Boeing and Airbus

Boeing and Airbus is one of the largest duopoly in a single industry having been in total control for the past few decades. Looking at the industry outlook this trend of these two powerhouses controlling a market does not look like there will be change anytime soon, if there will ever be a change. With Boeing and Airbus being the only rivals in large commercial aircraft manufacturing the only area that could to be a potential problem is in the corporate/business and smaller commercial aircraft, where more competition exist and that already has a strong foundation in that market. Although Boeing and Airbus own the larger aircraft sector there could be issues that could arise from the smaller aircraft manufactures depending on where the industry decides to go. There has been a strong shift in the direction of aircraft manufacturing and customers demands; shifting from long range, large body, high volume passenger abilities, high payload transport aircraft, to, Extended long range, fuel efficient, low operating cost, light weight, eco-friendly aircraft. These shifts in demands have quite contrasting goals and needs causing a shakeup in aircraft development. 

            With Boeing and Airbus having different goals and systems, their aircraft have remained very similar to one another in the sense that when looking at there aircraft specifications and abilities they are almost identical. each have made aircraft to counter the other, even looking back at earlier models. Boeing had the 707, while Airbus countered with the A300, Boeing 727 vs Airbus A318, Airbus A310 and Airbus A330 vs. Boeing 767, Airbus A319 and A320 vs. Boeing 737, Boeing 757 vs. Airbus A321, Airbus A340 vs. Boeing 777, Boeing 747 vs. Airbus A380, and the newest rivalry in the Boeing 787 vs. Airbus A350. The differences between these aircraft regardless of the year of development are so insignificant with only minute differences it almost becomes more of a preference or which company is providing the longer manufacture warranty. The main difference between the two is operating philosophies and basic systems architecture. Yes, there will be differences between the aircraft for speeds, handling characteristics, maneuverability, and ergonomics of each aircraft, but the overall product and usability of the aircraft are the same. Airbus tends to follow a more computer assisted flying to help minimize human error, whereas, Boeing has many of the same systems but can be adjusted to allow a more pilot involved environment, or at least make them feel that why. Many of the systems that have been added to the cockpit to help reduce pilot error to ensure a higher level of safety. While these systems work great it has slowly reduced the role of the pilot to almost a monitor of a computer limiting the pilot interaction with the flight. These systems may have to much control of the aircraft that can lead to deteriorating of the pilots skills and abilities.    

            The dominance of Airbus and Boeing duopoly over large (wide-body) aircraft or very large (super-jumbo), leaving room for competition for smaller (narrow-body) aircraft. With the most recent aircraft developed in the B787 and A350 the main factor of the selling point is the development and the beginning phases of the aircraft integration, with both aircraft showing a growth in technology and providing a more efficient and economical operation. Sales for the A350 have exceeded Boeing's 787 for the troubles and difficulties they have had with the new installment of technology, so much of a problem they have had recalls for the new aircraft shortly after delivering them. Airbus A350 has outsold the Boeing 787 by a 3:1 ratio over the last five years. With less aircraft models being developed there is less margin for errors, with problems and concerns needing to be fixed promptly. The reason why Airbus and Boeing have remained superior for so many years is for their ample amount of resources and ability to adjust to customers' needs and demands and ever changing economic climate. Having a large amount of resources can put the company in a great advantage when trying to improve the technology and the development of newer aircraft.

            Besides the fact that both Boeing and Airbus make and dominate the larger airliners both companies have different interactions and different business goals. Boeing products and tailored services include commercial and military aircraft, satellites, weapons, electronic and defense systems, launch systems, advanced information and communication systems, and performance-based logistics and training (Boeing, 2013). Airbus on the other hand strictly deals with the growth and development of aircraft. Airbus has a strong focus on being eco-friendly and having a strong concern about the environment. Boeing's website has a strong focus on the interaction that they have on civil and military aviation and the effects it has had on other industries, whereas, Airbus primary focus is on how they are effecting the world environment and the steps they are taking to ensure a 'green' operation and preserving what we have here on earth. Airbus is involved with several different organizations and associations to help ensure the health and safety of the environment that he have as well as seeking the best most eco-efficient operation for their aircraft operation and production. Airbus has more of an emphasis on the future and its plans on how to improve its efficiency and continue to develop innovative systems and operations. Boeings future plans were not as easily accessed from the main site. While the outcome from these two manufactures may seem the same the mission of these two companies are considerably different from one another. Boeing focus on what it has done and what it is doing and Airbus focus on what it is doing and what it will do, history vs. future.

            Throughout the years Boeing has had a slight lead in sales over Airbus but within the last decade Airbus has made up a considerable amount of ground and has flip flopped several times with Boeing for leading sales. Here is a graph that illustrates the orders and deliveries for the two aircraft manufactures from 1989 - 2012 (Boeing & Airbus sales, 2013): 

After about the year 2000 Boeing was losing its lead to Airbus and ever since then has been a more even playing field. Some deliveries were higher than orders due to orders that have been placed in years past. Airbus claims that employs over 119,000 employees worldwide, while Boeing claims they employ more than 170,000 employees worldwide. Airbus has currently around 7,500 aircraft in operation with 8,075 deliveries and 13,374 orders as of September 2013 (Airbus, 2013). Boeing states it has over 12,000 aircraft in operation as of today (Boeing, 2013). Safety between the aircraft manufactures are only fractional differences when looking at the flight hours per accident. So in the end, opinion and preference is the final decision when deciding what company reigns supreme.      

References

Airbus (2013). Airbus - A Leading Aircraft Manufacturer. Pixopat Web Design. Retrieved October 27, 2013, from http://www.airbus.com

Boeing (2013). Boeing: The Boeing Company. Retrieved October 27, 2013, from http://www.boeing.com/boeing/index.page

Catts, Tim & Wall, Robert (2013, June 20). Boeing-Airbus Duopoly Tightens Order Grip Over Upstarts. Bloomberg. Retrieved October 28, 2013, from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-19/boeing-airbus-duopoly-tightens-order-grip-over-upstarts.html

Harrison J. Glennon (July 25, 2011). Challenge to the Boeing-Airbus Duopoly in Civil Aircraft: Issues for Competitiveness (R41925). Retrieved from Congressional Research Service website: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41925.pd