Fall in Air India Flight 171 is another dark chapter in the recent history of the American Boeing, which reigned in the passenger planes market until the creation of European Airbus. Airplane viagens are considered the safest way to cross long distances. From a purely statistical point of view, the route to the airport is more dangerous for travelers than the flight itself. However, when a plane falls, such as the Air India 171 flight, Thursday (12/06), talking about statistics makes little sense.
The accident made at least 279 victims, of which 241 flight occupants (one survived) and 38 on the ground. It was the first total loss of a Boeing ship 787-8. Parallel to human losses, the economic consequences are also vast. In addition to profitability and environmental compatibility, passenger safety is the decisive sales criterion for a commercial plane.
For decades, the American Boeing has been the main civil aviation supplier, but in recent years its activity has not done so well, with frequent damage. In 2024, with 170,000 employees and revenues of $ 66.5 billion (R $ 369 billion), he suffered operational losses of almost 13 billion dollars.
At this point, the European manufacturer Airbus had already passed the American in the passenger segment. Also in 2024, the 160,000 companies, based in Leida, in the Netherlands, recorded a turnover of 69.2 billion euros (R $ 444 billion), with an operational profit of 5 billion euros. The delivery numbers of passenger planes also speak for themselves: Airbus has the front and expands its advantage.
However, the data on the production and sale of vehicles for civil aviation have a limited representativeness, since both multinationals also work in the aerospace segment and are weapons producers, which makes direct comparison difficult.
The art of burying the giants
Air India Flight 171 Fall is only the last chapter of Boeing’s negative history, which in recent years has jumped from one break to another. The best example of this trend, especially compared to Airbus, is the way everyone dealt with the largest plan in its catalog.
For Europeans, this was the A380, whose introduction forced airports around the world to adapt their infrastructure, since the size of the existing terminals and processing capacity were not sufficient. Due to its two additional engines, the vehicle maintenance was also more expensive.
In addition, it is difficult to fill airplanes with a large number of places (in the380, from 500 to 850), which makes it difficult to calculate its economic profitability. When it was clear that the ship was too large and too expensive for various airlines, in 2021 Airbus suspended the production of the giant.
With Boeing, the story was different: he had suspended the production and sale of the legendary Jumbo 747, which had become anachronistic. However, to react to380, he decided to bet on a new long -term competitor, developing, since 767, the new 787, nicknamed “Dreamliner”.
But this “dream plane” proved to be a nightmare: everything that could go wrong, has given. While Airbus removed discreetly from its A380 line, the Boeing 787 has made negative qualifications: difficulties with new compound materials, communication problems with suppliers, canceled test flights, postponement flights, delivery dates could not be satisfied.
Finally, there were even flight bans: in 2013, when the first models were already in action, there were fires in two planes due to problems with batteries.
Enter China
In the competition between the two conglomerates, which dates back to the creation of Airbus in 2000, under the name of Eads, the rounds continue to be successful, also involving the World Commerce organization (OMC). A complicit element is that both also work in space aviation and, above all, in the weapons sector.
In the global ranking of weapons, however, although they are “great players”, it does not occupy the first positions: Boeing is in sixth place, right in front of Airbus, in the 13th. In this sector, both depend on state orders, which not only involve research and development: governments are also the main customers.
Among the competitors, the Brazilian Embraer company is limited to smaller aircraft; The Canadian bomber currently only serves the private jet niche market. However, China developed in one of the largest aeronautical markets in the world and brings a respectable producer, the commercial Aircraft Corporation of China Ltd. (Comac), co-founded by the Chinese government of Shanghai in 2008.
In 2015 the C919 was presented, First Passenger Bijet completely built in the country. Together with the conglomerate of the aviation and Russian oak weapons, Comac intends to build the long distance version, the C929 until 2028. At least so far, the competition in the vast market of the civil fuselage planes will be limited to the American and European protagonists.
Source: Terra

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