David, Thanks for your thinking along with mine ! Go Boeing and BUY AMERICA ! I had that thought in mind when I mentioned the companies that build aircraft for the US military ! BOB FLETCHER US ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS MILITARY DESIGN SECTION 10th FLOOR S.W. SACRAMENTO DISTRICT 1325 J STREET, SACRAMENTO CALIFORNIA, 95814-2922 Phone (916) 557-7235 -----Original Message----- From: damiross2@xxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:damiross2@xxxxxxxxxxx] Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2004 12:27 PM To: AIRLINE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: SFGate: Virgin to buy Airbus airplanes/Branson names carrier; executive lineup announced Airbus, whether anyone wnats to openly admit it, is subsidized more by the European governments than Boeing is by the US Government. Boeing aircraft are much better than Airbus. From a safety standpoint, I'd much rather fly in a Boeing prodcut than an Airbus product. BTW: Branson also wants the US losen the restrictions on foreign ownership of airlines. This is totally wrong. The airlines, among all industries in the USA, are vital to the defense. Many aircraft are committed to the military in case of emergency. David R > Fletcher, Robert SPK wrote: > > > The fact that this action by Richard Branson to buy Airbus instead of Boeing > > is totally wrong; whether it was Boeing or Lockheed or any other American > > company or not, the fact that Branson has hurt an AMERICAN COMPANY. Our > > people should BUY AMERICAN . > > Well, Branson is British, not American. > > But to me this is a short-sighted view. By your arguments, European > airlines should only be ordering Airbus planes, not Boeing. But, as an > American, you'd like to see Boeing get as many orders as it can, no > matter where they come from. > > Both companies compete on a global scale. Which means there will be > times when US airlines order Airbus, and European airlines order Boeing. > Ultimately, it is most important that airlines evaluate their aircraft > options on their technical capabilities and not country of origin. > > Would you rather see an airline lose (more?) money because they went > with an aircraft less suited for their operations but was from their > home country? > > Also, remember that both Airbus and Boeing source parts from all over > the world. That means there are American parts in Airbus jets, and > foreign parts in Boeing jets. > > -- > David Mueller / MRY > dmueller7@xxxxxxxxx > http://www.quanterium.com