Airbus, Boeing chiefs stick to plane delivery forecasts this year LE BOURGET, France (AP) =97 The heads of the world's two biggest passenger= =20 jet makers have underlined the grim economics in aviation =97 while sticking= =20 with their forecasts for the number of planes they will deliver this year.= =20 The head of U.S.-based Boeing's passenger jet business, Alan Mulally, said= =20 Sunday that the company was on target to reach 280 deliveries, while=20 Airbus' CEO Noel Forgeard confirmed his target of 300 aircraft this year.=20 The two bitter rivals have struggled to keep orders and deliveries flowing= =20 as airlines cut passenger capacity and mothball planes. The SARS illness,=20 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and economic uncertainty in Europe and=20 America have depressed air travel. Meeting the goal of 300 "will be quite=20 an achievement in view of existing conditions," Forgeard said. Last year=20 Airbus delivered 303 aircraft. Still, Forgeard said that "the three years=20 ahead will be difficult for all industry players, including Airbus" and=20 described the downturn in the airline business "as the most severe crisis=20 the aviation industry has ever faced." Boeing's Mulally said the company was working intensely with customers and= =20 had cut production capacity because fewer planes were needed. "It's really= =20 tough for the airlines," he said. "They need to get their balance sheets=20 repaired and get profitable again." He said Boeing would deliver 280=20 aircraft this year, down from 381 last year, and 275-300 next year. Orders= =20 would likely begin to recover in earnest in 2005. Both executives were=20 upbeat about longer-term prospects past 2005, with both plugging their very= =20 different concepts for the next leap forward in air travel =97 Airbus with= =20 its giant 550-seat A380, to enter service in 2006, and Boeing with its=20 fuel-efficient 7E7 expected to enter use in 2008. Neither plane has flown=20 yet. Forgeard touted the progress the company was making on the A380,=20 saying that 96 percent of the supplier selection had been completed and=20 advance drawings were more than half made. "The A380 is a reality today,"=20 he said. Mulally said that the 7E7, to be made with extensive use of=20 lighter composite materials instead of metal, was what the industry would=20 need. "Smaller airplanes that have the capacity to go nonstop and long=20 range" are the future, he said. In 1985, large jets such as the 747 and DC-10 had 70 percent of=20 trans-Atlantic traffic, but smaller planes such as the 767 and 777 now have= =20 60 percent, Mulally said. Neither company expressed much worry about the=20 roughly 2,100 planes that have been mothballed worldwide. Many of those are= =20 older planes were near the end of their lifespan, and only some 500 to 600= =20 could be brought back into service, they both said. In a nod to the=20 U.S.-French tensions that have been a constant topic at the show, chief=20 executive officer Noel Forgeard said that the Toulouse-based company=20 supports 40,000 jobs in the United States. Major U.S. companies such as=20 Goodrich, Northrop Grumman, Rockwell Collins and Honeywell have signed on=20 as suppliers of parts and systems for the company's forthcoming A380 jumbo= =20 jet, which will be the world's largest passenger plane with 550 seats. The= =20 Pentagon barred its generals from attending the show, the world's leading=20 showcase for new aviation technology =97 a move widely interpreted as=20 retaliation for France's opposition to the U.S.-led war against Iraq. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Mas Site: www.tntisland.com/tntrecords/mas2003/ Site of the Week: http://www.carib-link.net/naparima/naps.html TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************