737 MAX grounding: As Boeing sits idle, Airbus can’t make jets fast enough
The troubles plaguing Boeing after the year-long grounding of its 737 Max plane have created an unusual opening for its chief rival, Airbus, to swoop in and grab business. There’s just one hitch: Airbus is in no position to benefit.
The European aerospace giant, which last year took the title from Boeing as the world’s biggest plane maker, has such a large backlog of orders to fill that it cannot immediately produce more of its popular narrow-body jets that airlines view as an alternative to the Max.
“It might look like a paradox, but in the short term, we don’t benefit from the situation with our competitor,” Airbus’s chief executive, Guillaume Faury, said on Thursday at a news conference in Toulouse, France, announcing the company’s 2019 annual results.
