Boeing turns up juice in tussle with Airbus

[PARIS/SEATTLE] A few months ago, Boeing Commercial Airplanes chief executive Ray Conner launched an internal campaign to urge the company's staff to fight for every sale following a series of defeats to European rival Airbus.

Its slogan: "We're in it to win it." No longer would Boeing let Airbus walk away with a larger share of the market with competitive deals. In the new campaign, Boeing would redouble efforts to recapture customers without sacrificing profitable growth.

Last Wednesday, Mr Conner's counter-offensive paid off with a US$6.5 billion deal to sell up to 109 jets to Air Canada. His long-time rival, Airbus sales chief John Leahy, shrugged off the defeat, indirectly accusing Boeing of slashing prices aggressively to win the deal. "It takes two to have a war," he told Reuters.