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August 2008
- Boeing Threatens to Ditch Air Force Tanker Bid
  
  Wall Street Journal | Aug 22, 08 4:27 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Boeing has warned the Pentagon it will pull out of the new bidding to build a fleet of air tankers unless it gets an extra four months to prepare a bid, the Wall Street Journal reports. A Boeing pullout would leave the Air Force with no competition for a $35 billion contract to replace 179 aging refueling planes. More »
- Airbus, Boeing Hindered by Wait for Seats, Toilets
  
  Wall Street Journal | Aug 8, 08 10:29 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Production delays are plaguing Airbus and Boeing as the airplane manufacturers wait for simple supplies such as seats, toilets, and gallies for their new widebody jets, the Wall Street Journal reports. Small firms charged with making such supplies have been slowed as demand has soared. The interrupted production means higher manufacturing costs for both jet makers and long waits for payments from airlines. More »
July 2008
- Pentagon to Re-Open $35B Air Force Tanker Bid
  
  Associated Press | Jul 9, 08 12:16 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Pentagon will re-open a $35 billion contract to build the Air Force's fleet of new refueling tankers and pick a new winner by the end of the year, congressional sources say. The Office of the Secretary of Defense—not the Air Force—will oversee the new competition between Boeing Co. and a team led by Northrop Grumman Corp. More »
June 2008
- GAO Backs Boeing's Protest of $40B-Deal
  
  Seattle Times | Jun 18, 08 1:54 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Congressional investigators today seconded Boeing's protest of the US Air Force's decision to award a lucrative tanker contract to a competitor and its European partner, the Seattle Times reports. The Government Accountability Office said it found "a number of significant errors that could have affected the outcome of what was a close competition between Boeing and Northrop Grumman," and recommended that the service hold a new competition. More »
- Tough Calls Await on Boeing Defense Bid
  
  Seattle Times | Jun 12, 08 3:24 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Government Accountability Office must rule by next Thursday on Boeing’s appeal of an Air Force deal granting European rival Airbus a multi-billion dollar tanker contract—and CEO Jim McNerney has a tough call ahead if Boeing loses, the Seattle Times reports. He can ground the appeal, or draw more attention to political concerns neither the military nor GAO was allowed to consider. More »
- Boeing, Airbus Delays Aid Battered Carriers
  
  Wall Street Journal | Jun 2, 08 8:32 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Airlines battling rising fuel costs and weakening demand have become unexpected beneficiaries of production delays on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A380 jumbo jets, reports the Wall Street Journal . "For the industry, it's great,” says the chair of Air Canada’s parent company, "because it means less capacity." The carrier has 37 Dreamliners on order. More »
March 2008
- New Airbus Lands in London
  
  BBC | Mar 18, 08 3:15 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - An Airbus A380 super-jumbo jet landed at London's Heathrow Airport today, completing the huge plane's first commercial European flight. The double-decker arrived from Singapore 15 minutes ahead of schedule, and each of the 470 passengers received a certificate commemorating the event. Singapore Airlines is currently using three of the planes and has 16 more on order, reports the BBC. More »
- McCain Sucked Into Boeing Battle
  
  Associated Press | Mar 12, 08 4:30 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - John McCain is being dragged into the feud between Boeing and the Air Force, reports AP . A firm headed by McCain's campaign finance chairman, Tom Loeffler, was paid $220,000 to lobby on behalf of the Airbus, the successful European rival to Boeing's 767 fuel tanker. McCain had helped block an earlier, flawed Boeing contract for the tanker, and sent letters to the Pentagon in 2006 urging them to change bidding procedures that Airbus said were anticompetitive. More »
- Boeing to Appeal $40B Contract
  
  Wall Street Journal | Mar 10, 08 8:09 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Boeing vowed today to appeal a controversial $40 billion contract to build refueling tankers for the Air Force, the Wall Street Journal reports. "Our team has taken a very close look at the tanker decision and found serious flaws in the process," Boeing CEO Jim McNerney said. The Air Force awarded the contract to Northrop Grumman and Airbus, which ruffled US feathers by planning to build its tankers in France. More »
- Airbus Was Intrepid, Boeing Arrogant on Tanker
  
  New York Times | Mar 10, 08 1:20 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Airbus won the Air Force's $35 billion contract for aerial refueling aircraft not only with a more competitive tanker, the New York Times reports, but by competing more aggressively. The French company, partnered with Northrup Grumman, built on spec a new plane-to-plane fuel boom and demonstrated it, while Boeing promised one but didn't build a prototype. Boeing offered an initial delivery of 19 planes by 2013, compared to Airbus’ offer of 49. More »
- Boeing Doesn't Deserve Military Monopoly
  
  Time | Mar 9, 08 9:45 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - There’s fury on Capitol Hill (and the campaign trail) over a $40 billion Air Force contract going to a European team, Mark Thompson notes in Time , but it’s entirely appropriate for the military to get the best technology it can. Indeed, anger over the snub to Boeing shows lawmakers at their worst, worrying about hometown pork instead of defense needs. More »
- Stunned Boeing Presses USAF to Explain Choice
  
  Bloomberg | Mar 4, 08 2:20 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Boeing is calling for an “immediate debriefing” on the Air Force's choice of a foreign company to build its fuel tankers, Bloomberg reports. The selection of Airbus and Northrop Grumman is to be the subject of a scheduled March 12 meeting, but Boeing says that isn’t protocol. “We would expect this briefing to occur within days, not weeks, of the announcement,” said a company rep. More »
- US, Euro Alliance Landed Air Force Deal for Airbus
  
  Wall Street Journal | Mar 3, 08 4:00 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Years of careful strategy and an alliance between executives was the key to Airbus nailing a $40 billion deal to build Air Force planes, reports the Wall Street Journal . The Pentagon’s decision last week is “a transformational shift in the way weapons systems are acquired. It’s an acknowledgment that globalization is real," said Ralph Crosby Jr., the top US executive for Airbus parent EADS. More »
February 2008
- Dreamliner Delays May Drive JAL Away
  
  Reuters | Feb 22, 08 7:23 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Japan Airlines may abandon its plan to stock up on Boeing Dreamliners because of tie-ups in production of the new 787, Reuters reports. The carrier, a loyal Boeing customer, planned to buy 55 Dreamliners, but the delivery date has slipped again, to early 2009. Now JAL is checking out the Airbus A350 XWB, which would allow it to offset fuel costs by flying more midsize planes. More »
November 2007
- Airbus Lands $17B in Chinese Orders on Sarkozy Visit
  
  Bloomberg | Nov 26, 07 7:46 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - French companies, led by Airbus, have landed $30 billion in deals during President Nicolas Sarkozy’s first visit to Beijing, where he urged the Chinese to accelerate appreciation of the yuan. The aerospace giant’s $17-billion order put Airbus back in the lead over competitor Boeing for orders this year, Bloomberg reports, and Areva’s $11.9-billion contract to build two nuclear reactors was a company record. More »
- Weak Dollar a 'Life Threat' to Airbus
  
  Financial Times (UK) | Nov 23, 07 6:49 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - The weakening dollar has European aerospace giant Airbus in a tailspin that could be “life-threatening,” CEO Tom Enders said yesterday, the Financial Times reports, adding that the exchange rate has “gone beyond the pain barrier.” Airbus said every 10-cent decline in the dollar cost the company €1 billion. The dollar reached a low of $1.4873 against the euro this week. More »
- Pimp My Airbus A380
  
  CNN | Nov 13, 07 10:10 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - A billionaire Saudi prince plans to convert one of the world's largest passenger planes into a flying palace. Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is the first purchaser of the luxury version of the double-decker Airbus A380, price tag $320 million-plus. And that's before he tricks it out with amenities that may include private bedrooms, dining rooms, conference rooms, a screening room, and a gym with a Jacuzzi, CNN reports from the Dubai Air Show. More »
- Airbus Soars Ahead of Boeing
  
  MarketWatch | Nov 12, 07 4:29 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Boeing execs are picking up the pieces after losing a head-to-head sales battle with rival Airbus in the first 2 days of the 5-day Dubai Air Show. Airbus racked up more than $50 billion in orders for its jumbo A380 and A350 aircraft yesterday and today, reports MarketWatch, while its American archrival's B787 and B777 garnered a mere $9.3 billion in orders . More »
- Emirates Air Inks $35B Order With Airbus
  
  Times (UK) | Nov 12, 07 3:12 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Airbus got a huge boost from Emirates Airline on the first day of the the Dubai air show yesterday, winning a record $35-billion order for 81 planes. Emirates ordered 11 A380 super jumbos and 70 mid-sized A350 XWBs in the largest-ever single purchase of aircraft. Boeing got a consolation prize of a $3.2 billion order for 12 777s. More »
October 2007
- A380's First Flight 'Phenomenal'
  
  BBC | Oct 25, 07 8:24 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Airbus A380 touched down in Sydney this morning, completing the festive maiden voyage of the world's largest jet. After a 2-year delay, passengers who boarded in Singapore say the champagne-fueled, 7-hour trip was worth the wait. “It's going to make everything else after this simply awful,” one told the BBC. The jet, dubbed the Superjumbo, carried 450 passengers who paid between $560 and $100,380 in an auction on eBay. More »