DrEvil
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2001
- Posts
- 100
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Well said. I've been saying this for years and I've been getting a lot of flak for it. Nobody wants to face the fact that Boeing does not want to make civilian airplanes anymore. Rather, they want lucrative government defense contracts.AAsRedHeadedbro said:A long time ago Boeing was a risk-taking forward thinking company willing to bet the company's very existence on it's visionary products. Think back to the B-47, which was soon followed by the B-52. These two airplanes gave Boeing the expertise and experience to build the most advanced and innovative jetliner of its day - the 707. Boeing rapidly developed a family of jetliners including the 737-100 and -200, the 727-100 and -200, and the 707-120 (and the similar 720), -320 and -420. These jetliners cost the company billions in today's dollars to develop but the leaders of Boeing knew that by developing a family of efficient, well built jetliners they could develop a loyal customer base of airlines willing to purchase Boeing's entire product line to serve their needs.
Boeing's biggest risk was in the development of the 747. Boeing executives knew that if they failed to attract substantial orders for their new jumbo, then their company was doomed. They basically bet the house on the airplane. Obviously it was a huge success and the rest is history.
Fast forward to today. Since the early 70's Airbus has been on a mission to take market share from Boeing and eventually dominate the market with a family of airplanes for every need. Well, they've done it. While Boeing executives have managed to stifle the company's vision by being risk-averse (other than some stupid, expensive acquisitions of competitor aerospace companies) and have attempted to branch out and away from their core business, which is building airliners, Airbus has managed to develop a very successful family of airliners that are newer, more advanced, and more fuel efficient than Boeing's products, which are all based on designs that have their origins in the 1960's and 70's (yes, the 757 and 767 were both designed in the late 70's). Airbus has a series of fly-by-wire airliners that cover the market from small to large. They have the A-318, the A-319, the A-320, and the A-321. In the widebody department they have the A-330-200 and 300, and the A-340-200, 300, 500, and 600. Finally, Airbus has the pending A-380, which will finally trump anything Boeing can offer. Airbus has everything to offer to any potential customer. Boeing has one fly-by-wire airliner - the 777. They have another coming along, maybe.
It seems clear that in the last 30 years, Airbus has done their homework, while Boeing has patted itself on the back for being the best at what it did for so many years.
I'm a huge Boeing fan and always have been. It just pains me to see where Boeing has been headed in this industry for so long and you can't blame Airbus for it.
I hope Boeing turns it around, but it's going to take 15 to 30 years to do it.