An effort by Congressional hawks to derail a massive contract between Boeing and Iran Air to supply them with a large number of civilian airliners has fueled considerable consternation within the well-connected US aviation company, with Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg quoted as warning that if Boeing could not have the Iran Air contract “nobody should.”
That’s a concern for Boeing because they only got half of the Iran Air contract, with European rival Airbus securing a roughly equal contract shortly before theirs was announced. Though the Congressional effort aims to derail the European company’s sales too, they might not be able to prevent all commercial airliners getting to Iran.
And that’s where Boeing is really freaking out, as they compete intensely with Airbus. Boeing spokesman Tim Neale insisted Congress was wrong to try to block the deal, noting that the P5+1 agreement was supposed to allow civilian airplane sales.
Neale added that Boeing is unwilling to “relinquish any competitive opportunity to Airbus,” and suggested the company’s real concern was if Airbus got into the market “and if Iran stays on the straight and narrow path and the moderates prevail politically and the market really grows in years ahead, they would have that market to themselves.”
When the Iran deal came down, I said it had to do with business and corporate profits. The rest of the P5+1 knew Iran was not trying to build a bomb. Even the US knew that but just didn’t want to admit it. Europe wanted to sell to Iran, and with Iran cooperating with the IAEA, there was no way to avoid lifting international sanctions, which is what Europe wanted anyway. Once international sanctions were lifted, only US sanctions are left, so only US corporations are hurt. Wahhhhh! They will continue to squeal until all US sanctions are lifted as well. For a change, corporate pressure will accomplish something good.
Well it still mildly screws Iran. If Boeing is not in the competition then Iran is going to pay a lot more for those Airbuses than it would have. Frankly even if the talk of the ban goes away, why would Iran buy from such a flaky supplier as the USA/Boeing
Poor Boeing! They didn’t realize the US politician’s fealty to Israel outweighs any corporate ‘speaking fees’ arrangement.
The Airbus planes appear to need US-made parts which Congress will also block. If history means anything then Airbus will find a European company to make them hence that business is lost for the US too. Plus jobs lost. What does the champion of potential job producers Mr. Trump have to say?
Iran would be foolish to buy from either company. New Russian passenger planes are coming online. Buy those…
LOL …. call that being hoisted by one’s own petard by people they’d previously bought. Boeing has made billions by getting hawkish, pro-war, idiots elected to Congress who then scream about imaginary threats and insist that more over-priced, under-performing warplanes from Boeing is the answer. Now these same fools have gone off the reservation and are about to cost Boeing a deal that Boeing wants. I find that funny.
Iran would do well to buy a few planes from Boeing to have Boeing’s lobby working on its behalf, but just a few. The flicked US Congress could place an embargo on spare parts for the Boeing products at any time grounding the US built aircraft. Airbus builds good passenger aircraft, but the Russians manufacture much simpler, more easily maintained aircraft at a much lower cost than Airbus. Iran should place most of its eggs in the Russian built basket.
Lol. Russian passenger planes. Hahahaha. Good luck with that. Absolutely horrendous safety record in that department by Russia and all former soviet states.
Iran is letting both companies compete for a bigger share of sales, meaning a better end deal for them.
I love it from these lunatic exceptionalists. They say they are worried because “if Iran stays on the straight and narrow path and the moderates prevail
politically and the market really grows in years ahead, they (Airbus) would have
that market to themselves.”
It really shouldn’t matter whether moderates prevail or not or whether they stay on straight and narrow (whatever that means) for what Iran does internally is none of our business. Do business with them regardless.