MarinerOne

Boeing, Airbus sales chiefs seal the deal in different ways

Even faced with a difficult customer such as ILFC Chief Executive Steve Udvar-Hazy — who before and during the Air Show continued his public criticism of the A350 design — Leahy's confidence remains indefatigable.

"Even the famous Mr. Hazy is sometimes wrong", said Leahy with a twinkle in his eye, "and you can quote me on that."

Then he added that his personal friendship with Hazy goes back 20 years, and he still expects to sell ILFC the A350.

"Our friendship is strong enough," he said, that even Hazy's newly expanded order for the 787 Dreamliner won't disturb it.

"A 74-airplane mistake is not going to come between us."

That style of comment really irks me ... above, he's calling Mr. Hazy his "friend" of 20 years, and then a few statements later, he says that his "friend" made a "74-airplane mistake" ... I don't think Mr. Hazy is going to refer to Leahy as his friend anymore with that type of public comment.

Steven Udvar-Hazy is arguably the most influential commercial aviation executive in the world, with an 800+ airplane fleet being leased to airlines throughout the globe. To make a public comment about someone who knows more about airplanes in his right testicle than John Leahy will ever know in his ten lifetimes is just asinine. It shows absolutely no respect and no class whatsoever. Leahy is only out for No. 1 (himself) at the expense of everyone else he screws. It's not even about Airbus, it's ALL about Leahy himself. His ego is BIGGER than the A380 itself.

A "74-plane mistake" may not come between them, but ultimately his comments may have alienated ILFC from Airbus for the forseeable future. No wonder Steven Udvar-Hazy seems to be so PRO-Boeing ... because Larry Dickenson represents a professional and ethical marketing team, and quality companies (ie airlines) would rather deal with professionals than a dickhead like Leahy.

B-16707

guess money gets to your head.
sometimes its just better not being rich.

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MarinerOne

It has nothing to do with being wealthy. There are a lot of classy, ethical and philanthropic rich folks.

Leahy is just as a$$hole.

knma'91

I agree Leahy is a big one at that

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LOT 737-300

All I know is that a certain company might want to give a rather deep discount to someone after some bad customer service right there.

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MarinerOne

If I were Steven Udvar-Hazy ... I might just go out and order up another 20 787s and a few 747-8s to boot!

A Tupolev

Leahy is trash talking. In the airline industry he's a two bit hooker. When you have a quality product, it can sell itself. When you don't have a quality product, then you attack the compitition. Laehy is on the attack against Boeing, so guess what kind of product he is selling (hint, starts with s and ends with t).

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Mystère

Tupolev, with all the respect I owe you, your comment is non-sense. I wonder what conclusions you drew at Boeing's attacks against the A380...

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MarinerOne

I personally have no issue with Airbus' products whatsoever. From a technical and engineering standpoint, albeit philosophical differences between flying systems used by the pilots (joystick vs. control column), Airbus builds commercial airliners as well as Boeing, perhaps even better in certain aspects. (please insert your personal thoughts here)

That being said, my personal issues is with a specific individual, the aforementioned John Leahy.

I don't think that Tupolev meant that Airbus builds crappy airplanes per sé, but that ILFC (Hazy) has a fundamental issue with the composite panel construction method vs. Boeing's composite barrels. Clearly, Hazy feels the "Boeing method" is superior in terms of technical approach and also from a maintenance perspective.

Whether this is true is debatable, but just that from one man's perspective, Hazy prefers barrel construction over panel construction. And this guy knows airplanes.

But for Leahy to say that Hazy "made a 74-plane mistake" is going way too far, and for that, he has likely further alienated himself from his "friend" of 20 years.

MarinerOne

From the Seattle PI ... James Wallace interviews John Leahy ... it's about 15 minutes, but rather interesting. If you have the time, sit back, relax and enjoy the interview.

On Thursday I interviewed John Leahy, chief commercial officer of Airbus. It was the last official day of the air show, tho I had been told by sources -- and reported it -- that Leahy and Airbus would probably announce on Friday a firm order from Singapore Airlines for the A350 XWB.

You can listen to the interview I did with Leahy here.

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A Tupolev

Please don’t miss-understand my comments. I have great admiration for Airbus technology and the need for competition in the aircraft industry. If it were not for Airbus competition, there would not be a 787. The A320 is an excellent aircraft, with a slight edge on the 737. But AB does not have a superior product to compete against the 767, 777, 787, and in my opinion the 747-8. My main beef is with AB management and sales (Leahy). The focus of AB management and sales is attacking the competition with rhetoric, not promoting the strengths of their own products.

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fazeman

I flew on NWA's A320 and found it to be much more comfortable than NWA's cattle mover, the B757.

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MarinerOne

I would definitely have to offer my thoughts that the A320-series is more comfortable than a 737NG from a passenger roominess standpoint.

But that doesn't mean I support John Leahy's salesmanship ... or lack thereof ... as the case may be.

D-AIHC

I have to disagree on the B767. This has been discussed on anet a few times and in my opinion, the A330 is a better aircraft compared to the B767. As for the A340 vs. B777, it's crystal clear who the winner is - T7 without a doubt.

With A350XWB vs. B787, the latter will be rolled out in less than a month and will make an EIS next year compared to 5-6 years later for the A350XWB. Remember that airlines are the customers and they will determine if the aircraft (Airbus or Boeing alike) they ordered are going to serve their routes with maximum profits. So, like I always said, a good barometer will be to wait till these aircraft make their EIS and we will find out. Same goes with the A380 vs. B747-8. With that said, I won't even go into bashing a certain aircraft because it's late. Let them enter service and let their record speaks for themselves.

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D-AIHC

I am neither pro-A or B. I am for advancement in aviation in general.

Isn't this comparable to the FBW system developed by Airbus in the beginning? There's bound to be controversy or concerns when you incorporate new technologies that are untested in the market. The burden is on the manufacturer to prove that it's safe, reliable and cost-effective.

Yes, Mr. Udvar-Hazy knows airplanes but cool it! Mr. Leahy be talking trash but technological advancement is not created by a salesperson but rather, in this case, by a team of aeronautical/aerospace, manufacturing and material science engineers.

I'll be interested to hear what Mr. Udvar-Hazy has to say regarding that comment.

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