Boeing (NYSE: BA) will be the big loser at the Paris Air Show if announcements made so far by rivals and industry suppliers are any indication. It is also telling that shares in the US aerospace firm are down 3% in the last month. Any success at the industry gathering would have pushed the shares higher.
Customers are bypassing Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner and new 747 while orders for the Airbus 320 and 380 have been brisk. Reuters reports that “Airbus outsold U.S. rival Boeing in the first two days of the show, notching up around $26 billion of orders dominated by sales of its revamped A320neo family of aircraft.” The European firm has received large commitments from India’s IndiGo, Indonesian airline Garuda, CIT Group, GE’s commercial aircraft leasing and finance division, and probably AirAsia which may make a $17 billion deal.
Boeing needs a substantial success in Paris. It has been hurt by the long delays in the launch of the 787 and labor difficulties. Its 737 workhorse has gotten old and Boeing may need to revamp its model line to replace it.
The Paris Air Show draws to a close soon, and Boeing does not have much to take back to its Chicago headquarters.
Douglas A. McIntyre
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