says. "But when you look at the total order tally at the end of that five-year period, Boeing is actually the marketshare leader."
Tinseth predicts that the talk of the show will be about the industry's recovery from the downturn over the last two years, but hints that Boeing is unlikely to be making many of the order headlines. "It's always interesting to talk about orders at air shows, but what's important is what the books say at the end of the year," he says.
- All the latest news, video and images from the 2010 Farnborough air show - New this year, live streaming video of each day's flying display
Source: Flight Daily News
