MYNORTHWEST NEWS

Boeing makes splash on first day at Paris Air Show

Jun 17, 2013, 6:42 AM | Updated: 10:17 am

A French drone aircraft is displayed at the Paris Air Show in le Bourget, North of Paris, Sunday, June 16, 2013. The Paris Air Show will open on June 17 at Le Bourget. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon) Visitors watch a CFM56-7BE jet engine manufactured by CFM International on display during the first day of the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport, north of Paris, Monday June 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere) Scale models of Airbus planes are displayed at the firm's booth during the first day of the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport, north of Paris, Monday June 17, 2013.(AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere) Two Finmeccanica employees chat near a Eurofighter Typhoon during the first day of the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport, north of Paris, Monday June 17, 2013.(AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere) Visitors walk past the Swiss Air Force stand during the first day of the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport, north of Paris, Monday June 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere) Visitors walk past Dassault Falcon jets during the first day of the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport, north of Paris, Monday June 17, 2013.(AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere) Visitors look at aerial target drones Firejet, foreground and BQM.167A, made by U.S. company BEI, at the U.S. pavilion, on the first day of the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport, north of Paris, Monday June 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere) Visitors look at models at the U.S. Air Force booth in the U.S. pavilion, on the first day of the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport, north of Paris, Monday June 17, 2013. Visible at foreground a C17 Globemaster III. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere) The Airbus A380 jet liner prepares to land after performing its demonstration flight on the first day of the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport, north of Paris, Monday June 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere) Visitors walk near a Qatar Airways Boeing 787 Dreamliner, on the first day of the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport, north of Paris, Monday June 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere) A Ukrainian made Antonov 70 performs its demonstration flight, on the first day of the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport, north of Paris, Monday June 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere) A French Airforce Rafale performs its demonstration flight, on the first day of the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport, north of Paris, Monday June 17, 2013. Visible at left is the tail of a British Airways Airbus A380. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere) French, top , and German, bottom, Tiger helicopters perform their demonstration flight during the first day of the 50th Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport, north of Paris, Monday, June 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Francois Mori) A French Air Force Rafale jet fighter manufactured by France's Dassault Aviation performs its demonstration flight during the first day of the 50th Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport, north of Paris, Monday, June 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Francois Mori) A French Air Force Rafale jet fighter manufactured by France's Dassault Aviation performs its demonstration flight during the first day of the 50th Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport, north of Paris, Monday, June 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Francois Mori) An Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner performs its demonstration flight during the first day of the 50th Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport, north of Paris, Monday, June 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Francois Mori) An Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner performs its demonstration flight during the first day of the 50th Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport, north of Paris, Monday, June 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Francois Mori) An Airbus A400M warms prior to its demonstration flight on the first day of the 50th Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport, north of Paris, Monday, June 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Francois Mori) A ground controller runs next to a British Airways Airbus A380 during the first day of the 50th Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport, north of Paris, Monday, June 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Francois Mori) An Xtreme Breitling Extra 300 aerobatic plane performs its demonstration flight during the first day of the 50th Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport, north of Paris, Monday, June 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

An Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner performs its demonstration flight during the first day of the 50th Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport, north of Paris, Monday, June 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

(AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Boeing is taking on rival Airbus on the French manufacturer’s home turf, and it’s competing for billions of dollars worth of airplanes and thousands of jobs in the Puget Sound.

Airbus opened the air show with a big splash on Friday debuting the A350, the long-awaited and much-delayed rival to Boeing’s 777 and 787. It wowed the crowds in Toulouse, France, as it flew for the first time.

But Boeing made a big splash early in the show too. It officially started talking about the third version of the 787 Dreamliner, the 10X. GE Capital Services committed to buying ten 10X’s on Monday. That’s the first commitment for the largest version of the Dreamliner, which has yet to officially launch as a program.

Speaking on CNBC from Paris, Boeing CEO Jim McNerney said the wide-bodies are expected to steal the show this week.

“I think there’s going to be a lot of wide-body action here,” he said. “Last year was Neo’s and MAX’s. This year is going to be wide-bodies.”

Boeing also inked some deals on the first day of the air show, including a $2.8 billion deal for nine 777’s from Qatar Airways on Monday, and Japan’s small carrier Skymark Airlines signed on to replace its fleet of 30 737’s with the new 737 MAX. It is the first Japanese carrier to sign on with the MAX.

While Airbus is debuting its new semi-composite A350, McNerney says Boeing is way ahead of its rival in dealing with the issues of putting a new plane with new technology into service.

“All the pain and suffering from the 787, all those technologies are moving to the 777 and moving to the next generation derivatives of the 787, and so we’re now maturing this lead,” he said. “We are now reaping the benefits. We’re harvesting the hard-fought gains of the 787 experience, and it’s going to serve us well over the next two decades.”

Boeing Vice President of Marketing Randy Tinseth also told KIRO Radio that a major announcement on the official launch of the 787-10X could be made in the next day or two, and that means the discussion of where the plane will be built can officially heat up.

Now that Boeing has announced its plans for the 787-10X, the question of where it will be built can now be asked.

The Seattle Times reports the 15 percent larger airplane might be too big to be built in Everett. Boeing already plans to build the fuselage for the plane in South Carolina, but it might be too big to fit in the Dreamlifter for a trip to Everett for final assembly.

Tinseth said no decision on assembly has been made.

“When we look at it, we have an extremely flexible production system,” he said. “We have options available to us, and we’ll make a decision on where it’s going to be built at the right time.”

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Boeing makes splash on first day at Paris Air Show