Business Wars

It’s the 1950s, the dawn of the jet age. And leading the world into this era of faster, less shaky flights is the British-made De Havilland Comet. But when disaster strikes, a hungry American military plane maker called Boeing spots a golden opportunity to break into the civil aviation big leagues. And as Boeing ascends, America’s grip on the aircraft market tightens, crushing the European competition. But with their market share plummeting, Europe’s plane makers decide they must unite or die.

It’s 1970 and the Boeing 747 is finally airborne. But bringing this behemoth to market has taken Boeing to the edge of collapse. And it will take years of belt-tightening and perseverance to overcome this jumbo hangover. Luckily, the Seattle manufacturer’s competition is in disarray and its major American rivals, Douglas and Lockheed, are in even deeper trouble. But across the Atlantic, a new threat is brewing. Europe’s government-backed Airbus is finally ready to fly. But the European consortium behind this new jetliner is about to discover that making planes is easier than selling them.

It’s the late 1970s and Airbus is on cloud nine after securing a breakthrough deal with Eastern Airlines. But Boeing’s not taking the consortium’s intrusion into American airspace lightly. And it’s going to use every trick in the book to take down the European challenger. But with help from some powerful friends and a bold idea that’s going to transform flying, Airbus is about to increase the throttle on its journey to the heights of the aviation industry.

It’s the late 1980s and following the A320 crash at the Habsheim Air Show in eastern France, the safety of Airbus’s computerized flight system is being called into question. But Boeing’s got troubles too. Airlines aren’t warming to its latest product proposal, it’s losing market share, and Airbus is plotting a strike against its iconic 747 jumbo jet. So with the pressure mounting, the American giant is preparing a series of a high-risk manoeuvres designed to outwit the European competition and defend its status as the king of commercial aircraft.

It’s the 2000s and after years of talk, Airbus is pushing ahead with its plan to build the biggest passenger jet in the world. But while Airbus is thinking bigger, Boeing’s thinking faster. It’s designing a near-supersonic aircraft called the Sonic Cruiser that it reckons will put some zip into its sales. But market forces, scandal and production challenges are about to put the plans of both companies well off course.

It’s 2011 and Airbus and Boeing are battling for the biggest deal in commercial aviation history. American Airlines is looking to buy 460 single-aisle airplanes and with the European jet giant going all out to win the contract, Boeing’s under pressure. But when the U.S. plane maker makes a daring strike to win over American, it sets off a chain of events that will plunge Boeing into the biggest crisis in its 100-year history.

For more than 50 years, a version of Boeing's 737 aircraft has sailed the skies, dominating the market for short-range, short-haul domestic planes. The 737 is the best-selling commercial aircraft of all time. But competition in the late 1980s got fierce when Airbus entered the market with its model A320. The corporate giants would duke it out for the biggest market share. We conclude our series on Boeing vs. Airbus with aviation safety expert Tom Anthony of the University of Southern California. He joins us to talk about the rivalry, how a major corporate culture shift changed Boeing and what exactly went wrong with the 737 Max. Support us by supporting our sponsors! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.