Ya Gotta Make Money To Spend Money

They are often bitter competitors... but when you get right down to it, American planemaker Boeing Commercial Aircraft and Europe's Airbus Industrie have more in common than not. One of those commonalities -- at least this year -- seems to be how much their parent companies relied on their commercial aircraft divisions to lift profits.

We've already reported on Boeing's better-than-expected gains for the first quarter of 2006... and on Monday, the European Aeronautic Defense and Space company (EADS) reported that it, too, benefited from strong commercial aircraft sales, with its earnings rising 26 percent over the same time in 2005.

Bloomberg News reports that a full order book for Airbus aircraft in 2006 should mean EADS -- and Airbus -- will continue to post a profit throughout the year. With Q1 deliveries rising to 104 planes compared to last year's 87, the European consortium is on track to deliver 430 airplanes in 2006, mostly to Asian carriers and LCCs.

"Airbus is benefiting from the double effect of higher aircraft deliveries and the benefits of its Route 2006 cost cutting program," said Yan Derocles, an analyst at Oddo Securities in Paris.

As with Boeing, however, Airbus may already be looking to spend some of that money in a way the company would just as soon not. For Boeing, some of its profits will likely go towards paying a rumored settlement with the US Justice Department over recent procurement scandals... while Airbus looks to possibly redesign or replace its proposed A350, which so far hasn't proven to be much of a challenger for Boeing's upcoming 787 Dreamliner.

Bloomberg reports that Airbus co-Chief Executive Officers Noel Forgeard and Tom Enders are expected to comment further on those plans Tuesday at the Berlin Air Show.

Airbus is rumored to be planning to spend as much as $10 billion on a new 300-seat plane to replace the original A350, which has garnered only 100 orders to date compared to 350 for the Boeing 787.

FMI: www.airbus.com