Boeing vs Airbus - Losing Altitude | 5

Business Wars

Wondery

History, Business, David Brown, Management

4.6 • 13.2K Ratings

🗓️ 20 January 2020

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

It’s the 2000s and after years of talk, Airbus is pushing ahead with its plan to build the biggest passenger jet in the world. But while Airbus is thinking bigger, Boeing’s thinking faster. It’s designing a near-supersonic aircraft called the Sonic Cruiser that it reckons will put some zip into its sales. But market forces, scandal and production challenges are about to put the plans of both companies well off course.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, prime members. You can listen to business wars. Add free on Amazon music. Download the app today.
0:14.8	It's May 2000 and in Singapore Airlines headquarters a
0:18.8	79-year-old man in a short-sleeved shirt is causing a commotion.
0:23.5	The airline's executives gasp as the hunched retiree
0:27.2	Saunters down the sixth-four quarter to the boardroom.
0:30.6	One approaches him. Timid is a teenager seeking an autograph from a rock star.
0:35.2	Mr. Sutter is such an honor to meet you. May I please shake your hand?
0:40.2	Oh yeah, sure.
0:42.4	The executive grins from ear to ear. He can't believe he's actually shaking hands with Joe Sutter,
0:48.8	the man who made this 747.
0:51.0	Sutter's an industry legend, a straight-talking old school engineer.
0:57.0	He's here to help Boeing woo Singapore Airlines into buying some new 747s. His strategy?
1:02.9	To deliver a smack down to Airbus's latest project, the A380 Super Jumbo Airbus is rival to the 747.
1:11.5	In the boardroom, Sutter rips into the A380.
1:15.5	Now I've been in the trenches building big aircraft for 35 years.
1:19.8	And I think the guys at Airbus have gotten themselves into a real mess.
1:24.8	Sutter squints at his scrawled notes.
1:27.5	They say they're going to make a two-story jumbo with more than 500 seats.
1:33.0	What that tells me is that it'll be heavy, much heavier than the 747s in service right now.
1:39.9	And yet they say it'll cost less to operate per passenger.
1:45.4	Sutter looks up at the Singapore Airlines top team.
1:49.0	Now, I know Airbus will say I'm just some fuzzy-headed old fool and maybe they're right.
	...

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