Vicious Dogfight Or Snitty Catfight?

Oh, what a difference a couple of years make.

Just two years ago, Boeing and Airbus were at each others' throats. At the Paris Air Show 2003, Airbus was the underdog with a bullet, set to overtake Boeing as the leader in commercial aircraft sales.

Boeing Commercial Aircraft CEO Alan Mulally was almost red in the face as he accused Airbus of cutting prices so low that the industry was suffering. Through the worst of the 9/11 fallout, Airbus continued to chip away at Boeing's sales lead until, by the end of the year, there was a new champion in the ring. Airbus was outselling Boeing.

At this year's Paris Air Show, Boeing is the hard-charging underdog, nipping at Airbus's heels with its fast-selling 787 Dreamliner.

The two companies are, through their governments, locked in a trade dispute that, in itself, could end up costing hundreds of millions of dollars.

And then there are the jokes. The New York Times reports Boeing executives flocked to the balcony of their suite as the Airbus A380 landed at Le Bourget Airport earlier this week for the 2005 Paris Air Show. There were some serious "ooo's" and "ahh's" as the aircraft approached on final. But when it touched down on the runway that had to be lengthened for just this occasion, one Boeing wag turned to another and said, "Look for the dent in the runway."

So Boeing's situation seems to have brightened somewhat in two years, a fact evidenced solely by the sales figures both companies are touting this year. Even though it's not off the drawing board, the 787 is selling rather quickly. But the Airbus A380 project has been delayed because of manufacturing and design issues while sales of the A350 -- a direct competitor to the 787 -- isn't selling as fast as the EADS subsidiary had hoped.

So what changed? How is it that, in a head-to-head competition, sales of Boeing's 787 seems to be outpacing the rival A350?

Ask the experts.

"Boeing's original strategy was purely defensive: to protect the 787 program," Richard L. Aboulafia, vice president for research at the Teal Group, told the Times. "Now it's switched from defense to offense. They want to disrupt the A350."

To some degree, that strategy seems to have worked. Airbus parent EADS announced earlier this month that it would delay until September a launch decision on the A350 -- hoping to quell the ongoing World Trade Organization dispute over launch subsidies.

On second thought, perhaps two years hasn't made such a difference after all.

FMI: www.airbus.com, www.boeing.com