Saudis Announce Order With Boeing, Douglas
The Boeing Co. and Douglas Aircraft Co. will share a long-awaited $6-billion airplane order from Saudi Arabian Airlines, a top Saudi official announced Sunday night at the airline’s 50th anniversary celebration in Jedda.
Prince Bandar, the Saudi ambassador to the United States, told the crowd that the airline, as expected, will buy 23 Boeing 777-200 twinjets and five 747-400 jumbo jets and 29 MD-90s and 4 MD-11s, according to company officials.
Boeing Co. spokesman Jerry Johnson confirmed that the two U.S. manufacturers have landed the lucrative order, freezing out European competitor Airbus Industries. He said the Boeing portion of the order is worth $4 billion.
McDonnell-Douglas spokesman John Thom said he could not confirm the order from Saudia, as the airline is known, until the contracts are signed, which he said he had been told could happen within the next few days. “We’re going to be very pleased when this happens,” he said. Thom said he was not sure what impact the order would have on production at Douglas’ Long Beach factory because it depended on delivery dates. The order has been valued at $2 billion. “This certainly helps to sustain production lines,” he said.
The Saudia order was first announced by the Clinton Administration in February, 1994, but financial problems forced the airline to delay finalizing the contracts. President Clinton and Commerce Secretary Ron Brown were among the U.S. officials who lobbied heavily on behalf of the U.S. manufacturers and the Export-Import Bank agreed to help finance the transaction.
Both companies applauded the U.S. government’s role in helping them win the order. “I’m sure that the Administration or the Department of Commerce didn’t try to influence the customer as to which airplanes to buy,” Thom said, “but supporting McDonnell-Douglas and Boeing and throwing the weight of Export-Import Bank funding behind such an effort has got to be very helpful.”
This order is particularly significant for Boeing because it represents the second-largest purchase by an individual customer for the new 777 twinjet.
