The article below from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by psa188@xxxxxxxxx /--------- E-mail Sponsored by Fox Searchlight ------------\ THE CLEARING - NOW PLAYING IN SELECT CITIES THE CLEARING stars ROBERT REDFORD and HELEN MIRREN as Wayne and Eileen Hayes - a husband and wife living the American Dream. Together they've raised two children and struggled to build a successful business from the ground up. When Wayne is kidnapped by Arnold Mack (WILLEM DAFOE), and held for ransom in a remote forest, the couple's world is turned inside out. Buy tickets now at: http://movies.channel.aol.com/movie/main.adp?mid=17891 \----------------------------------------------------------/ Plane Makers at Air Show Trade Barbs on New Jets July 20, 2004 By MARK LANDLER FARNBOROUGH, England, July 19 - Boeing and Airbus, the Avis and Hertz of the passenger aircraft business, say they are excited about the prospects for their newest planes, the 7E7 and the A380. But Airbus, once the perennial No. 2 but now the leader in the industry, is winning the publicity war, at least at the Farnborough International Air Show, which began here on Monday. Success at the show is measured by the number of new orders for aircraft. Boeing will not announce any new customers for the 7E7, a medium-size, fuel-efficient plane it is calling the Dreamliner, while Airbus is expected to announce one new customer for the A380, a double-deck plane likely to challenge the supremacy of the 747 among jumbo jets. Executives involved with the negotiations said Etihad Airways, a newly formed airline from Abu Dhabi, would announce plans on Tuesday to buy a small order of A380's. Airbus, which is owned by the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company, or EADS, said it would announce orders for other models as well. The order, the first this year for the Airbus A380, brings the total number for the $280 million plane to more than 130. Boeing has booked 62 orders from four carriers for the 7E7, but says that about two dozen airlines have put down refundable deposits for roughly 200 planes. "The numbers are exciting," said Alan Mulally, chief executive of Boeing's commercial aircraft division. But John J. Leahy, the chief commercial officer of Airbus, said Boeing's figures were somewhat misleading, since the airlines can demand their money back. The 129 confirmed orders for the A380, he noted, were nonrefundable. Such exchanges are part of the macho culture of air shows. But the chest thumping is particularly loud this year, as the rivalry between Airbus and Boeing in the world's commercial aircraft market comes down to a battle between the A380 and the 7E7. For the moment, the balance is tilted toward Airbus. These two planes symbolize different views of the development of air travel. Boeing sees airlines serving a proliferating number of direct routes between cities, with midsize planes. Airbus sees a world of hub cities connected by high-capacity planes. Boeing's 7E7, which is to begin service in 2008, is designed to carry 200 to 300 people over long distances at extremely low costs. The Airbus A380, which will make its maiden flight early next year and is expected to go into service in 2006, will carry 555 passengers in its standard configuration between hubs like London and Tokyo. To hear Airbus and Boeing talk about each other, one would think that each had made a ruinously bad bet. "We have no plans to make a plane larger than the 747 because we just don't think that's how people are going to fly," Mr. Mulally of Boeing said. Referring to the absence of announced orders for the 7E7, Mr. Leahy of Airbus said, "We are pleasantly surprised by the yawns it is getting in the marketplace." He likened it to an Airbus A330 "with a sexy paint job." As the two companies spar over their planes, Boeing is also reviving its criticism of Airbus for receiving improper subsidies from its government backers. Boeing has called for the United States to renegotiate its 1992 agreement with the European Union, which permits Airbus to receive some aid. Airbus replies that Boeing received billions of dollars in subsidies from Washington State to build the 7E7 there, as well as indirect subsidies from the Pentagon through military contracts. "Airbus will not start a trade war but will let no attack go unanswered," Noël Forgeard, the chief executive of Airbus, said. The contrast in style at the show between Boeing and Airbus has been striking. Mr. Mulally appeared alone at a news conference, speaking cautiously about the future of the global aircraft market. Mr. Forgeard appeared with a phalanx of Airbus executives and gave an ebullient 90-minute presentation, dropping broad hints about what new orders the company would announce in coming days. While Boeing was more reticent, both companies are optimistic enough about the general prospects for the airline industry to be making plans to ramp up production over the next few years. Boeing said it stopped pushing to present new orders at air shows about three years ago. It said this imposes unreasonable demands on sales representatives and can yield poor contracts. Still, Boeing announced a deal to sell 13 of its long-range 777 planes to another Persian Gulf airline, Emirates, for up to $3 billion. Company officials said the pressure to present the deal here came from Emirates. The chairman of Emirates, Sheik Ahmed bin Said al-Maktoum, is a fan of the 777. His airline will fly 51 of them by late 2007. But Emirates has also signed to buy 45 A380's, making it the plane's largest customer. Sheik Ahmed was noncommittal when he was asked whether his airline would buy the 7E7, saying he did not favor planes with fewer than 300 seats. In its public relations battle with Boeing, Airbus has encountered one rough spot. As the A380 nears completion, it is proving to be four to five tons heavier than in the original design. Critics say that could prevent Airbus from meeting performance targets it promised its customers. Airbus says that at a total weight of 243 tons when empty, and 560 tons when loaded for takeoff, the plane is barely over its target weight. Mr. Leahy said that Airbus would still meet its performance goals because the A380 had proved to be more aerodynamic than expected. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/20/business/20jets.html?ex=1091327899&ei=1&en=e2f64a15cd96e607 --------------------------------- Get Home Delivery of The New York Times Newspaper. Imagine reading The New York Times any time & anywhere you like! Leisurely catch up on events & expand your horizons. Enjoy now for 50% off Home Delivery! 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