Competitor Analysis- Boeing

Competitor Analysis – Product These two companies Boeing and Airbus in the Aviation Industry, there have always been various airframe producers which were competing against each other. Throughout the years, two of them gained the majority of the market share. The American company Boeing has been the market leader for a very long period of time, until Airbus outturned them for the first time in 2002. In recent years, Airbus has put itself at the top of the aircraft-building world with the A380, the whale of a plane that is the largest passenger jet in the world.In year 2011 Boeing has introduced the 747-8 International, the revamped version of the class 747 it calls the â€Å"Queen of the Skies. † We broke down the numbers in categories, based on size, power, capacity, luxury, availability, and more to compare this two aircraft. By comparing the capacity, Boeing’s 747-8I has a maximum capacity of 467 passengers. The Airbus A380 usually holds around 500 passengers, but has room for as many as 853. The Boeing’s wing span is 224. 6 feet. The A380 spreads out over 261. 7 feet.The 747-8I is more than 250 feet long, the A380 measures 238 feet. In fact, the 747-8I is the world’s longest passenger aircraft. By comparing weight and power, the 737-8I can take off with a weight of 987,000 pounds, and produces 66,500 pounds of thrust, the A380’s maximum takeoff weight is 1,235,000 pounds, and it produces up to 70,000 pounds of thrust. That gives the 747-8I more power per pound. Boeing’s jet can go 11,443 miles in the air, for A380 can only do 9,756 miles. The difference mean the 747-9I can fly New York to Sydney without stopping, but the A380 cannot.Next, comparing the availability, so far, Lufthansa, Cathay Pacific, Korea Air, and a few other airlines have placed orders with Boeing. The A380 has been around longer, and is flown by Air France, Emirates, Qantas, Lufthansa, British Airways, Korea Air, Virgin Atlantic, and more. Because the A380 has been around longer, it's easier to get on board. About 1st class luxury, First class on a Lufthansa 747-8I includes a personal locker and an especially wide seat that goes fully flat for comfortable sleeping, in the other way Emirate's A380's first class includes two lounges, private suites, and a shower spa.For travelers looking for top of the line luxury, there are better choices offered by airlines flying the A380. By comparing the price, Boeing sells the â€Å"Queen of the Skies† for $351. 4 million. A new Airbus A380 is more expensive, at $389. 9 million. The Boeing 747-8I is new and the A380 has been in service for several years, which accounts for some of the differences. Boeing's jet has a lot going for it, especially the fact that it is the newer aircraft.But for those looking to get in the air today, the Airbus A380 is bigger, more luxurious, and more available. Competitor Analysis – Company Technology Airbus sought to compete with the w ell-established Boeing in the 1970s through its introduction of advanced technology. For example, the A300 made the most extensive use of composite materials yet seen in an aircraft of that era, and by automating the flight engineer's functions, was the first large commercial jet to have a two-man flight crew.In the 1980s Airbus was the first to introduce digital fly-by-wire controls into an airliner (the A320). With Airbus now an established competitor to Boeing, both companies use advanced technology to seek performance advantages in their products. For example, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner is the first large airliner to use composites for most of its construction. Currency Boeing's production costs are mostly in United States dollars, whereas Airbus' production costs are mostly in euros.When the dollar appreciates against the euro the cost of producing a Boeing aircraft rises relatively to the cost of producing an Airbus aircraft, and conversely when the dollar falls relative to the euro it is an advantage for Boeing. There are also possible currency risks and benefits involved in the way aircraft are sold. Boeing typically prices its aircraft only in dollars, while Airbus, although pricing most aircraft sales in dollars, has been known to be more flexible and has priced some aircraft sales in Asia and the Middle East in multiple currencies.Depending on currency fluctuations between the acceptance of the order and the delivery of the aircraft this can result in an extra profit or extra expense — or, if Airbus has purchased insurance against such fluctuations, an additional cost regardless. Safety Both aircraft manufacturers have good safety records on recently manufactured aircraft. By convention, both companies tend to avoid safety comparisons when selling their aircraft to airlines. Most aircraft dominating the companies' current sales, the Boeing 737-NG and Airbus A320 families and both companies' wide-body offerings, have good safety records.Older m odel aircraft such as the Boeing 727, the original Boeing 737s and 747s, Airbus A300 and Airbus A310, which were respectively first flown during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, have had higher rates of fatal accidents. According to Airbus' John Leahy, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner battery problems will not cause customers to switch airplane supplier. Also, Boeing has recently re-designed the battery system for the Dreamliner so that it is impossible for it to catch fire. Flight testing is underway, and the 787 should soon return to flight.The world's safest commercial jetliner is the Boeing 777, with no fatalities. The A380 closely follows, but has made less flight so far, and has only been in service for a recent number of years. Outsourcing Because many of the world's airlines are wholly or partially government owned, aircraft procurement decisions are often taken according to political criteria in addition to commercial ones. Boeing and Airbus seek to exploit this by subcontracting prod uction of aircraft components or assemblies to manufacturers in countries of strategic importance in order to gain a competitive advantage.For example, Boeing has maintained longstanding relationships with Japanese suppliers including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries by which these companies have had increasing involvement on successive Boeing jet programs, a process which has helped Boeing achieve almost total dominance of the Japanese market for commercial jets. Outsourcing was extended on the 787 to the extent that Boeing's own involvement was reduced to little more than project management, design, assembly and test operation, outsourcing most of the actual manufacturing all around the world.Boeing has since stated that it â€Å"outsourced too much† and that future airplane projects will depend far more on its own engineering and production personnel. Partly because of its origins as a consortium of European companies, Airbus has had fewer opportun ities to outsource significant parts of its production beyond its own European plants. However, in 2009 Airbus opened an assembly plant in Tianjin, China for production of its A320 series airliners.