Boeing executive says aircraft deliveries determine market leadership

One of the surprising developments of the 2001 Paris Air Show has been the lack of announcements of Boeing commercial jets sales, while its rival Airbus has been piling up orders on a daily basis. The competing announcements of orders, much like watching two football sides trading goals in a high-scoring match, have been one of the more entertaining aspects of previous Air Shows at Paris and Farnborough.

Now Boeing seems to have decided that the only way to get on the scoreboard this year is to move the goalposts. Seddik Belyamani, Boeing Commercial Airplanes executive vice president - Sales announced to a press briefing yesterday that aircraft deliveries, not orders, were the final determinant of market leadership, said. "Deliveries are the most important measure," Belyamani said."They represent completed transactions.Market leadership comes down to who is getting the aircraft out the door and into the sky. And Boeing leads when it comes to deliveries."

In 2000, Belyamani said Boeing delivered 489 aircraft compared to 311 delivered by its main competitor, Airbus Industrie.

During his remarks, Belyamani did not ignore the importance of aircraft orders. "Orders are important, but also fluid - subject to customer changes and dynamic market conditions," he said."We gained more orders in 2000 than our competitor, with 589 compared to 492, or more than 54 percent of the market by units."

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