Airbus exec hints at tardy 787, plays up A350

PHOENIX — John Leahy may be getting gentler. But he's still the ultimate believer in Airbus.

Airbus' chief commercial officer and supersalesman said Monday he's hearing from suppliers that Boeing's 787 could be up to six months late. Though he'd prefer that didn't happen, he added.

"In this particular case, misery doesn't love company," said Leahy, "We wish them well, to get an airplane out the door on time."

Leahy called the A350, Airbus' challenge to the new Boeing jet, a "world airplane," because, like the 787, it will be built in large sections around the globe. And he predicted his plane will have at least 200 orders by year-end.

"You'll clearly see 2007 as being the year of the A350," he said.

Leahy spoke publicly Monday morning at the annual conference of the International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading, an industry conference for aircraft buyers, lessors and financiers. The U.S.-born Leahy made his typical public jabs at Boeing's airplanes during his talk.

In an afternoon interview in his hotel suite, his take-no-prisoners sales patter was softened by a humbler demeanor.

The humility may be the result of the recent disastrous missteps at Airbus. Or perhaps his brush with mortality: The 56-year-old executive had heart surgery in November at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz., and will return today for a checkup.

Just last week, Boeing Chief Financial Officer James Bell reaffirmed the 787 is on schedule.

Leahy prefaced his remarks questioning that timetable with a self-deprecating joke that alluded to the two-year delay on the A380 superjumbo jet.

"Despite our extensive experience in delaying aircraft programs, we don't have any particular inside knowledge" about the 787 program, Leahy said. "But if you talk with suppliers, most people are talking about up to a six-month delay as a possibility."

Then, after wishing Boeing luck with its schedule, he moved on to dispel any doubts about Airbus' A350 program.

"It's no more tentative a program than the 787 is," Leahy said. "I don't think there's an airline out there that thinks the A350 is in question."

The A350 originally won about 100 order commitments before the program was delayed and radically changed in July. It will now have a new wider fuselage and a composite construction.

Only one airline, Finnair, has reconfirmed that it will order the new version, but Leahy said he expects almost all of the original customers will do so.

One reason for his confidence: Leahy said part of the $657 million set aside in the parent-company accounts last week for the A350 delays was to cover the difference in price between the original A350 and the latest version.

In other words, Airbus is paying much of the difference, and the airlines that ordered early are getting a great deal.

Leahy said Airbus is negotiating with a list of supplier partners around the world, who will build half the A350. Indeed, his description of the intended plan could almost have come straight from a Boeing executive:

"We are a European consortium that is building a world airplane," Leahy said, "We are designing, we are coordinating, we are the integrator and, of course, we are selling and supporting it."

"The fact that you integrate the parts from around the world is the important part," he said, "Who owns the factory is not the important part."

That strategic shift will profoundly shape the radical restructuring pending at Airbus, which entails sell-offs of some plants and the shedding of some 10,000 European jobs.

After 22 years at Airbus, with all the turmoil and his heart problems, is Leahy committed to staying?

"A lot depends on what the Mayo Clinic says," he replied. "Assuming my health is good, I have no immediate plans to go anywhere else."

Dominic Gates: 206-464-2963 or dgates@seattletimes.com