SEATTLE, Jan. 30, 2003 – Iberia has been a longtime customer and partner, and Boeing has worked hard to provide them the airplane model that would most help them maintain profitability in their long-distance operations in the coming years. Given that the major airlines of the world -- and their passengers -- clearly prefer the Boeing 777 over the A340, it is disappointing that Iberia chose what the world recognizes as a less capable airplane than the 777, which has outsold the A340 about two to one. The success of the 777 family has been demonstrated by its almost 70 percent market share since launch. As Iberia already operates A340s in its fleet, the commitment to the A340-600 appears to be the easiest decision. Nick, you must be reffering to this one. I agree with you.. It's a bit awkward. They call the 340 inferior, trash it , etc. then they come back and say ".. but we believe it was a right choice, since Iberia already operates 340-300s.." Weird.. BAHA ACUNER - CFI,CFII,MEI www.bahadiracuner.com www.acuwings.com -----Original Message----- From: The Airline List [mailto:AIRLINE@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU]On Behalf Of Nick Laflamme Sent: Friday, January 31, 2003 5:57 AM To: AIRLINE@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU Subject: Boeing NewSpeak Boeing is getting more and more absurd in their press releases. Besides their commentary on Iberia's order for the A340-600, there's this headline and opening paragraph about Ryan's latest 737 order: Ryanair Ups Commitment to 250 Boeing 737-800s in Record Year Ryanair has reached an agreement with Boeing to order 22 additional Boeing Next-Generation <http://www.boeing.com/commercial/737family/>737-800s and increase options by a further 78. This means the European low-fare carrier has committed to 250 737-800s since January 2002. Of those commitments, 125 are firm and 125 are options. In what variant of the English language does "commitment" include "options"??? I know they're trying to keep a brave face on in the face of Airbus's recent successes, but this is beyond absurd. Sigh, Nick