Troubled Boeing stays close to the ground at major UK air show

European plane manufacturer Airbus plans to display its newest passenger jet with daily flight demonstrations during one of the world's biggest aviation trade fairs. But an ongoing safety and manufacturing crisis has rival Boeing keeping a lower profile at the Farnborough International Air Show.

The beleaguered American company isn't bringing any jetliners to take part in aerial displays at the event that begins on Monday near London. The president of Boeing's international strategy and operations division said the company remained focused on satisfying the concerns of US regulators and meeting the company's customer commitments rather than selling planes.

Boeing's low-key show

“With these priorities in mind, we have reduced our commercial airplanes display and flight demonstrations at the show, and will focus on new technology, sustainability, security and services solutions,” Boeing Global President Brendan Nelson said ahead of the Farnborough expo.

The show, held every other year in turn with the Paris Air Show, is traditionally a venue for aerospace companies to showcase their newest technological developments and for manufacturers to trumpet a flurry of orders for new passenger, cargo and military aircraft. Organizers expect about 1,500 exhibitors from 42 countries and 80,000 visitors during the weeklong event.

Boeing's subdued presence underscores its continuing woes.

Problems dog Boeing

The company has been reeling since a door plug blew out of an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 during a flight at the start of the year, rekindling safety fears that were subsiding after two crashes of Max jets in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people in Indonesia and Ethiopia.

The blowout of the panel, coupled with a string of current and former employees coming forward to allege quality-control lapses and retaliation against whistleblowers, brought renewed government scrutiny. The Justice Department revived a criminal fraud charge against Boeing in connection with the fatal crashes.

Boeing agreed to plead guilty as part of an agreement that calls for an independent monitor to oversee the company's compliance.

Leadership issues at Boeing

Boeing's leadership is in limbo as it searches for a successor to CEO David Calhoun, who's stepping down at the end of the year. Calhoun apologized to crash victims' relatives during a grilling from US senators last month over the company's safety record.

“Hopefully, a new CEO next year will make that horrible situation better, but until then, people are just focused on circling the wagons and doing what they can to keep the company functioning,” said Richard Aboulafia, a long-time aerospace analyst and now a consultant at AeroDynamic Advisory. 

So-called static displays of aircraft parked on the tarmac are also a big draw for air show attendees. Airbus will have three of its passenger jets on the ground, owned by its airline customers, while Boeing will only have one, a 787 from Qatar Airways.

Market for planes

"Normally, they'd be there absolutely in force, taking every opportunity for publicity and flying aircraft," airline analyst John Strickland of JLS Consulting said.

But don't rule out new sales announcements from Boeing despite its clipped wings and reduced production in the wake of the Alaska Airlines incident.

Rebounding demand for air travel following the coronavirus pandemic means commercial airlines are eager for more planes, and Boeing and Airbus have a duopoly on the market.

Huge orders expected

Some analysts have forecast that the Farnborough air show may result in as many as 1,000 new aircraft orders for the two companies, along with some for smaller regional jet makers like Brazil's Embraer. But the overall tone of the show could be more low-key.

Airbus and Boeing are already swamped with a backlog of orders that will take them years to clear. Boeing's monthly order numbers, however, have slumped, allowing Airbus to quietly build its sales lead.

Airbus outraces Beoing

The France-based company has outpaced its US rival for five straight years in plane orders and deliveries, and posted a 28 per cent quarterly increase in net profit.

Also at Farnborough, air taxi startups, including Boeing's Wisk Aero, will be displaying electric aircraft that could soon take to the skies, although none will be carrying out demonstration flights.

A number of companies have been working on aircraft that take off and land vertically, pitching them as a sustainable form of transportation for densely populated cities or areas with less developed mass transit networks.

(With agency inputs)