-Boeing claims more orders for 717 than Airbus has for A318 - Brief Article

Airline Industry Information, Oct 14, 1999

US aircraft manufacturer, the Boeing Co, has defended the viability of the 106-seat Boeing 717 aircraft against competition from Airbus Industrie's A318, stating that they had more orders for the 717 aircraft than Airbus had for the A318. A spokesperson for Boeing said that Airbus had launched the A318 claiming to have 115 orders for of the aircraft, but that in fact Airbus only had 43 firm orders, plus the recent order for 12 from British Airways. Meanwhile, Boeing apparently has 115 firm orders for the 717 and a commitment from Hawaiian Airlines to purchase 13 of the aircraft.

Suggestions that the lack of commonality between the 717 and other Boeing aircraft have been downplayed, with Boeing asserting that other benefits offered by the carrier, such as low trip costs, would outweigh this as a deciding factor for many airlines according to Reuters. In other news, Boeing has received ten new orders for its Boeing Business Jet aircraft, apparently boosting total orders to 56.

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