Boeing may beat Airbus on orders
Boeing Co. may finally have won back some bragging rights.
The world’s second-largest commercial aircraft maker said Thursday that it booked 1,044 orders for its airplanes last year, setting a company record that is likely to help Boeing beat its European archrival Airbus for the first time since 2000.
Airbus, which plans to release its year-end results Jan. 17, had 635 orders at the end of November, and its executives have privately told industry officials not to expect a last-minute “miracle” like the one it pulled off in 2005.
Boeing executives thought they had regained the sales title by posting 1,002 orders in 2005, but an eleventh-hour surge in aircraft sales helped Airbus fend off Boeing for another year.
“Airbus has clearly told me they don’t expect another December miracle,” said Scott Hamilton, an aviation consultant in Washington, noting that Airbus would have had to have sold more than 400 airplanes in the last month to beat Boeing. “Boeing should come out on top this time.”
Boeing’s updraft bodes well for suppliers, including 6,000 companies in California, many of which make parts for both aircraft manufacturers. Boeing is the Southland’s largest private employer, with 31,000 workers, primarily in defense operations.
In all, the aviation industry added about 63,000 manufacturing jobs last year, a 23% increase, according to the Aerospace Industries Assn. Much of the increased aircraft demand has come from international carriers bolstered by an uptick in global travel.
Airbus executives declined to comment on the year-end results.
“We don’t know what’s what until the 17th,” said Mary Anne Greczyn, a spokeswoman for Airbus, headquartered in Toulouse, France. “But I can say, regardless of the outcome, that the results of one year do not a company make.”
Winning the sales title is more than a public relations tool for the world’s only manufacturers of large passenger jets. The airplanes range in price from about $47 million for a 110-passenger Boeing 737-600 to $275 million for the 555-passenger Airbus A380.
Chicago-based Boeing dominated the industry for decades until Airbus surpassed it with aggressive pricing and the introduction of new airplanes. But in the last year, Airbus has been hurt by production woes with its A380 super-jumbo jet as Boeing sales surged with a new line of airplanes such as the fuel-efficient 787 Dreamliner.
With aircraft orders continuing to be strong, analysts said, the industry could be in for one of the more prolonged booms in history, absent any major geopolitical conflict or another terrorist attack.
Boeing has a backlog of 2,455 airplanes that could keep its factories humming for more than five years even without a single new order.
“2006 was another outstanding year,” said Scott Carson, head of Boeing’s commercial aircraft business, adding that the company sold a range of airplane models. “Beyond the order totals, we are very excited about the breadth and depth of our 2006 order book.”
Boeing also said deliveries of airplanes climbed 37% to 398 in 2006 and should hit 445 this year. Boeing may surpass Airbus in aircraft deliveries in 2008, five years after relinquishing the title.
In addition to the demand from international carriers, U.S. airlines recovering financially from the 2001 terrorist attacks soon may have to begin replacing their aging fleets, potentially kicking off a second wave of aircraft purchases.
American Airlines, for instance, has more than 300 MD-80 jets with an average age of about 17 years that would need to be replaced, Hamilton said. Delta, US Airways and Northwest also have a collection of older planes.
“They will have to start placing orders,” Hamilton said, “and that’s going to be plum for both Boeing and Airbus.”
