Thanks to Peter Marx for the tip that John Newhouse, author of Boeing Versus Airbus: The Inside Story of the Greatest International Competition in Business, will be interviewed by Walter Boyne on BookTV (CSPAN2) on Saturday March 17th at 9pm and Sunday March 18th at 6pm.
We've blogged a lot about both companies, particularly the supply chain convolutions that led to massive subassembly transportation devices, the political mess behind Airbus and the possibility it might go bust, and the long-term consequences of their outsourcing knowledge to China. Newhouse's book dives into the competitive activities between the two companies, and his interview should interesting.
Newhouse takes us inside the seesaw battle between the world's two remaining manufacturers of big airliners. "Mighty Boeing and the arriviste Airbus," both massive corporations and emblems of national pride, are worth exploring at length. Yet while the former New Yorker writer has invested a tremendous amount of effort in interviews and research, he fails to assemble his facts, quotes and informed judgments into a coherent story. Newhouse introduces a fleet of issues: international sensitivities, cost overruns, governance structure, missed deadlines, the U.S. airline crisis, purchase negotiations, engine mechanics, government subsidies, the economics of plane size, the composition of airplane wings.
This Saturday and Sunday. Set your Tivo's!