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Airbus and Boeing are locked in an epic battle to save their jetliner orders at the Paris Air Show, an international trade show for the aerospace business.
Typically the two rivals trumpet new jet orders at the Paris Air Show but this year its proven difficult enough for them to keep their existing orders, as airlines continue to park planes.
The priority is not to get new orders but to maintain those we have and turn them into deliveries, Airbus CEO Tom Enders said yesterday in an interview in London.
For the first time in a decade, airlines are grounding planes faster than they are taking deliveries, said Randy Tinseth, commercial marketing chief at Boeing.
Boeing collected zero net orders in the first five months of the year as 65 purchase agreements were countered by an equal number of cancellations.
Airbus had 11 net orders after 21 cancellations, this compares to the combined 884 agreements in the same period a year ago, which marked the end of a four-year buying spree in which airlines rushed to land more fuel-efficient aircraft.
The Paris show will prove whether Airbus and Boeing can maintain production at the rates they have pledged to investors even after air travel slumped and credit tightened, causing carriers to cancel or defer orders.
The performance of the manufacturers sets the pace for builders of engines, aerospace parts and other aircraft, whose executives will descend on the French capital for the biennial event, which starts Monday, June 15.
Source = e-Travel Blackboard:
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Airbus Vs. Boeing: Who will save their jetliner orders?
