Grounding of Boeing 737 Max fleet “does not benefit anyone in this industry, the least of which would be Airbus,” Airbus Chief Commercial Officer Christian Scherer told CNBC during the Dubai Air Show on Sunday. Scherer said that he “really need to correct that cultural belief” that Airbus is benefitting from the grounding of around 400 737 Max aircraft of its rival company Boeing. The latter had to suspend the planes earlier this year after it saw two crashes of 737 Max aircraft in less than five months killing 346 people.
“It’s a tragedy, it is an issue for Boeing to resolve, but it is not good for competitors to see problems on any one particular airplane type,” Scherer told CNBC. Boeing had taken a $4.9 billion after-tax charge in the second quarter to compensate airlines however the exact amount is not known since regulators haven’t lifted the ban yet. While Airbus and Boeing each have almost half of the market share of large commercial airline industry but the orders for each of them are likely to be smaller this year because of the challenges being faced by the industry such as global economic slowdown, climate change and safety issues.
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Airbus has trimmed its order expectations for this year from 880 and 890 to around 860 as it faces delay in manufacturing at its Hamburg plant in Germany. The company is looking to potentially build zero-carbon, 100-seat regional aircraft by the early 2030s as it is eyeing various methods to cut carbon-dioxide emissions, Airbus ExO Alpha CEO Sandra Bour Schaeffer said in an interview on Saturday as reported by Bloomberg. It is engaging with startups and engine manufacturers to create engines that consume less fuel, explore hybrids, and alternative fuels, and to improve aerodynamics, Schaeffer said.
