Why China and Boeing still need each other
Boeing’s commercial aircraft sales to China have slowed to a trickle as US-Chinese relations have soured. But there are new prospects for the company to regain traction. A meeting this month between President Biden and President Xi Jinping of China did not yield public progress toward resuming plane sales, but it may ease tensions between the two countries, boding well for Boeing, a giant of American manufacturing. Perhaps more important, Boeing and China still need each other. “There’s lots of incentives for everyone to do a deal here,” said Eddy Pieniazek, head of advisory at Ishka, an aviation consulting firm. “A lot of it is just down to timing.” Six years have passed since Boeing’s last large airplane order in China, an agreement to buy 300 planes that was signed during a visit to Beijing by President Donald J. Trump. For several years, the company’s customers and government officials in China have also refused to allow delivery of previously ordered 737 Max jets, the company’s most popular commercial plane. As a result, Boeing has redistributed dozens of jets earmarked for Chinese airlines to other customers. Boeing is holding 85 Max planes in storage awaiting delivery to Chinese carriers, for which the planes were even painted years ago. Those are among 250 aircraft in Boeing’s inventory, most of which the company said it expected to deliver by the end of next year. China is a crucial market for Boeing. Before the pandemic, about a third of Boeing’s 737s were being delivered to the country. Over the next two decades, Boeing projects, China will account for 20% of global airplane demand. This means China will need an estimated 6,500 single-aisle planes like the 737 Max and more than 1,500 larger, twin-aisle planes, such as Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, Boeing said.<br/>
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Why China and Boeing still need each other
Boeing’s commercial aircraft sales to China have slowed to a trickle as US-Chinese relations have soured. But there are new prospects for the company to regain traction. A meeting this month between President Biden and President Xi Jinping of China did not yield public progress toward resuming plane sales, but it may ease tensions between the two countries, boding well for Boeing, a giant of American manufacturing. Perhaps more important, Boeing and China still need each other. “There’s lots of incentives for everyone to do a deal here,” said Eddy Pieniazek, head of advisory at Ishka, an aviation consulting firm. “A lot of it is just down to timing.” Six years have passed since Boeing’s last large airplane order in China, an agreement to buy 300 planes that was signed during a visit to Beijing by President Donald J. Trump. For several years, the company’s customers and government officials in China have also refused to allow delivery of previously ordered 737 Max jets, the company’s most popular commercial plane. As a result, Boeing has redistributed dozens of jets earmarked for Chinese airlines to other customers. Boeing is holding 85 Max planes in storage awaiting delivery to Chinese carriers, for which the planes were even painted years ago. Those are among 250 aircraft in Boeing’s inventory, most of which the company said it expected to deliver by the end of next year. China is a crucial market for Boeing. Before the pandemic, about a third of Boeing’s 737s were being delivered to the country. Over the next two decades, Boeing projects, China will account for 20% of global airplane demand. This means China will need an estimated 6,500 single-aisle planes like the 737 Max and more than 1,500 larger, twin-aisle planes, such as Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, Boeing said.<br/>
