Airbus and Boeing could not even wait for the show to begin before firing their first verbal salvos in the struggle to dominate the crucial mid-size widebody airliner market.
The European manufacturer is hoping to make this year’s show the turning point in its fortunes after a torrid year, and as it strives to make up ground lost to Boeing’s hot-selling 787 and mend its damaged pride after being forced into a costly redesign of its rival A350 XWB. There are no prizes for guessing what will be the hot topic here.
EADS co-chief executive and Airbus boss Louis Gallois used his company’s pre-show media briefing on Friday to attack comments made by his Boeing counterpart James McNerny in the French media. The French newspaper quoted McNerny as saying he could not compare the performance of the 787 with the A350 XWB because the European manufacturer was yet to finalise the latter’s specifications. “We still don’t know what this model will be like,” McNerney said.
“I think it is completely unfair to say that,” Gallois countered. “When we have [A350 XWB] orders with airlines like Finnair, Aer Lingus and Qatar Airways, it is because the aircraft is completely defined.
“I think what Jim McNerny said is wrong. I prefer to talk about my product. I don’t like it when my competitor is talking about my product. The performance [of the A350 XWB] is defined and we have guaranteed the performance to customers,” he added.
Warning
Gallois warned that he intends to set the record straight at what is sure to be a packed Airbus press conference on Tuesday.
He has meanwhile been forced to defend the embattled manufacturer’s decision to opt for composite fuselage panels bolted to a traditional aluminium frame for the A350 against sceptical comments recently made by International Lease Finance boss Steve Udvar-Hazy.
“We’re looking for a composite frame on which to put the composite panels,” said Udvar-Hazy.
The 787 has an all-composite fuselage, but Gallois said Airbus’s decision not to follow suit was “economic”, “prudent” and “efficient”. He added that he will meet with Udvar-Hazy at the show to “try to convince him that we have made the right choice.”
Source: Flight Daily News
