(2 of 2)
Popular with passengers and highly reliable, the A300s are also the most fuel-efficient commercial jets now flying, a result of their advanced engines and a "supercritical" wing that cuts aerodynamic drag. Airbus has also benefited from a fundamental change in world aircraft-sales patterns. U.S. airlines, which not long ago accounted for two-thirds of all airliner purchases, now make up only one-half of the market. European and Third World lines are growing fast, and they seem more inclined to fly non-American jets than U.S. carriers do. The Airbus consortium aims to sell at least 25% of the 3,000 or so short-and medium-haul jets that will be needed by the early 1990s.
Lathière hopes the Airbus will redress an imbalance that has long irritated Europeans. Says he: "Europe buys 25% of the world's planes, but as manufacturers we get only 2% of the business. The U.S. plane industry will not suffer if its share of the world sales declines somewhat to 75%." Despite the burst of business for Airbus, Boeing has received 229 orders and options for the 767 and the 757. Moreover, before it made its Airbus buy, Lufthansa placed a $1.2 billion order for 32 Boeing 737s and 24 options, the largest plane deal ever made by a European carrier. Since Airbuses are fitted with U.S.-made engines and electronic gadgetry, one out of every three dollars spent on the European planes ends up in America.