Bad News for Boeing: Airlines, so Bad at Running Airlines, Seem Pretty Good at Buying Jetliners

by YCharts Staff July 09, 2012

A global duopoly in jetliner sales, between Boeing (BA) and Airbus, would seem a comfy business arrangement. And who knows – perhaps beneath all that talk of brutal competition is a pair of comfortable and satisfied companies controlling a huge and growing global market.

But is today’s Wall Street Journal has it right, the airliner manufacturers are instead fierce price competitors, and the list prices on their fancy jets are little more than fantasy.

Thus, the public signs of rivalry seem, at least, sincere. Last week Airbus announced it’s building a factory in Mobile, Ala. -– basically in Boeing’s backyard. And yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported for several hours that Airbus was on the verge of getting a bunch of new orders, including one that would break Boeing’s lock on the market for Israeli passenger jets.

When the news of the factory broke, Boeing issued a statement complaining about subsidies that benefit Airbus – illegally, according to Boeing. And a few hours after the Journal posted its story about orders, it updated that story with a new lead and headline painting Boeing in a better light, trumpeting “deals that should help the U.S. plane maker consolidate its lead in orders over Airbus this year.”