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The first day of the air show in Le Bourget did not bring Boeing any contract. The head of the company admitted that this year the concern came to Paris not to sell, but to save the reputation after two catastrophes 737 MAX. However, such a move could turn into a new scandal: while even American carriers choose European aircraft.

Boeing aircraft company is unlikely to set up for breakthrough results when preparing for the International aerospace salon "Le Bourget-2019". However, its result "may be worse than expectations", CNBC TV channel notes.

   The first day of the air show did not bring a single order to the American concern. While his eternal European competitor Airbus for the first day signed 123 contracts for the supply of new aircraft and retrofitting already in operation. At the same time, 100 Airliners were chartered by the American carrier Air Lease Corporation (ALC), whose fleet will be replenished with new A 220, A321XLR and A321neos.

It looks like a wakeup call after the achievements of past years at "Le Bourget" in 2017, the American concern with a crushing score beat the Europeans, having received orders for 571 the liner, with a total value of $75 billion Airbus then on a private platform has signed a total of 114 firm orders for 182 ships and preliminary. For a total of $40 billion.

Boeing bypassed its competitor and last year's air show "Farnborough" in Britain. The American concern then signed contracts for the supply of 673 aircraft, most of which were 737 MAX. Airbus was able to agree on the supply of only 431 aircraft.

However, this year the situation has changed dramatically. The best-selling aircraft of the past French and British air shows 737 MAX is on the ground and will not be able to take off in the coming months. And Boeing is fighting not for new orders, but for its reputation.

The main goal of the concern this year is to convince potential buyers of its aircraft that the company is successfully working on the return of 737 MAX flight permits, assured CNBC Boeing CEO Dennis Melenberg.

"We will return to the sky when it is safe, this is the most important thing for us," he stressed. Earlier, the General Director of the International air transport Association Alexander de Juniac said that Boeing 737 MAX can stand for another 10-12 weeks before national regulators allow their flights.

Currently, several hundred Boeing 737 MAX aircraft around the world are idle in hangars. Their operation was suspended after two plane crashes, developing in a similar scenario. March 10 in Ethiopia crashed Boeing 737 MAX 8 airline Ethiopian Airlines, killing 157 people. October 29, 2018 the same liner company Lion Air crashed in Indonesia, killing 189 people.

Preliminary results of the investigation indicate the similarity of the causes of the crash. The head of Boeing admitted that the liners could crash due to a failure in the MCAS (Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System) , which helps pilots to control the ship. The system is designed to prevent the aircraft from falling into a stall at exorbitant angles of attack, which can occur due to more powerful and exposed in front of the wing of the aircraft engines. However, its presence and features of the pilots were not informed in advance.

Boeing experts pledged to develop new software for the 737 MAX maneuvering correction system, take into account and correct all the shortcomings, but the confidence in the safety of these Airliners has already been undermined. Many countries, including Russia, the United States and the EU, for security reasons, suspended the operation of this series of aircraft.

In early may, The Washington Post, citing three sources wrote that

creating the 737 MAX, the Board of Directors of Boeing thought only about how to quickly get around Airbus, which was occupied by a similar version of the A320neo aircraft.

Some members of the Board feared that the new model would be too expensive, and that it would take too long to market. Then Boeing and so had problems with the budget and the failure of the launch of aircraft type 787 Dreamliner. The company talked about how to quickly and cheaper to update the old version of the Boeing aircraft.

"Security was just a given," a former Board member told the newspaper.

The fruits of this haste is now reaping the whole world, and Boeing can seriously think about how to completely rename its most popular aircraft.

To do this, the concern was previously advised by us President Donald Trump. "If I were a Boeing, I would have fixed the Boeing 737 MAX, added some extra great features, and made a rebranding plane with a new name," the President wrote in April on his Twitter.

The company's management has not yet made a final decision on this issue: too much effort has been invested in making the words MAX and Dreamliner recognizable in the name of the aircraft.

However, against the background of "Le Bourget" CFO Greg Smith in an interview with Bloomberg did not rule out that this step still have to go.

"We are committed to doing everything necessary to restore reputation. If this requires a change of brand, we will do it," he promised.

In the meantime, Boeing behaves more than modestly: to participate in the "Le Bourget" concern said only nine of its aircraft against two dozen Airbus aircraft.

However, both aviastroitelnyi giant brought their experimental passenger drones.

The Western press believes that in order to create a positive news background, Boeing can disclose the details of its new program for the creation of new Mid-Market Airplane (NMA) at the air show. However, it has not yet been officially presented.

In March, Boeing has already canceled the presentation of the wide-body aircraft Boeing 777th against the background of the disaster in Ethiopia. The concern really lacks good news in recent months.
 

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