Airbus snooping on Boeing ?

[bits44]

Good old Jon does it again!

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/fligh ... er-do.html

[achace]

I dont regard it as snooping, as it is(was) an internal document.
It gives an insight as to why the 350XWB timeframe is much more conservative than the 787.
Boeing do appear to have more than their share of problems with this programme.
The re-design part was what caught my eye.

[smokejumper]

In hindsight, Boeing's schedule was too aggressive and they are paying the price now. I assumed that they'd be a little conservative (as Boeing has typically been) and I trusted their announced 787 schedule. They really screwed up!

[regi]

Interesting is the note about the fasteners that could be based on a Airbus pattent.
Could this entire report be a warning towards Boeing : "don't you dare to sue us to expose your internal data, or we sue you so hard that you loose money on every rivet that you use."

[earthman]

Interesting is the note about the fasteners that could be based on a Airbus pattent.
Could this entire report be a warning towards Boeing : "don't you dare to sue us to expose your internal data, or we sue you so hard that you loose money on every rivet that you use."

Yes, that's wonderful, Airbus has a patent for using washers to make a fastener fit properly if it's too long...

[smokejumper]

Airbus snooping on Boeing? Just industrial intelligence. I'm sure Boeing does similar "fact finding" on Airbus by talking to suppliers and customers.

[PYX]

It's a wee bit more devious than that,

"The document includes what appear to be seven slides labelled BOEING PROPRIETARY with a format style used in Boeing presentations, including two that appear to have been photocopied, raising questions about the methods and sources the European consortium utilizes to collect its data."

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/flightblogger/

[achace]

I did not think there was anything of any consequence in the Powerpoint slides.
Maybe Boeing got the information from a.net.
Anyway I think they have considerably more on their collective minds than a bit of powerpoint material with WSJ almost dragging them into a press conference before they may be as prepared as they would like.
The share prices must be giving them more than a headache.
This new delay may also have consequences for the 748. They have to start trimming cash outlays pretty soon or they will be in real problems.

[earthman]

Perhaps Airbus engaged in a bit of dumpster diving in Seattle?

[achace]

Perhaps Airbus engaged in a bit of dumpster diving in Seattle?

Dare I say "thats garbage"?
I suspect your block could be busy soon, assuming it is in Chicago.

Cheers

[teach]

It's a wee bit more devious than that,

"The document includes what appear to be seven slides labelled BOEING PROPRIETARY with a format style used in Boeing presentations, including two that appear to have been photocopied, raising questions about the methods and sources the European consortium utilizes to collect its data."

Just because it says 'proprietary' doesn't mean Airbus stole it. Do you really think that if Airbus illegally obtained those slides, they would actually put them directly into a presentation, even an internal one, disclaimer and all? They'd have to be extremely dumb to do that...

[smokejumper]

Let's just assume that the information was properly marked "Proprietary" and Airbus received it from a third party....

Under US law, any information identified as "proprietary" remains the property of the company (Boeing) and must be returned to the original owner. I once received a paper marked “PROPRIETARY" and immediately took it to our ethics attorney. I had to sign a document identifying how much of it I had read and promise to not divulge or use what I had learned.

Regardless of how Airbus received the papers marked "Proprietary", they are obligated to immediately return it to Boeing and not use it internally or release it.

A similar situation occurred several years ago when Boeing received information marked "Proprietary" which related to Lockheed's space satellite program. They did not return it and used in in their analyses of competitive situations. Once this came out, Boeing was barred from biding on several space programs for some time (I forget how long).

Will Airbus be prevented form bidding of USDoD programs? I don't know, but they should be treated equally.