The Boeing Co. on Tuesday celebrated the first anniversary of the launch of its 787 program with the announcement that Air India plans to buy 20 Dreamliners as part of a 35-jet deal.
The order also includes 10 777-300ERs and five 777-200LRs, Boeing said. Air India took options on eight more 777s and seven 787s.
Boeing Co.
The Boeing Co. revealed the final exterior design Tuesday for its 787 Dreamliner, which will be assembled in Everett.
Air India said the order for the Everett-built aircraft, which still must be approved by India’s prime minister and Cabinet, would cost about $6.8 billion.
That suggests that Boeing offered a healthy discount to close the deal, which it had been contesting with Airbus since 2002. Boeing’s list price for the 50 planes would be more than $8.1 billion.
Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
“It’s an important order,” said Mike Bair, Boeing’s 787 program chief. “India is a very quickly growing aviation market. It has the potential to be a hugely growing aviation market.”
The Air India deal follows Monday’s announcement that Air Canada will buy 14 787s and 18 777s.
Air Canada wants the jets to fly nonstop to the Indian subcontinent from North America, Bair noted. “You can pretty much guess Air India’s going to be flying in the other direction,” he said.
Boeing got help from the Bush administration in securing the deal. Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta visited New Delhi earlier this month and discussed Boeing’s offer with his Indian counterpart, aviation minister Praful Patel. He told Indian newspapers that President Bush had spoken to Prime Minister Manhoman Singh about it previously.
On the other side, French transportation minister Gilles de Robien was in New Delhi Monday lobbying on Airbus’ behalf, the Associated Press reported.
Tuesday was the first anniversary of All Nippon Airways’ initial order for 50 787s, which launched the program. In that time, Boeing has landed commitments for 237 Dreamliners. Bair said another 26 airlines are reviewing proposed deals for 429 more planes.
Bair said response has been “phenomenal, gratifying, exciting.”
Boeing has sold out all the 787s it plans to build through 2009, Bair said, and has nearly sold all the 2010 planes. “And 2011 and 2012 are filling up real fast,” he said.
As a result, Boeing is having to scramble to schedule deliveries, Bair said. “It’s a nice problem to have.”
Boeing’s suppliers are making good progress on the components for which they’re responsible, Bair said. “That’s not to mean that everything is exactly on schedule,” he said, but “we’re within days of where everybody needs to be.”
Rising fuel prices are helping Boeing sell its more efficient 777s and 787s, Bair said.
“We’re clearly seeing the fuel price thing driving some decisions,” he said. “It clearly improves the attractiveness of the airplanes.”
Bair said Airbus’ proposed A350, intended to challenge the 787, has become “a more serious issue” in sales campaigns in recent months, but so far only one airline, Air Europa of Spain, says it’s interested in buying it.
The 787, made from composites, is so much better, the A350 has been a tough sell for the Europeans, Bair said. “I wouldn’t want to be competing with an all-aluminum, 20-year-old design against this thing.”
The Air India deal also is notable in that it’s the biggest order ever for Boeing’s new ultralong-range 777-220LR. Boeing previously had sold a total of five of the planes to two airlines. Air Canada said Monday it is interested in buying the plane, but didn’t specify how many.
Reporter Bryan Corliss: 425-339-3454 or corliss@heraldnet.com.
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