Boeing Books Big 787 Order at Air Show

LE BOURGET, France (AP) -- International Lease Finance Corp., the world's largest airline leasing company, announced an order for 63 Boeing Co. jets, including 50 of the planemaker's flagship 787 Dreamliners on Tuesday.

The additional orders for the Dreamliner makes Los Angeles-based ILFC the biggest customer for the first commercial jet made of light, sturdy, carbon-fiber composites instead of aluminum. It now has a total of 74 firm orders.

Sales of the 787 have far outstripped those of rival Airbus' A350 after the European company - responding to customer complaints - decided to redesign its jet and pushed back its delivery date until 2013.

ILFC was the launch customer for the original A350, ordering 16 of the planes, and founder and CEO Stephen Udvar-Hazy was instrumental in the push to have the plane redesigned. He said Tuesday he would meet with Airbus co-Chief Executive Louis Gallois on Wednesday, but declined to elaborate.

Mike Bair, who heads the 787 program for Chicago-based Boeing, said Tuesday that the plane is on track for delivery to its first customer in May 2008.

"We are where we need to be," Bair told reporters. "We have pockets that are behind," but the overall schedule for production remains steady, he said.

Bair said that the Dreamliner is now sold out until 2013. The ILFC orders announced Tuesday will begin delivery in 2013, carrying through until 2017. The earlier orders made by ILFC will start delivery in 2010.

The total Boeing order from ILFC, which included 10 next-generation 737s, was worth a total at list prices of $8.8 billion.

Planemakers often reserve big announcements for the air shows held on alternate years in Le Bourget and Farnborough, on the outskirts of London, to ensure maximum impact. The announcements usually include a mix of new orders, confirmed previous orders and plans for future orders.

Airbus remains out in front at Le Bourget, despite its troubles with the A350, after announcing a raft of orders on Monday, including a deal to supply Qatar Airlines with 80 A350s.

It added to those Tuesday with an order from Memphis-based leasing company Intrepid Aviation Group for 20 cargo versions of its A330-200 wide-bodied aircraft, worth $3.5 billion at list prices.

It also predicted that it will win at least 600 firm orders for its aircraft this year, including more than 20 for the double-decker A380.

"I can tell you with full confidence that Airbus is back," Gallois said at the show at Le Bourget, north of Paris.

Airbus sales chief John Leahy added that the planemaker expects to exceed 20 orders for the A380 this year, for which it currently has 163 firm orders.

Wiring and other technical problems have led to a two-year delay in delivery of the plane, which is expected to wipe out 4.8 billion euros ($6.2 billion) from the profit of parent company European Aeronautic Defense & Space Co. NV over the next four years.

The company overhauled top executives and set in place a restructuring plan that includes cutting 10,000 jobs over four years.

Flanked by the new management team at Tuesday's news conference, Gallois was upbeat.

"We are in a process of turning the company around and this new management structure is, for you, the first tangible evidence that we are progressing," he said.

Emirates, the biggest single customer for the A380, is believed to have obtained significantly improved financial terms for the aircraft.

Leahy added that Airbus' total firm order book stands at 219, worth around $30 billion. The planemaker also has preliminary commitments for a further 120 planes, worth around $15 billion, he said.

The Paris Air Show comes amid revived fortunes for the commercial airline industry. After two years in the red, the industry will make a profit of just over $5 billion this year, despite rising fuel costs, says the International Air Transport Association, whose 250 members claim to represent 94 percent of international air traffic.

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