danger, duopoly in the air! On the one hand Airbus, on the other Boeing, and no competitor capable of threatening its supremacy, at least in the medium term. For more than thirty years, European and American aircraft manufacturers have shared the aircraft market, where the strong demand for commercial aircraft has opened broad horizons for them. But when one of the two giants of aeronautics falters, the entire industry suffers, including the airlines. The turbulence experienced by Boeing (accidents that call into question its reliability, five-week strike, loss of 17,000 jobs, fundraising of 35 billion dollars (32 billion euros)) are spreading throughout the world of aviation.
The competition to win the tenders continues, of course, and the Paris Air Shows (Seine-Saint-Denis) and Farnborough (United Kingdom) are each year the scene of the countdown of their respective successes. But the problem is no longer the trade war, which peaked under President Donald Trump between 2016 and 2020, unless the former president’s return to the White House reignites hostilities. Bilateral customs retaliation and fines for improper state aid had marked a sixteen-year conflict, the longest in the history of the World Trade Organization, finally resolved after the election of Joe Biden in 2020.
No, the issue now concerns its industrial difficulties, much more serious at Boeing, which has given up its safety culture for more than twenty years in favor of a frantic search for profitability. Although it could benefit from Chapter 11 protection, the US bankruptcy law, the giant is too big to fail (“too big to fail”) for Washington to abandon this icon, even tarnished, of the American economy. Too big an employment provider. Too strategic due to its contracts with the Pentagon, to which the world number four in the defense industry supplies fighters, bombers, helicopters and missiles.
lack of planes
No wonder the Airbus CEO doesn’t appreciate Boeing’s setbacks. “They are not good for the industry as a whole.repeats Guillaume Faury. We are in an industry where quality and safety are top priorities. » These difficulties have caused an unprecedented shortage of aircraft, which cannot be compensated: specialists estimate that the gap between orders and deliveries is 19%, mainly due to the Seattle aircraft manufacturer. What delays the arrival of planes that emit less CO2.
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