Boeing Versus Airbus: The Inside Story of the Greatest International Competition in Business (Vintage)

This book tells you everything you could possibly want to know about the business strategies and competition facing the two major airplane manufacturers of the last 50 years. Even though it is full of detail it doesn't read like a textbook, but more like a novel. Well worth a read. It is only a shame that it isn't more recent (The book was published in 2007 so no discussion of teething problems with the Dreamliner A350 etc.)

This is a good book that covers the early years comprehensively. However, this is a fast moving industry and the book now needs an update to cover the years 2007 to 2011. (the problems with the 787, the announcement of the A320Neo and Boeing's response, the state of the A350XWB programme, etc.)

I bought this for my aircraft mad son-in-law. It was on his birthday list so I knew he would love it.

Bought as a gift which was loved by the person

Useful

For any aviation enthusiasts from pilots to knowledge seekers, this is a must read to understand how aviation has transformed over the last 50 years. It’s a mixture of aviation and business and provides great insight into both companies. I certainly learned a lot from this book.

John Newhouse, an experienced journalist and former "New Yorker" writer, has already written one book on the airplane industry ("The Sporty Game"). His fans will welcome the return of his expert insights, and may see this as a bonus supplement or extension. He has collected some fascinating new material for this work, so it is deeply informative, though perhaps not as dramatic as its title portends, since the titular competitors take turns winning. Newhouse clearly conducted extensive fresh research, and he presents interesting interview material throughout, although he gets a little awkward when he uses numerical data. We recommends this look behind the hangar doors of the airplane industry to business historians and, especially, to aviation buffs.

The struggle for market between Boeing and Airbus is enthralling with much at stake, for example, jobs, profits, foreign currency earnings and so on. That Airbus could come from virtually nowhere to out sell Boeing within 3 decades is remarkable. That Airbus could then go on to produce possibily the biggest turkey in aviation history and allow Boeing to regain the initiative further adds to this world scale drama. I bought this book to try to understand how this could have come about and clarify in my mind the extent to which the peculiar structure of EADS (which owns Airbus) and its proximity to the French and German governments contributed to the present debacle. Unfortunately I believe the book gives less insight than what can be gleaned from articles in the Economist or FT.The book does cover technical aspects of the story such as the use of new materials and "fly by wire" which are correctly described but superifical. There are no tables or graphs. Much of the 260 or so pages are taken up with descriptions of the personalities which is interesting only up to a point.

Habe das Buch verschlungen, es ist sehr interessant geschrieben und gibt Einblicke in den Konkurrenzkampf der beiden Flugzeugbauer. Wer auch immer der bessere ist, Boeing oder Airbus, bleibt einem jeden selber überlassen, die Geschichte beider Flugzeugbauer ist jedoch außergewöhnlich und beide sind schon oft am Abgrund gestanden. Für Flugbranchenfanatiker sehr gut geeignet und man schaut immer wieder mal gerne rein.

Aúnque està en inglés, y lo leo despacio, es muy buen libro

Great book to read for those who are interested in the airline industry business, also for aviation lovers.

I love boeing and Airbus!

Heck of a read! I enjoyed this book immensely. My only disappointment was that the last chapter ended on what seemed to me to be a weak note, as though the book had been structured as a series of stand-alone chapters, rather than a complete and developed thought.I especially appreciated the "insider" looks into both companies, which gave me insights on corporate politics that I'd definitely lacked before. Reading about the politics of the "subsidies" complaints was in particular meaty and juicy.I recommend this book whole-heartedly to anyone with either a stake or an interest in a large-scale air transport vehicle (hee hee). I found it very enjoyable and informative.