Nikolas Arrenbrecht
Econ 202
Dr. Shaomin Huang
Research paper
International Trade Scandal: Boeing vs. Airbus
Boeing started out in 1917 in Seattle and was named the “Boeing Airplane Company”. The company constructed mainly wooden flying seaplanes for passengers and cargo. Boeing built the first plane to commercially fly transatlantic. During the World War Two, Boeing built a great variety of bombers. The company grew and merged with other companies forming Boeing Corporation. The company built military hardware as well as commercial hardware however the emphasis was on military. In the early sixties Boeing built a long range bomber called the 747 which was imagined for the use as a long distance bomber that was capable of bombing Russia during the cold war, that was the idea. During this time the Boeing Corporation received incentives and huge defense grants to develop the aircraft. The defense force eventually ended up ditching the project and left Boeing high and dry. The development of the 747 jet cost Boeing a considerable financial burden to the company’s budget. The Boeing Corporation decided to turn the plane into a commercial venture and target passenger airlines in order to recover some of the costs. In 1970 the plane was released onto the commercial market. After some delays the plane became an instant hit and grabbed the world by storm where it continued to dominate for the next four decades.
Airbus started as an idea in the sixties (same time Boeing was working on its 747) to join its major aircraft manufactures together to form a single unit. This way the aircraft companies could collaborate in unity instead of fighting amongst them selves for competition. This had happened years earlier with the construction of the Concord. However there was no long term collaboration struck. Boeing tried to compete with the concord but pulled out due to heavy costs. The collaboration was between members of the E.U. such as Germany, France, Spain, and...