Quotes about the faster new Boeing
QUOTES ABOUT THE NEW FASTER BOEING AIRPLANE
Customers
"We are excited that Boeing has taken on this challenge."
James Goodwin, CEO of UAL Corp.
CNNfn, 3/30/01
"Air Canada would definitely line up in the extremely interested prospective customer category."
Robert Milton, President and CEO of Air Canada
CNNfn, 3/30/01
"If you can whack an hour off going from Los Angeles to New York, then that's significant. We certainly want to take a look.''
John Plueger, chief operating officer of International Lease Finance Corp.
Wichita Eagle, 3/30/01
"Right off the bat, one of things it would do in some markets is give us an extra trip a day. On trips from the East Coast to Europe, traditionally we have a flight that goes in, sits for a couple of hours and then comes back. With these speeds, we could get in two flights a day. That's of major significance."
John Hotard, spokesman for American Airlines
Seattle PI, 3/30/0
"The concept of a higher-speed, medium-size transport aircraft with about 250 seats has great appeal."
Geoffrey Tudor, spokesman with Japan Airlines
Seattle Times, 3/30/01
Analysts
"It could be cool. It could change the game."
Howard Rubel, analyst with Goldman, Sachs & Co.
Wichita Eagle, 3/30/01
"You will have all the high-margin passengers flocking to the new Boeing plane, leaving Airbus and its A380 hauling backpackers. This would be a silver bullet, a stake through the heart of the A380 - if it ever materializes. If they really have found a way to make this a reality then more power to them. They will produce a war winner."
Richard Aboulafia, director of aviation consulting for the Teal Group
Seattle PI, 3/30/01
"It is a very forceful statement that Boeing is still focused on its core business - building commercial airplanes. It's wonderful to see them thinking in leaps ahead, not iterative thoughts about how to tweak a previous design to improve it."
Byron Callan, aerospace analyst with Merrill Lynch & Co.
Seattle PI, 3/30/01
"It's now clear that both Boeing and Airbus have placed their bets on the table and each is holding very different sets of cards. "It's going to be fun to watch how this develops over the next several years. Customers and airlines will have some interesting choices to make. Do customers want to travel in a very large plane with 600 other passengers from one busy airport hub to another, or do passengers want to travel point-to-point in a faster plane? I think passengers want to go from their point of origin to their destination as fast as possible. As long as customers can do that for about the same price, it's pretty much a slam dunk for Boeing."
Peter Jacobs, industry analyst with Ragen MacKenzie.
Seattle PI, 3/30/01
"If Boeing gets the technology right on this plane - and you must assume they wouldn't be bragging if they weren't sure they could keep airline costs from rising - then they could take the mid-market off the table."
Daniel Solon, Avmark International
Dow Jones, 3/30/01
"It certainly raises questions about the balance of power between Airbus and Boeing at the end of the decade."
Heidi Wood, analyst with Morgan Stanley Dean Witter
Seattle Times, 3/30/01
"If I had to devise a response [to the A380] this would be it. It's almost too perfect. It scares the airlines from buying another A380."
Richard L. Aboulafia, director of aviation consulting for the Teal Group
Los Angeles Times, 3/30/01
The announcement "lets people know they haven't been sleeping at the switch."
Bill Dane, senior aerospace analyst with Forecast International
Forbes, 3/30/01
"If you can go from New York to California in four hours rather than five, you can spend more time doing something else. Whether it's a business meeting or another hour of vacation, whatever it is. At the end of the day, it could mean much better service for air travelers."
Byron Callan, aerospace analyst with Merrill Lynch
Seattle PI, 3/30/01
"A faster middle-of-the-market aircraft could become a revolutionary concept, allowing airlines to increase frequency, better avoid congestion and increase travel opportunities."
Steve Binder and Valerie Davisson, analysts with Bear Stearns
Everett Herald, 3/30/01
Media
By concentrating on the all-new jet, Boeing leapfrogs Europe's Airbus in commercial aircraft technology.
Associated Press, 3/30/01
The Boeing announcement marks a sudden raising of the stakes in the world civil aircraft industry, with the standard bearers of the US and Europe embarked on radically different development strategies.
Financial Times, 3/30/01
Industry Experts
"Recent industry trends indicate that American air travelers prefer greater frequencies, shorter flying times and affordable, safe travel. And as Boeing's announcement appears to fulfill those objectives, the company is responding to the U.S. marketplace."
Michael Wascom, Air Transport Association
Seattle PI, 3/30/01
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