The entire international aviation industry is preparing to descend on Le Bourget Airport next week for this year’s Paris air show.
I won’t be there. Instead, I’ll be working on a pitch for a new TV reality show I’m calling the “Paris Heir Show,” which will track the courtship of America’s favorite heiress, Paris Hilton, and her betrothed, Greek shipping heir Paris Latsis.
The heir show will be glitzy and glamorous – just like the air show – plus it will benefit from the fact that Paris Hilton has far sexier gams than Airbus pinup Noel Forgeard. This one can’t miss.
That’s not to say there won’t be big drama next week in France, and just in time for the summer doldrums on TV.
Airbus and Boeing are still engaged in their version of the Amazing Race, and in next week’s dramatic episode, the Team from Toulouse will likely stage a big comeback, announcing a whole lot of orders for its new and improved A350.
This A350 is kind of a midseason replacement for Airbus’ original A350. That concept, you may recall, was a spinoff of the Eurpean jet maker’s current midsized jet offering the A330 – kind of the same way that “Joey” is a spinoff of “Friends.” Airbus scriptwriters thought they could take their old favorite, give it new engines and some other tweaks, and still continue to dominate their slot.
But the A350 pilot episode flopped, critics panned it, and the whole thing got sent back for a major rewrite. After months of revisions, Airbus is back with a completely overhauled product that could actually be competitive with Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner.
Airbus says it will announce 100 A350 orders next week. Teal Group analyst Richard Aboulafia says that’s possible.
And then there will be sneak peaks of the upcoming drama “WTO: Geneva.” This new show will be part crime drama, part legal drama and part political drama – think “CSI” meets “Boston” Legal meets “The West Wing.”
The first episode in the aircraft industry subsidy fight between the United States and European Union will take place on Monday, just as the air show opens. Given that, it’s safe to guess that there will be plenty of hissing and hair-pulling and posing and posturing going on – kind of like “America’s Top Model,” only in a wonky, “Meet the Press” kind of way.
Meanwhile, behind the scenes, some serious business will get done.
Washington state and local officials will attend this year’s Paris show, trying to convince Boeing’s European suppliers that they should be doing business in Snohomish County.
The message: “We’ve got a lot of what you need, particularly if you’re supplying to Boeing,” said Deborah Knutson, president of the Snohomish County Economic Development Council, who is making the trip along with Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon.
The county can offer trained aerospace workers, buildable land, job-training programs at Edmonds and Everett community colleges, and research programs at the University of Washington. Plus it’s minutes away from Boeing’s 787 assembly line, Knutson said.
The delegation’s leader will be Gov. Christine Gregoire, who has been trying to familiarize herself with aerospace industry issues in recent weeks. Part of that included a visit in May to Eldec, the Crane Aerospace subsidiary in Lynnwood.
Having Gregoire on the trip will be a big plus, Knutson said. The fact that she’s the governor will open some doors so the group can meet with more chief executives and other top corporate leaders.
Reporter Bryan Corliss: 425-339-3454 or corliss@heraldnet.com.
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