nobody wrote in news:417F1F39.D271138F@nobody.org:
> But the US marketplace expects short term return on investment, and
> building planes is a long term endeavour.
>
> Between 1982 and 2003, Boeing has started exactly one totally new
> plane, the 777. Airbus started 3 (320, 330/340 and 380).
>
> Boeing's financing philosophy prevented Boeing from ditching the 737
> and starting from scratch.
But that's the reality of it all...
If you go into your bank and ask for a mortgage with your meager savings,
they are going to give you a lot of scrutiny. If you walk in with one
third of the purchase price in hand from the government, with some unspoken
promises of more should you not keep up with the payments, the banker is
going to be very receptive - what do they have to loose?
It's not Boeing's financing philosophy, it's the climate they find
themselves in. They'd love to be in Airbus's current position with regard
to new product financing.
> And it is only now that Boeing has gotten a huge punch in the face
> (selling fewer planes than Airbus) that it has gotten sufficient
> motivation to force bankers to lend it money for the 7E7 which will
> replace the 767 completely, and the 7E7 is in large part already
> subsidized bu foreigners to begin with, because amdrican bankers
> woudln't take such a risk.
I don't think Boeing can force a banker to do anything - do you?
I think Boeing has to be a lot more conservative about when and where they
begin a new product. The 777 had a large market to penetrate: the
DC10/L1011/747-Classic replacement market, and so it was a good bet. They
hope the A300/B757/B767/etc market is as good a bet, but as many have
pointed out, their traditional customers are in a lot of trouble and so
they are really working hard on a lot of different oportunities to get the
program off the ground.
--lw-- |