Mounting Political Tensions Apparently To Blame
The off-again, on-again Aeroflot order for
as many as 22 Boeing 787s appears to be off-again, perhaps this
time for good.
The Seattle Times reports Boeing officials consider the order
dead in the water, victim to mounting tensions between the US and
Russia over foreign policy differences. One unnamed source familiar
with the purchase talks told the paper Boeing gave up on Aeroflot's
order "a month or so ago."
The Times also reports Russia's Interfax news agency, quoting a
source at Aeroflot, states airline will probably finalize a deal
for 22 Airbus A350 XWB airliners by the end of this year.
This is not the first time the Aeroflot deal has been
threatened. Boeing thought it had the deal all-but-finalized last
June, when Aeroflot stated it would buy the 787s after the Russian
government signed off on the order. In September, however, Aeroflot
postponed a meeting on a final decision... which left both Boeing
and its European rival stewing.
Aeroflot later allowed a purchase deadline extended by Boeing to
lapse. The American planemaker agreed to extend the
deadline... but that final date passed as well, with
no sale.
Indications of potential
trouble surfaced last August, due to strained diplomatic
relations between the two countries. Sergei Koltovich, Aeroflot's
head of fleet planning, said then "both Boeing and Aeroflot are
trying to make this order happen," but added US criticism of
Russian policies was making it hard to get government approval.
Adding to those tensions are recent comments made by Russian
President Vladimir Putin. In his speech in Munich, Germany on
February 10, Putin railed against the Bush Administration's foreign
policy, saying the US had "overstepped its national borders in
every way."
While those statements perhaps fall short of the gravitas of
Nikita Khrushchev's shoe-banging tirade in the late 1950s, Air
Cargo Management Group managing director Ned Laird notes Putin's
speech "could have been written by him."
Aeroflot's apparent decision to go with the A350 also had
implications for other deals Boeing has in the works in Russia. A
side deal to lease several used MD-11 freighters to Aeroflot on the
cheap will now be scaled back... and, said one source, Boeing will
now be charging a lot more, for fewer planes.
Ladies and gentlemen, we appear to have a new Cold War on our
hands...