ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, September 4, 1996 TAG: 9609040083
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: FARNBOROUGH, ENGLAND
SOURCE: DIRK BEVERIDGE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LEADERS OF BOTH PLANE MAKERS have accused each other of jostling the books to make their sales look bigger than they are.
With combat fighters roaring above in an air show, dueling plane makers Airbus Industrie and the Boeing Co. launched a war of words Tuesday over who's doing the best job.
Airbus, the European consortium, told reporters it had racked up $3 billion in new business, including a $1 billion deal to supply 11 A300-600 freight jets to Federal Express Corp.
But this was $3.3 billion less than Boeing had come up with a day earlier. So in true air show style, Airbus mounted a full-scale public relations assault on Boeing's numbers.
Airbus senior vice president John Leahy said that when he heard about 25 Boeing sales in Australia, he got on the phone to his Singapore office with the intention of firing somebody, only to learn some of these orders had been placed years ago.
``We look at airplane orders this year - not airplanes that were ordered five years ago and resurrected to make headlines,'' Leahy told a press conference at the Farnborough International '96 air show.
Boeing spokesman T. Craig Martin acknowledged that some of the orders from the leasing company Ansett Worldwide had been placed years earlier, but the customer had not wanted them made public until now.
The 68 Boeing airplanes on order for $6.3 billion are ``all unannounced orders that were never carried on the announced order book,'' Martin said. ``The fact is, they are in the public record for the first time.''
Airbus does the same thing, Martin insisted, and at times even takes orders off its official books and adds them later to show big increases in business.
Airbus responded that it has had far fewer cancellations this year, with Boeing leading the way.
Airbus also announced firm orders for:
* Three A340-300s, typically valued at $130 million to $140 million each, for Cathay Pacific Airways, of Hong Kong.
* Eighteen A321s, valued at $50 million each, to Asiana, a Korean carrier.
Airbus also has signed a letter of understanding for six A320s and six A321s, along with six options for each, to Condor Flugdienst, a charter carrier run by Germany's Lufthansa.
Airbus combined all these deals to come up with the figure of $3 billion. The firm orders are worth about $2.4 billion.
As the two big players fired salvos at each other, No.3 McDonnell Douglas Corp. is hoping to rebound in the commercial aviation business, where its market share has plunged.
Airbus showed a chart with McDonnell Douglas heading ever lower, although Douglas Aircraft Co. executives said they are hoping for new business this week and plan to be long-term players.
``Let's not rule them out,'' Leahy said. ``Every year they sell a few planes.''
LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP Airplane makers tried to steal the show from eachby CNBother at the International Air Fair at Farnborough's airfield in
England. The show is held every two years.