Couldn't have said it better myself David! Mark -----Original Message----- From: The Airline List [mailto:AIRLINE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of David Mueller Sent: June 16, 2004 10:01 AM To: AIRLINE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: SFGate: Virgin to buy Airbus airplanes/Branson names carrier; executive lineup announced 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