JET MAKERS Officials stick to delivery forecasts

Boeing and Airbus disagree on the airplane of the future.
LE BOURGET, France (AP) -- The heads of the world's two biggest passenger jet makers underlined the grim economics in aviation Sunday -- while sticking with their forecasts for the number of planes they will deliver this year.
The head of U.S.-based Boeing's passenger jet business, Alan Mulally, said the company was on target to reach 280 deliveries, while Airbus' CEO, Noel Forgeard, confirmed his target of 300 aircraft this year.
The two bitter rivals have struggled to keep orders and deliveries flowing as airlines cut passenger capacity and mothball planes. The SARS illness, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and economic uncertainty in Europe and America have depressed air travel.
Goals
Meeting the goal of 300 "will be quite an achievement in view of existing conditions," Forgeard said. Last year Airbus delivered 303 aircraft.
Still, Forgeard said "the three years ahead will be difficult for all industry players, including Airbus" and described the downturn in the airline business "as the most severe crisis the aviation industry has ever faced."
Mulally said Boeing was working intensely with customers and had cut production capacity because fewer planes were needed. "It's really tough for the airlines," he said. "They need to get their balance sheets repaired and get profitable again."
He said Boeing would delivery 280 aircraft this year, down from 381 last year, and will deliver 275 to 300 next year. Orders will likely begin to recover in earnest in 2005.
New planes
Both executives were upbeat about longer-term prospects past 2005, with both plugging their very different concepts for the next leap forward in air travel -- Airbus with its giant 550-seat A380, to enter service in 2006, and Boeing with its fuel-efficient 7E7, expected to enter use in 2008. Neither plane has flown yet.
Forgeard touted the progress the company was making on the A380, saying that 96 percent of the supplier selection had been completed, and advance drawings were more than half made. "The A380 is a reality today," he said.
Mulally said the 7E7, to be made with extensive use of lighter composite materials instead of metal, was what the industry would need. "Smaller airplanes that have the capacity to go nonstop and long range" are the future, he said.