The $15b jet dilemma facing Boeing's CEO

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun faces a multibillion-dollar dilemma over how to rebuild sales in its core airliner business that has sparked an internal debate and put the future of the largest US exporter on the line, industry insiders say. Boeing is reeling from a safety scandal following crashes of its 737 MAX airliner and an air travel collapse caused by the pandemic. Those crises have overshadowed a deeper, longer term risk to the company’s commercial passenger jet business. Boeing’s share of the single-aisle jetliner market - where it competes in a global duopoly with Airbus - has faded from some 50% a decade ago to roughly 35% after the 737 MAX’s lengthy grounding, according to Agency Partners and other analysts. Airbus’ single-aisle A321neo has snapped up billions of dollars of orders in a recently booming segment of the market, as the largest MAX variants struggled to block it. Without a perfectly timed new addition to its portfolio, analysts warn America risks ceding to Europe a huge portion of that market - valued by planemakers at some $3.5t over 20 years. But Boeing is not yet ready to settle on a plan to develop a new plane to counter the A321neo, and two leading options - press ahead now or wait until later - come with financial and strategic risks, several people briefed on the discussions said. “I’m confident that over a longer period of time, we’ll get back to where we need to get to and I’m confident in the product line,” Calhoun said in April as Boeing won new MAX orders. Story has more.<br/>