b737gearboy

A380 helped Airbus top Boeing in orders for 2001
Thursday, January 10, 2002

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES

TOULOUSE, France -- Airbus may not be through counting orders for last year, but it's already clear the European jetliner builder won contracts for more new aircraft than its U.S. rival, The Boeing Co.

It's also clear, a day after Boeing announced its final tally for 2001, that orders for Airbus' new 550-seat A380 made the difference.

When the Toulouse-based company reveals its final numbers next month, analysts estimate it will have had about 367 new orders, down 30 percent from the year earlier, while Chicago-based Boeing confirmed yesterday a report in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on Tuesday that it won contracts for 335 aircraft. That's a drop of 45 percent as the economy slumped and the terrorist attacks Sept. 11 worsened a decline in air travel.

And 85 of the Airbus orders were for its new plane, which when built will be the largest commercial jetliner.

The A380, which is scheduled to enter commercial service in 2006, will break Boeing's monopoly on the market for large aircraft, dominated by the 420-seat Boeing 747 for three decades. The A380 has a list price of $240 million, though the first customers were given discounts by Airbus, which analysts have estimated are about 25 percent.

Customers for the plane include Air France SA, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Singapore Airlines Ltd., Virgin Atlantic, Qantas Airways Ltd., Emirates Airlines and International Lease Finance Corp.

FedEx Corp. has made a commitment to buy 10 of the airplanes, although the company hasn't yet signed a firm contract.

Winning more orders than Boeing doesn't necessarily translate into higher profits for Airbus, said analysts, who expressed concern that the European plane maker may be too willing to cut prices to beat the competition.

"More orders bringing more profitability is not always the case by any means," said Paul Nisbet, an analyst at JSA Research in Newport, R.I.

Profits at Boeing's commercial aircraft unit rose 22 percent to $856 million in the fourth quarter of 2001 from the year-earlier period while sales fell about 13 percent to $8.7 billion.

Boeing has said it may fire as many as 30,000 employees, while Airbus has said it hopes not to dismiss employees, though it's cutting the equivalent of 9,400 jobs, or 20 percent of its work force, by reducing work hours.

Airbus' orders last year were the lowest since 1995, while Boeing's were the lowest since 1994.

Airbus has beaten Boeing two of the past three years, though the U.S. company is still the largest plane maker as it continues to deliver more aircraft than its rival. It delivered 527 jets last year, compared with about 320 for Airbus.

Boeing's contract total for 2001 was provided by Tom Ryan, a company spokesman.

The Airbus number was drawn from the company's November newsletter, adding 15 orders from Lufthansa announced in December. A spokeswoman said the final figure will be announced at a news conference next Thursday in Paris.

Airbus has said it expects its edge in new orders will help it catch up with Boeing's deliveries by 2003 or 2004. Airbus had a bigger order backlog than Boeing at the end of November, with 1,634 planes to Boeing's 1,377.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This report includes information from P-I staff and Bloomberg News.

__________________
GO BUCKEYES!!!! NATIONAL CHAMPS!! O----H----I----O

Darryl

"Winning more orders than Boeing doesn't necessarily translate into higher profits for Airbus, said analysts, who expressed concern that the European plane maker may be too willing to cut prices to beat the competition.

"More orders bringing more profitability is not always the case by any means," said Paul Nisbet, an analyst at JSA Research in Newport, R.I."


Dah! It is nice to know that there are some intellegent people out there that see the big economic picture.

hernan

One thing is Airbus receiving orders.the other thing is making them!

__________________
FLY SOUTHWEST. THE ONLY WAY TO FLY !
COLLECT STAR JETS. THE BEST MODELS!

Travelin' Man

All in all, Airbus may have more orders, but Boeing is a profitable company and I would be curious to see if Airbus can make that statement.

On the upside gearboy, it is looking like there will be more A320's here in the USA and I hope that gets you back up behind the controls where you belong that much sooner.

b737gearboy

Thanks Travelin' Man. I better find something soon before the wife gives me the boot! I would be happy to fly anything, hell even a Boeing (joke).

__________________
GO BUCKEYES!!!! NATIONAL CHAMPS!! O----H----I----O

b737gearboy

Darryl old boy I knew I could get you to come out of hiding! Where you been lately? That's not a Japaneese rice rocket on your Avatar is it? Being a staunch flag waving American as youself I'm sure you wouldn't ride some foreign bike.

__________________
GO BUCKEYES!!!! NATIONAL CHAMPS!! O----H----I----O

Ming Lee

Darryl Boy, B73 Gear Dude got you on this one Flew back from TPA-DEN-ONT on two UA A320 yesterday. Hate to say it, but still like the A320 better than the 737.

Chansen

I refuse to fly scAirbus! Floorboards moving then hering about tails that fall off. No thank you! You can keep the bus on the ground where they should be. If I take a bus it is Grayhound or something like that!

justin

I think before refusing to fly Airbus on account of the tails coming off you should ask JAL about their experience with 747 rear ends........ Boeing and Airbus both make top quality aircraft, the fact that they crash from time to time is an unfortunate inevitability of any transport system as nothing can be engineered to be guaranteed 100% reliable and there is always the human factor. About Airbus's financial performance that will be much easier to find out about now that Airbus has been established as a company, also now that there are only two share holders (BAe & EADS) it'll be easier to follow their performance.

Justin

DavidMich

mabey so, but you can't substitute quantity for quality

__________________

"So if man is 5, and the devil is 6, then that must make me 7,,,this honky's gone to heaven!"

Darryl

Oh, Ming, Ming, my friend, that hurt a bit. No steak dinners for you. Hey Gear 'ol Boy, yeah I still lurk around the forums looking for tid bits of interest and to uncover injustice.

For the record, my fine, grounded friend, that is a CBR600F4i, and while I am indeed an American, I am also a purveyor of ethical business practices and good old fashion quality. That being the case, until an American manufacturer produces something superior to the Japanese and Italian motorcycles, my bucks will go their way. Matter 'o fact, I own a Toyota truck, too. Now, before your side stick goes into full flutter, consider that no matter what the Toyota keeps going and going and going. The old Ford never could quite do that. Facts to ponder - Honda and Toyota do not have to undercut the competition by dumping their products on the public simply to gain market prominence. They also do not produce crap. Steer the focus of this discussion back to airplanes and the Americans have the world beat, be it piston, turbine or commercial transports, and that is why I am in Boeings corner. It is the finest product in the world, it has stood the test of time, defined the direction of the modern airliner and the folks spewing the marketing propaganda from the bowels of the ReichBus know this, thus their unethical strategies and business ethics (or lack there of). Now, if you want to get into a discussion of the decline of the American automobile and motorcycle industry, it is clearly documented that they both basically blew it. The US aviation industry, however, still leads the way and it has not fallen behind on quality or innovation.

So, am I a hypocrite? No, because I never took an America or die position. That was yours and Ming's interpretation of the post, thus the "I gotcha'” factor carries no boom, boom with me (though it did get me laughing). It also does not nullify the facts of the business analyst’s report of Airbuses business practices, so there.

BTW, Ming does not drive a Chinese car and Harley’s are not my style. However, the new Buell XB9R - Now there is a bike I would sell my Honda for. It is about time a worthy American sport bike came along. Now if only Chevy would produce a half million mile life span truck…

justin

My own view is that the Japanese lead the world in internal combustion engines, they also lead the world in meeting their promisses and quality control in my experience, very rarely do you hear them start coming up with excuses about why the equipment won't do this or that, or why they need another 6 months..........
About Boeing vs. Airbus, I can't see that either is really better than the other, both are innovative companies producing high quality products that deliver the goods. although Airbus may be a young company, the partners that joined together to form Airbus include some of the truly great names of aviation with histories every bit as long as illustrius as the Boeing company. The whole national argument is meaningless as both are now international, Boeing jets are basically assembled in the Boeing works using components from every part of the world, as are the Airbus family.
About business ethics, that's a debateable point really, and I wouldn't have said the ethics of Airbus are any worse than any other major company.

Justin