WSJ Article (warning Wall Street Journal articles have a way of falling off the "free" internet)
Interesting change in their thinking:
Mr. Gallois said Airbus isn't actively aiming to take back control of the market. "I don't think that our target is to sell more airplanes than Boeing. Our target is to be the best company, not the biggest, and I think that is a change from the past," Mr. Gallois said. He said Airbus isn't now actively looking to achieve a specific target for market share.
As a employee of a airline, that statement scares me a little. Could the days of Boeing and Airbus fighting over the number of sales be over and the price of aircraft increase. I'm pretty sure Boeing will be glad to follow Airbus over this. Boeing may be enjoying the low price of the US Dollar, but their global partners are probably feeling the pinch and they'll have to start increasing their prices as well.
I think Mr. Gallois is coming to the realization that Boeing will overtake them in deliveries in the next three years. Or, it means that Airbus will rethink its market strategy like Boeing did a few years ago and surprise everyone in the next few months. Either way you put that comment of Gallois, it clearly shows the company has been humbled by its problems.
Its refreshing to hear a senior executive from Airbus come down from the clouds and deal with reality, so many before were wearing rose coloured glasses and didn't want to deal with truth of their situation.
Hopefully his comments will ground the remainder of the executive team including Mr. Leahy and pave a new pathway for their successfull recovery.
The rebuilding process for Airbus will be a long and hard one, now finally they can get over their divisions with Governments, concentrate all their efforts on rebuilding their credibilty and get back to building good aircraft.
It will be interesting to hear his comments from the Airshow.
There are no strangers in the world, just friends we have yet to meet.
I suppose I am more cynical than everyone else. I just see these comments as trying to put a positive spin on a bad situation. Boeing is on track to deliver more revenue than Airbus very soon, even though Airbus might deliver more airplanes (owing to the popularity of its A320's). Why not spin it as an intentional trend? "We don't care about numbers but about corporate value."
Reminds me of a rock band who is past its glory days. It is no longer playing in sold out large stadiums. So it claims it now wants to play in smaller venues to be more intimate with its fans. Yeah, right.
By the way, is there anyone on board who knows how to fly an airplane?
I'm not sure what to make of the reported Airbus change in direction (best not biggest). It is probably a sour grapes response to the current situation in which Boeing is presently outselling Airbus (but we'll have to wait a while to see which way the longer-term pendulum is swinging). Airbus spent the past 7 years or so touting that it is the biggest and Mr. Leahy was predicting the demise of Boeing. Just as Boeing has rebounded, so too will Airbus.
Airbus’ announcement of Qatar and US Air orders is certainly a promising sign and a reflection of airline acceptance of the proposed composite-panel-over aluminum frame design. But the situation remains; the A350XWB is principally a B777 competitor, not a B787 competitor. Airbus appears to have left the 225-250 passenger market to Boeing (for now).
