You can’t give an overview of the Boeing Co. and its commercial airplane business without mentioning the plane maker’s chief competitor: Airbus.
The Today Show’s Matt Lauer brought in NBC’s Tom Costello to provide the Airbus-Boeing lowdown while Lauer broadcast live Monday morning from Boeing’s Everett factory.
“Airbus really grabbed Boeing by the neck” in the mid-1990s, NBC’s Costello told Lauer.
Costello described Airbus was able to capitalize on Boeing’s production gliches – a position that has now reversed itself putting Boeing in a position to exploit its European rival’s errors on the A380 superjumbo jet program.
Additionally, Costello noted, Airbus has built their A380 on the philosophy that large numbers of travelers will be routed from big city to big city. With its 787, Boeing, on the other hand, believes airlines will offer more routes between smaller cities.
“Right now, it looks that Airbus might not have bet as well as Boeing,” Costello said.
Lauer’s first flight …
During the first seven years of his “Where in the world is Matt Lauer?” series, The Today Show anchor traveled roughly 182,000 miles, flying from spot to spot (on a Boeing plane).
That’s a lot of miles for someone whose first experience with flying wasn’t so great.
Lauer told me that he took his first flight at about the age of 6 with his parents on a trip to Florida. He suffered from motion sickness.
“It wasn’t pleasant,” he said.
Luckily, Lauer has grown out of it and now travels more than anyone he knows.
Track Lauer’s trips around the world online: www.followmatt.com.
Watch clips from his Everett visit: www.todayshow.com.
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