Boeing, Airbus in tight delivery race
Think of it as the ultimate air show — on paper.
The competition between the world's two largest aircraft manufacturers continued to dive and flip in 2014, as Boeing managed to top Airbus in deliveries to customers for the third consecutive year, but the European aircraft maker flew ahead of its U.S. rival in the number of future orders.
Airbus, headquartered in Toulouse, France, reported Tuesday that it delivered 629 planes, second to Boeing's record 723 deliveries. But Airbus amassed 1,456 net new orders, slightly ahead of Boeing's 1,432. In the highly competitive world of aircraft manufacturing, new orders are at the heart of the most critical element of all: future market share.
Boeing shares were down 0.13% in pre-market trading or 17 cents to $130.70.
Airbus and Boeing, which is based in Chicago and builds planes in the Seattle area and South Carolina, have built up huge order books as profitable airlines look to refresh their fleets.
Airbus CEO Fabrice Bregier called it "a landmark year" and pointed to the company's record order backlog of 6,386 planes, which equates to around nine years of production.
At 2014 year end, Airbus commanded more than 50% market share for aircraft above 100 seats.
"2014 has been an excellent year and the teams in Airbus not only delivered on, but exceeded their targets and commitments," said Bregier. "Airbus also made strong progress toward a faster, simpler and more agile company, while our strategy of incremental innovation is helping to consolidate our market-leading position in all categories."
The company made the first delivery of its new A350XWB plane to Qatar Airways last month. Airbus sales chief John Leahy called the sales battle "a draw" during the Airbus annual news conference, which was Web-streamed from Toulouse.
"In terms of this duopoly, it seems to be stable at 50-50," he said.
Leahy and Bregier defended the company's A380 superjumbo despite slackening demand and news media speculation about the plane's future. "I am confident that the A380's best days lie ahead," Bregier said.
Leahy said the market for such giant planes is small but that "we are absolutely dominating the market" because "we've got the right aircraft."
Contributing: Associated Press