http://in.reuters.com/article/businessNews...-40317320090614
QUOTE
PARIS (Reuters) - European plane maker Airbus is not selling planes at bargain prices just to keep its order books filled, the EADS unit's chief executive said.
"We are not desperate. We have a huge order backlog," Tom Enders told journalists in remarks embargoed for Sunday.
"We are not desperate. We have a huge order backlog," Tom Enders told journalists in remarks embargoed for Sunday.
This Bloomberg piece contains more of the Enders interview.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206...id=aOiECM0R4j4E
QUOTE
June 14 (Bloomberg) -- Airbus SAS could cope with losing as many as 1,000 jetliner contracts without suffering unduly because of its “formidable” order book, Chief Executive Officer Tom Enders said.
Airbus is able to withstand its backlog of 3,500 contracts shrinking somewhat, Enders told journalists in Paris yesterday. If the order book kept growing customers would have to wait seven or eight years between contracts and deliveries, something that might deter carriers from buying, he said.
“So 3,500 orders -- make it 3,000, 2,500, whatever number you might take -- this is still five years of maximum production,” Enders said in a briefing given ahead of the Paris Air Show, which begins tomorrow.
Airbus is able to withstand its backlog of 3,500 contracts shrinking somewhat, Enders told journalists in Paris yesterday. If the order book kept growing customers would have to wait seven or eight years between contracts and deliveries, something that might deter carriers from buying, he said.
“So 3,500 orders -- make it 3,000, 2,500, whatever number you might take -- this is still five years of maximum production,” Enders said in a briefing given ahead of the Paris Air Show, which begins tomorrow.
John Leahy on the "weak sisters". I wonder how he would characterize Kingfisher?
QUOTE
Cancellations to date have left Airbus with a client base for this year and next that is “clearly of a higher quality than a year before,” Enders said, repeating chief salesman John Leahy’s comment that “the weak sisters have left the backlog.” As struggling airlines scrap or defer orders, the planemaker is seeking “stronger” customers to accept the vacant production slots and keep its assembly lines running smoothly, he said.
Is this a slap at the Forgeard regime?
QUOTE
Protecting Margins
A target of 300 new orders this year is also looking increasingly doubtful, he said, while adding that Airbus won’t slash prices to bring in business.
“The priority is to not sacrifice margins,” he said. Airbus’s earnings in recent years were hurt by poor margins on planes that were contracted for before Enders became CEO. Margins are improving on more recent orders, he said, without giving numbers.
A target of 300 new orders this year is also looking increasingly doubtful, he said, while adding that Airbus won’t slash prices to bring in business.
“The priority is to not sacrifice margins,” he said. Airbus’s earnings in recent years were hurt by poor margins on planes that were contracted for before Enders became CEO. Margins are improving on more recent orders, he said, without giving numbers.