Tale of two companies: Airbus recovers as Boeing reels

The aviation industry is slowly recovering from last year’s Covid-induced downturn, but European aircraft maker Airbus is having a smoother ride than American rival Boeing, which has endured a series of crises.

The world’s dominant aerospace companies will seek new business as they attend the five-day Dubai air show on Sunday, the industry’s first major event since the pandemic started last year.

But while Airbus has returned to profit and delivered 460 aircraft in the first 10 months of the year, Boeing remains in the red and has supplied just 268 planes.

Boeing’s 737 MAX returned to the skies last year after the entire fleet was grounded for 20 months following two crashes -- in Ethiopia and Indonesia -- that left 346 people dead.

Almost 370 of the planes remain in inventory and Boeing chief executive David Calhoun has said that it will take two years to sell them all.

The 737 MAX has also yet to be re-certified in China, a major market for aircraft makers. Boeing’s production plans will depend on access to the Chinese market, Calhoun says.

The 787 Dreamliner has had its share of problems which is estimated to have cost the company $1 billion.

The company halted deliveries of the 787 in May following a series of issues with the plane -- the second suspension in the past year.

Boeing announced in July that it had spotted additional problems near the nose of the plane and was working to fix them.

A delay for the first deliveries of its new wide-body 777X plane -- which were pushed back from 2022 to late 2023 -- is costing the company $6.5 billion.