Broken Records

Records.

As benchmarks, a target to attain or even break.

Image courtesy of elliebrown.com

But no, we’re not talking about that type of broken record.

What we’re talking about is Boeing breaking records. After a successful 2005 and 2006, the aerospace giant yesterday updated its website - 1047 orders thus far for 2007 with a full 5 weeks to go to year end.

Despite the Boeing 787 Dreamliner being rescheduled, confidence in the airplane remains at an all time high and shows no signs of slowing down - even in 2008.

Image courtesy of Boeing

KLM today also announced an order for more Boeing 777’s and 737’s, as well as two more Airbus A330-200’s.

Despite the so-called threat of the Airbus A350, the 777 family goes from strength to strength and demand for the model, like its smaller 787 sister shows no sign of stopping.

But let’s be fair, Airbus too has had a great year for orders, even if its largely relied on the outdated A320 family and the soon to be obsolete A330 family as an interim “stop-gap” jet until A350’s arrive later next decade.

The European planemaker will likely also top the order race, but unions are already asking why Power8 sees the need to cut jobs on the back of record orders and a burgeoning backlog.

Questions are also being asked about the monetary value of their deals this year. Margins are traditionally weak on narrowbody jets, and with so many A32X’s being on the Airbus books, the chances of a replacement will not yet be on the minds of the company, or indeed, that of Boeing.

As a follow-up to the previous entry, the Dubai Air Show now ended, all eyes are now gearing up for the big event in 2008.

Farnborough.

That show is still some 8 or more months away, but every effort will be made to attend and report on it. No doubt the kind

As usual, I look forward to being there and taking in the breaktaking aerial displays the event is so famous for.

The highlight in Dubai was being able to sit in the 787 Dreamliner mock-up with a good friend and associate and discuss all things Boeing (within reason of course!).“Who was that” I hear you ask.

Image courtesy of Boeing

None other than VP Marketing at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Randy Tinseth.

After the press briefing with Qatar Airways was over, we headed down to the 787 mock up and had a chat. We covered many areas – from airport and infrastructure, to demand for airplanes from 2008 onwards, and how the company was managing to get the 787 on track after its recent rescheduling.

Image courtesy of Qatar Airways

After the first day was over, I sat down to catch up on world news on Al Jazeera with family over dinner and proceeded to switch the channel over.

On the hour, I changed over to the Dubai TV channel. The news opened with coverage of the Dubai Air Show and included all of the major news pertaining to Emirates record breaking blockbuster deal(s) done earlier on. I was surprised to see various footage of myself on the news clip.

It was a quite surreal. The only other time I’d envisaged being on TV is standing on top of an old one with a sledgehammer smashing it because it didn’t work!

Ah well, I got my moment of stardom.

On making my way out to the static display and bumped into the one of the men at the center of the AMF investigation involving EADS and Airbus executives. Yep, you guessed it, Thomas Enders.

Image courtesy of the Financial Times (Germany)

Looking sweaty and worn out from all that pen exercise signing the plethora of deals with his jacket slung over his left shoulder, “Mr. Enders”, I called - he stopped and looked around to see where the calling had emerged from. Unfortunately it wasn’t from the French District Judge or from God, however he managed to smile through his sweat soaked face (and shirt).

As you do, I simply asked if he’d like to talk about the deals Airbus had done on the first day of the show, he kindly declined. When I asked him if he could or would confirm the real price at which Emirates had got the A350’s, he chuckled.

When I pushed slightly further and quoted him a figure that Emirates will be paying, his eyes lit up with rage as if to suggest how such sensitive information could be out there already?

Interestingly enough, former Airbus guy Doug McVitie alluded to the blockbuster deal at being no more than $10bn.

Perhaps he too is of the opinion that Boeing made a bigger profit on the sought after 777-300ER than Airbus did in the bargain A350 gimmick.

He walked away and I chose not to follow. Earlier on in the day, after the Emirates A350 order actually, I somehow managed to see the spritely Monsieur Gallois a few feet away from me.

Cocooned by reporters busily jotting down as much French verbatim as possible, I asked why after 12 months, Power8 no more likely to fly than any of the splendid Airbus models on the stands around us.

Perhaps the excitement of the atmosphere was too much for him, quipping only that the plan would power ahead in 2008 with “no trouble”.

I hope for his sake he is right, because lets face it, the buck stops with him and he has, thus far done a pretty poor job of trying sell off factories in the hope of snaring partners to assist in the A350XWB development (and funding no doubt).

Image courtesy of Qatar Airways

Akbar Al Baker, CEO of Qatar Airways was ever the optimist. During the 787/777 press briefing, he was asked about how the airline would cope with regional rivals Etihad and Emirates. One question not asked, which I took the opportunity to pose afterwards was that of getting pilots to fly all these ordered airplanes. It’s an issue I covered here.

“We have lots of pilots”.

Not really the answer I was looking for but only six months ago, the airline was seemingly desperate to poach anyone that hadn’t yet landed on the lap of Emirates. Wage pressure will only go up in the region as these Middle Eastern airlines engage in cut-throat competition to land as many pilots for their growing fleets.

Emirates too, is toying the idea of a partial IPO. While undoubtedly it’ll be well over subscribed, the more pressing matter is whether the likes of Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways and possibly Gulf Air finally realize that they will sooner, rather than later have to entertain the possibility of joining one of the three major airline alliances.

Of those four, Emirates is probably big enough to wait or even go it alone - but with demand for both flight crew and cabin crew growing so quickly in the region, the Persian Gulf carriers may just be forced to roll out a carpet of splendor for various suitors.

9 comments November 22nd, 2007