Merger Promises Business For Boeing 787 Rival

The company that would be formed by merging US Airways and America West has a lot of outside investors -- each one with its own hopes for a return on investment. In the case of Airbus, the airplane manufacturer is looking for nothing less than a launch partner.

Airbus paid $250 million of the $1.5 billion in outside funds to help capitalize the newly merged company. In turn, the new company has agreed to buy an unspecified number of A350s -- Airbus's answer to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Airbus hasn't made much progress in selling A350s in the US. One European airline consultant told the Seattle Times that Airbus "very urgently concerned to buy their way into the US market with the A350."

Some analysts and industry insiders wonder however, isn't that like... a bribe?

It's just one Airbus tactic aimed at boosting A350 sales. Another is in pitching the yet-to-be-built aircraft as "all new."

"Since December, we improved width, range, seat costs, economics," Airbus sales chief John Leahy said Wednesday to the aviation trade press in Toulouse, France. "We changed the aircraft three or four times in the past 90 days. We achieved an eight-ton weight reduction through the use of new technologies. This is an all-new aircraft."

When Leahy heads to the Paris Air Show next month, he expects the new improvements will lead to "triple digit" orders. That, of course, could trigger a major trade war between the US and the European Union.

FMI: www.airbus.com, www.americawest.com, www.usairways.com