Boeing ‘disappointed’ by Airbus boost of single-aisle production

Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Boeing may have bested Airbus by capturing 61 percent of aircraft orders in 2006, but the European planemaker can still get under Scott Carson’s skin.

On Wednesday, the president of Boeing Commercial Airplanes expressed exasperation at Airbus’s recent decision to increase its production of single-aisle aircraft to 40 A320s per month.

“We were disappointed to see they’ve decided to go up to 40,” Carson said.

While Airbus significantly dropped behind Boeing in twin-aisle orders last year, the Toulouse, France-based company has remained a tough competitor in the single-aisle jet market. Airbus broke ground in China recently on another final assembly line for its A320 jets. (See my earlier blog posting for Jim McNerney’s stance on China entering the aircraft industry).

While Boeing continues to be tightlipped on its production rates, Carson certainly didn’t suggest that Boeing will follow Airbus’s lead and ratchet up its 737 line to 40 planes monthly. Carson simply doesn’t see the demand for that many single-aisle jets worldwide.

“We don’t think the market is there,” he said.