Arch rivals Boeing Co. and Airbus SAS have been engaged in a do-or-die battle for dominance of the commercial airliner market for years. And they do not hesitate to brag about how their particular jet is a) faster; b) bigger; c) more fuel-efficient; d) more high-tech; e) all of the above than their competitor's plane.
Normally separated by thousands of miles of Atlantic Ocean, the companies' headquarters become neighbors during the Farnborough International Airshow, the year's major aviation trade event. Camped in huge portable buildings, called chalets, executives from both companies spend their days courting clients, scores of analysts and hundreds of journalists at a sprawling airport near London. They operate in one of the few industries in which two companies compete for nearly the entire product market -- in this case, large commercial aircraft.
Every detail counts in the high-stakes contest, especially when clients and analysts hop back and forth for briefings and more casual encounters. Even the lunch menu matters. And don't think the executives' pride stops with the fuel-efficiency or the size of their jets.
"We serve by far the best lunch at the air show," boasted John Leahy, a top Airbus executive, just before he sat down for a meal at his chalet's dining room. The menu included sea bream crusted with pistachio on a thin tart of tomato.
Boeing's retort: "I think it's great they have good food," said Scott Carson, Boeing's vice president of sales. "But we're not selling food."
Carson's quip may belie his own company's prowess at preparing a meal. Among the items on the company's menu the other day: wild mushroom bruschetta and braised red cabbage.
The show reveals much about each company's DNA, how they view themselves and how they view their futures. Founded in 1970, Airbus is the brash European upstart. For three decades, its one goal was to beat Boeing in sales, and it relentlessly attacked its foe. In 2000, it bested Boeing in orders and led in that key category through 2005.
But Airbus has run into some trouble. Boeing has recaptured the lead in orders by a 5-to-2 margin so far this year, thanks in large part to the hype surrounding its 787 Dreamliner, a plane still in development. Boeing promises that the wide-body jet will burn 20 percent less fuel than a similar jet. It has racked up more than 400 orders and commitments for the plane.
Airbus also gambled on a plane -- the super-jumbo A380, the largest commercial aircraft in the world. Wiring problems forced the company last month to delay delivery of the first jet for six months. The postponement and other internal problems led to the ouster of Airbus's chief executive.
At the air show, Airbus needed to show off the A380, in part to demonstrate that the airplane is working. The jumbo jet and another four-engine monster are parked side by side near the entrance to the show for all to see. Airbus executives take customers, analysts and reporters on daily tours of the plane, letting them sit in the sophisticated cockpit that has video monitors and computer keyboards.
At 2 p.m. each day, the A380 and the other plane, an A340, take flight, soaring over the airfield in a series of maneuvers. They dip and bank and fly at seemingly impossibly slow speeds over the runway. Spectators, including grizzled veterans of the aviation trade, stop and watch the show.
Airbus says it flies the planes to show how the technology works and how majestic the jets look in flight. The planes have what is known as "envelope protection," computer systems that do not let the pilots push the aircraft beyond safe limits, giving them more latitude to perform some basic stunts.
"Our airplanes won't stall," said Leahy, Airbus's chief salesman. "A Boeing airplane will stall, which means you need to fly in a much more conservative manner. So, at an air show, you would see that their airplane wouldn't look as impressive as ours."
Boeing executives chafe at Airbus's hints that they might be afraid to fly their jets at the show. They said customers well versed on the performance characteristics of today's commercial airliners would rather tour a finished product than watch not-so-nimble jets doing basic stunts. They have a fully outfitted 777 on the grounds for tours.
A company fighter jet performs the stunts, they say.
"People want to watch airplanes go fast and make noise at an air show," said Randy Baseler, Boeing's vice president of marketing. "Our commercial jets don't make noise. Of course, if you want to watch a commercial airplane fly around in little circles, you can just go to any airport."
Tours of Dreamliner
Because Boeing is still building its Dreamliner -- a complex endeavor that will result in the first fuselage built out of lightweight composite materials -- its executives felt they needed to give customers, analysts and reporters a sense of the plane. So, they constructed a mock interior of the Dreamliner and put it in an air-conditioned hall (a huge plus here because temperatures have reached 100 degrees). The mock-up included purple mood lighting, calming music, large seats and huge windows that can be darkened electronically.
The exhibit has generated excitement from customers and analysts. And Boeing has not hesitated to draw comparisons between its Dreamliner and Airbus's redesigned plane, the A350 XWB, which is also under development. After Airbus unveiled the jet on Monday, a Boeing executive called it a "me-too airplane," saying that the A350 XWB will not be any better than his own company's jets by the time it enters service in 2012.
The companies say they did not worry about the other when they prepared for Farnborough or designed their chalets -- essentially their corporate headquarters for the week.
The chalets require invitations to enter. According to people who have entered each one, Boeing's is fairly utilitarian, with typical business conference rooms and a nice dining room. Airbus's chalet, on the other hand, is European-chic, with hip furniture and artwork. Talk at the show indicates that neither chalet stacks up to the one operated by Fineccanica SpA, an Italian aerospace and defense firm. And their displays are said to be less enterprising than the Russian defense contractor whose exhibit appears to have been manned by two exotic dancers wearing see-through dresses.
The entire effort by Boeing and Airbus -- and the Russian defense contractor -- is to make their customers as comfortable as possible. Customers say both companies work equally hard to cement relationships.
Value of personal relationships
"I really see far more similarities than differences," said John L. Plueger, president and chief operating officer of International Lease Finance Corp., one of the world's largest airplane leasing companies. "They both work very hard on the personal relationship. . . . You cannot sell this high-value-ticket item without that."
Sitting in one of his chalet's conference rooms on Wednesday afternoon -- after a long morning of meetings and just before lunch -- an Airbus executive finished reviewing a news release that would later announce a major sale of aircraft. But while the deal helped boost Airbus's haul this year, it was not enough to help it catch Boeing -- a fact he lamented.
"Well, we are winning the lunches battle," the executive joked, as he finished reading the news release. "If we can win the aircraft delivery battle, we'll be all set."
