It IS A Small World

Through the wonders of the global market, two companies with a common parent -- the European Aerospace Defence & Space Co., which also owns 80 percent of Airbus SAS -- have been contracted to provide parts for Airbus archrival Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner.

Dallas, TX-based Vought Aircraft Industries -- a major structural partner in the 787 -- announced earlier this week it had subcontracted assembly of the aircraft's aft pressure bulkhead to EADS' military aircraft unit in Augsberg, Germany, according to the Associated Press.

That's not all. The Seattle Times also revealed a Lunenberg, Nova Scotia-based company,  Composites Atlantic, will produce a pylon brace for the Dreamliner's underwing engines. Ownership of Composites Atlantic is split equally between the government of Nova Scotia, and... EADS.

"We're a first-tier supplier, albeit for a smaller part," said Composites Atlantic sales manager Kevin Steck. He also said Composites Atlantic and Boeing began early development work on the composite part (a first) in the early 1990s, well before the company became part of EADS.

Steck also said Composites Atlantic supplies anti-icing ducting on Boeing widebodies.

So, is this a conspiracy? Hardly. In fact, this isn't even the first time EADS has supplied components for a Boeing plane. A Spanish division of the conglomerate also supplies the flaps on the Boeing 777, as well as the rudder on the American manufacturer's workhorse 737.

For obvious reasons, Boeing has been fairly quiet about its left-handed partnership with EADS. The Composite Atlantic announcement, which came last month, didn't even warrant a news release from the otherwise prodigious media staff at the aerospace giant's headquarters in Chicago.

Boeing's reaction this week to the announcement of the pressure bulkhead work was similarly muted. The fact that the parent of Boeing's fiercest archrival (just ask the WTO) is also a Boeing supplier is simply one of "the ironies of life," according to a Boeing spokeswoman.

It certainly is... but irony does go both ways. Australia's Hawker de Havilland, which is owned by Boeing, supplies parts for some Airbus jets, too.

FMI: www.boeing.com