Originally Posted by MDJETFAN
With The Higher Labor Rates In Europe Vs The Usa In Dollar Terms, I'm Curious To Know How Eads Could Match Boeing's Price Especially Since The Kc-43 Is A Bigger Aircraft.
Perhaps because many of the major components (engines for example) on both KC-767 and KC-45 are assembled in the US and many components of
both aircraft are made abroad. If 100% of the 767 was made in the US and 100% of the 330 made in Europe there would be a much wider difference.
It
may be that given their relative market share in the widebody sector at present, Pratt & Whitney were not able to offer their engine for the Boeing at a similar cost to the booming General Electric did for Airbus, but that would be speculative.
It could also be that the strike-threatening unions at Boeing have raised costs, even in the weak US exchange rate, to the point where strike-threatening French unions become competitive - if so, that would be quite an achievement.