Boeing strong
From Anthony G. Brown Sir: How strange that Martin Vander Weyer's lament for the 747 jumbo (Toeing Boeing gone', 5 June), and indeed the whole Boeing company, makes no mention whatever of the great success the company has had with the ten-year-old 777 long-haul jet: more than 450 of these wonderfully comfortable and efficient aircraft are in service, with orders for another 150 on the books. What's more, even Air France, in the very land of Airbus Industrie, has two flying, eight on order and options for ten more. Boeing's strategy until the all-new 7E7 gets into service in five years or so is to reposition the trusty old 747 as a freight-liner and to push the 777 as the main passenger rival to Airbus's A340s and A380s. Asian airlines seem particularly attracted by this proposition.
True, as Vander Weyer says, the once almighty Boeing now finds itself having to play catch-up to Airbus, paying the considerable costs of having badly underestimated the threat of its state-sponsored European rival. Yet I rather feel that Boeing's management, workers and investors may actually take some heart from Vander Weyer's consigning the company to the fate of IBM, 'brought down by . . arrogance and aversion to risk'. 'Big Blue' may have had its ups and downs but it is still one of the largest and most successful technology companies in the world, a multi-billion-dollar enterprise whose obituary has been written both too soon and too often. Just so, I suspect, with Boeing.
Anthony G. Brown
Dallas, Texas
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