bursa
Jan 31, 05, 6:46 pm
I searched quickly and didn't find this, but I think this is a good article to post. Also, note the picture for the article. The caption reads: "Boeing believes the future of air travel lies in smaller planes, like the Boeing 717 jetliner, shown at the company's plant in Long Beach, Calif."
The funny thing is Boeing is taking a loss to end the 717 line. Journalists! :rolleyes:
Oh well, I guess they got the main point right.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/CSM/story?id=429345
At least it wasn't as bad as a local brief in the Orlando Sentinel (and probably elsewhere since it was a wire report) that said that direct Taiwan-Mainland China flights were beginning with 300-passenger Boeing 737 jets. Man, even Southwest can't fit 300 people on a 737! Maybe all the Taiwanese stand up in the pax cabin and the Chinese stand in the cargo hold (and vice versa for the other way!) :D
SEATTLE, Jan. 24, 2005 -- Chill winter rains here may feel normal to Seattle residents, but the unveiling of the largest jetliner in history — in France — is another matter.
It's a symbolic shot across the bow of Boeing, the company that for decades has put this region at the forefront of American aeronautics. The rivalry between the assembly lines of Puget Sound and those of Toulouse, France, is a very real matter of pride, prestige and jobs.
Half a world away from last week's hoopla surrounding Europe's Airbus consortium, employees at Boeing's commercial airplanes unit seemed anything but threatened by what Airbus is calling "the future of flying." Impressed, yes. But fearful or even envious? No. More, "Hmm. Big airplane."
The mood here, in short, is generally one of determination, not despair.
Ronnie Behnke, a machinist at Boeing's Auburn, Wash., plant, has a matter-of-fact take on the intercontinental rivalry: "People say, 'Oh, you must hate Airbus.' I say, 'No, I don't hate them. They make airplanes. We make airplanes.' "
Airbus Sales Pressure Boeing
Still, America's aviation leader faces pressure from its archrival. For two-straight years, Airbus models have outsold Boeing's passenger aircraft. In seven years, the company's employment in this state fell from 103,420 to 53,553. So it is perhaps surprising that fear and loathing were not the general moods of the company or its engineers and machinists.
After all, Airbus' gargantuan A380 will put between 500 and 800 passengers on double decks mounted in its 239-foot fuselage. Virgin Atlantic Airways, which ordered six of the brutes, promises a gym area, casinos, double beds in first class, a beauty parlor and larger wet bars. Fully loaded at 1.2 million pounds, it will have a range of 8,000 nautical miles. Airbus says it will be 15 percent cheaper to operate than Boeing's venerable 747 jumbo jet, which can carry up to 416 passengers some 7,260 nautical miles.
Nevertheless, while everyone here seems respectfully awed by the A380's technological achievement, the U.S. aerospace giant believes the European consortium is making, literally and strategically, a massive mistake. To a degree, Boeing has bet its commercial airplane future on it.
After congratulating Airbus for "an industrial accomplishment of some note," Boeing spokesman Todd Blech ...cont...
The funny thing is Boeing is taking a loss to end the 717 line. Journalists! :rolleyes:
Oh well, I guess they got the main point right.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/CSM/story?id=429345
At least it wasn't as bad as a local brief in the Orlando Sentinel (and probably elsewhere since it was a wire report) that said that direct Taiwan-Mainland China flights were beginning with 300-passenger Boeing 737 jets. Man, even Southwest can't fit 300 people on a 737! Maybe all the Taiwanese stand up in the pax cabin and the Chinese stand in the cargo hold (and vice versa for the other way!) :D
SEATTLE, Jan. 24, 2005 -- Chill winter rains here may feel normal to Seattle residents, but the unveiling of the largest jetliner in history — in France — is another matter.
It's a symbolic shot across the bow of Boeing, the company that for decades has put this region at the forefront of American aeronautics. The rivalry between the assembly lines of Puget Sound and those of Toulouse, France, is a very real matter of pride, prestige and jobs.
Half a world away from last week's hoopla surrounding Europe's Airbus consortium, employees at Boeing's commercial airplanes unit seemed anything but threatened by what Airbus is calling "the future of flying." Impressed, yes. But fearful or even envious? No. More, "Hmm. Big airplane."
The mood here, in short, is generally one of determination, not despair.
Ronnie Behnke, a machinist at Boeing's Auburn, Wash., plant, has a matter-of-fact take on the intercontinental rivalry: "People say, 'Oh, you must hate Airbus.' I say, 'No, I don't hate them. They make airplanes. We make airplanes.' "
Airbus Sales Pressure Boeing
Still, America's aviation leader faces pressure from its archrival. For two-straight years, Airbus models have outsold Boeing's passenger aircraft. In seven years, the company's employment in this state fell from 103,420 to 53,553. So it is perhaps surprising that fear and loathing were not the general moods of the company or its engineers and machinists.
After all, Airbus' gargantuan A380 will put between 500 and 800 passengers on double decks mounted in its 239-foot fuselage. Virgin Atlantic Airways, which ordered six of the brutes, promises a gym area, casinos, double beds in first class, a beauty parlor and larger wet bars. Fully loaded at 1.2 million pounds, it will have a range of 8,000 nautical miles. Airbus says it will be 15 percent cheaper to operate than Boeing's venerable 747 jumbo jet, which can carry up to 416 passengers some 7,260 nautical miles.
Nevertheless, while everyone here seems respectfully awed by the A380's technological achievement, the U.S. aerospace giant believes the European consortium is making, literally and strategically, a massive mistake. To a degree, Boeing has bet its commercial airplane future on it.
After congratulating Airbus for "an industrial accomplishment of some note," Boeing spokesman Todd Blech ...cont...