787’s first flight, A380 delivery seen as pivotal events

EVERETT More than halfway through 2007, the Boeing Co. and Airbus remain nearly tied in commercial jet orders.

At the end of July, Airbus posted 688 commercial jet orders, while Boeing reported 698. Since then, Boeing has tacked on a few more. Its total, as of Aug. 15, stood at 701 net orders. Boeing updates its commercial jet orders weekly, Airbus monthly.

Airbus remains in the lead in terms of orders for single-aisle jets. The European company has pulled in 393 orders for its A320 family of jets. Boeing has won orders for 325 of its Renton-built 737s.

Although single-aisle orders are the backbone of both planemakers’ programs, twin-aisle orders make the companies the most profit. So far this year, Boeing has received orders for 376 of its Everett-built widebody jets. Airbus lists 295 orders for its twin-aisle planes.

Two events this year could still impact the orders game.

First, Airbus is scheduled to deliver its first A380 superjumbo jet to Singapore Airlines on Oct. 15. Airbus suffered several setbacks with its A380 program and pushed back deliveries to customers two years on average.

In 2007, Airbus has seen only nine new orders for its A380. The planemaker also halted work on its A380 Freighter program to focus efforts on delivering the passenger version on time.

Boeing’s closest offering to the A380 is its 747, which has won eight orders this year. The company is in the process of updating its jumbo jet with its latest version, the 747-8. The freighter version of Boeing’s newest 747 remains far more popular than its passenger plane counterpart.

While Emirates and Qatar airlines are among those with fresh A380 orders this year, most industry observers believe Airbus won’t see significant orders from new customers for its superjumbo jet until the plane manufacturer can prove it has worked out the production bugs that caused such major delays.

Airlines similarly may be holding off placing major twin-aisle orders until Boeing’s new 787 takes to the air later this year. Only two U.S.-based carriers, Continental and Northwest, have selected the new jetliner. The Dreamliner, which was unveiled in Everett on July 8, is Boeing’s second highest-selling plane in 2007 with 236 orders.

Airbus’ new A350 XWB, scheduled to debut in 2013, has 152 orders in 2007. Although Airbus has expanded the use of composites in its A350 like Boeing did with its 787, the company has positioned its A350 to compete more directly with Boeing’s 777, which has 96 orders.

With several months left in 2007, both Airbus and Boeing could outpace their 2006 commercial jet sales. Airbus already has 688 orders in its pocket, roughly 100 shy of the 790 orders it logged in 2006.

Last year, Boeing sold 1,044 jets. During an earnings call with reporters last month, however, Boeing executives fell short of using the “T word,” saying the company’s internal projections didn’t include winning a thousand commercial jet orders in 2007.

Reporter Michelle Dunlop: 425-339-3454 or mdunlop@heraldnet.com.