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<\/a><\/p>\nBy Scott Hamilton<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Free for nonsubscribers\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n By Scott Hamilton\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Aug. 31, 2026, \u00a9 Leeham News and Analysis<\/strong>: Today is my last day as a full-fledged participant in Leeham News and Analysis (LNA)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n When LNA<\/strong> was sold to AIN Media Group in July 2025, a two-year contract for me was included, with a provision that AIN<\/strong> would strive to find my successor as editor within a year. Howard Hardee assumed the editor\u2019s slot on July 1 this year. I became editor-at-large.<\/p>\n I remain under contract until next July, but at a reduced level, which gives me the free time to pursue my bucket list of things to see and places to go. I\u2019ll contribute articles for LNA<\/strong> from time to time and provide advice on business development and related issues.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been closely following Airbus and Boeing since 1992. That\u2019s when Boeing led an industry effort to adopt international standards for the recovery of airliners leased to or purchased by distressed airlines. Under US bankruptcy law, lenders and lessors could repossess the aircraft after a 60-day waiting period following the airline\u2019s bankruptcy filing. No such mechanism existed for non-US carriers.<\/p>\n Led by Scott Scherer of what was then Boeing Capital Corp., the Boeing-led effort was successful. By law, distressed or bankrupt carriers in default had to turn over their aircraft after a court filing and approval. In practice, courts often ignored the new international standard, much to the frustration of the lessor or lender.<\/p>\n My coverage shifted to Boeing and Airbus as complaints about \u201cillegal\u201d subsidies began to rear their ugly heads. Boeing complained Airbus obtained illegal subsidies that enabled it to undercut Boeing\u2019s pricing. Airbus picked up the refrain and countered with similar complaints. This debate continued in one form or another for the following 30-plus years.<\/p>\n Having followed Airbus and Boeing closely since then (and to a lesser extent, Embraer), I\u2019m in a good position to draw conclusions over three decades about these companies.<\/p>\n There is no question that Airbus succeeded in overtaking Boeing as the world\u2019s leading airplane manufacturer, beginning in about 2004. There are many reasons for this. To get right to the point today, I\u2019ll say this: there are now trends at Airbus that I find really disturbing.<\/p>\n In March 2023, I wrote in Pontifications, \u201cComplacency, arrogance aren\u2019t a Boeing exclusive.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n I began that article, \u201cAirbus is resting on its laurels while Boeing struggles to recover from one crisis after another since the March 2019 grounding of the global 737 Max fleet.<\/p>\n \u201cMultiple sources tell me that Airbus, aside from the production problems it has in common with Boeing, is enjoying Boeing\u2019s deep freeze by China. The decision by Boeing CEO David Calhoun to delay the \u2018introduction\u2019 of a new airplane until the middle of the next decade took the pressure off Airbus to be ready to move sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile Boeing struggles, Airbus has become conservative, complacent and\u2014gasp\u2014even arrogant, a longtime Boeing trait.\u201d<\/p>\n The rest of the article provided some examples of this thesis.<\/p>\n Boy, did that cause a stir. I received a call from Airbus communications complaining about the article. A call like this was routine for Boeing, which often whined about things I wrote (my journalistic peers received similar calls) to the point where the phone calls arguably crossed into harassment and intimidation.<\/p>\n But Airbus never had done this, at least not with me.<\/p>\n Within days, I was on a Zoom with the comms person, the department head, and the CEO of Airbus Commercial. I held my ground, of course.<\/p>\n What I\u2019ve seen since that 2023 date hasn\u2019t been a trend in the right direction.<\/p>\n Under the administration of Guillaume Faury, the CEO, and Julie Kitcher, the chief sustainability officer and communications at Airbus (the latter being the relevant position for this discussion), Airbus has been slowly shifting its media focus away from veteran aviation reporters in favor of 18-to-35-year-old \u201cinfluencers,\u201d citing TikTok specifically as an \u201cinfluencer\u201d outlet.<\/p>\n Veteran aviation reporters began falling out of favor. One of the best technical aviation reporters still around was deemed too old. So was I. Bjorn Fehrm, an aerospace engineer by training, also fell off the invite list for a time.<\/p>\n I suspected there was a hidden agenda. People like us old-timers and LNA<\/strong> know commercial aviation inside out. \u201cInfluencers,\u201d by and large, don\u2019t have a thimble of knowledge that the aviation veterans have. Maybe this is partly the point of favoring them.<\/p>\n Who are these influencers there to influence? Certainly not the Tim Clarks, Michael O\u2019Learys and Scott Kirbys of the world.<\/p>\n Says an insider: the 18-to-35-year-old influencer strategy is to promote to up-and-comers that Airbus is a cool place to work and build a career. Which is all well and good, but not at the expense of journalists who truly know what they are writing about.<\/p>\n Another disturbing trend: Airbus used to be forthright when questions were posed. Today, Airbus is more like Boeing pre-Kelly Ortberg. Answers are often ambiguous rather than informative\u2014though admittedly this is a hit-or-miss complaint.<\/p>\n Planned presentations degenerated into advertising vehicles rather than informational content. There was no pre-air show briefing this year, the first time in my memory when there was no briefing.<\/p>\n During the era of CEO Tom Enders and his communications head, Rainer Ohler, Airbus executives were commonly available either via headquarters or field offices. Today, Airbus is more like Boeing; executives are rarely available for interviews.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s Airbus also retaliates against a journalist who wrote something executives disliked by freezing him or her out, just like the \u201cold\u201d Boeing. It\u2019s true that John Leahy, the former COO of Customers, regularly put a reporter on ice, including me (three times), but communications largely continued to cooperate behind the scenes.<\/p>\n For years, beginning with CEO Jim McNerney, Boeing beat up suppliers under the program called Partnering for Success. This misleading title was used to squeeze the profit margins of Boeing\u2019s supply partners. Many earned double-digit margins compared with Boeing\u2019s single-digit profits. Boeing demanded price cuts under the threat of being replaced. Suppliers called it Preparing for Sacrifice or Preparing for Poverty.<\/p>\n Airbus also had a program to cut costs, but even suppliers\u2014notably those common to both companies\u2014said Airbus\u2019 approach was more collaborative than combative.<\/p>\n However, today Boeing is characterized by a series of crises and is humbled, while Airbus has become more arrogant. Boeing is now called transparent, and some suppliers complain that Airbus is no longer, reflecting the \u201cold\u201d Boeing.<\/p>\n More concerning than the media policies is the increasing emphasis on shareholder value.<\/p>\n For anyone who has followed Boeing since 1997, when its top priorities became shareholder value, shareholder value, shareholder value, and everything else thereafter, this is cause for raised eyebrows.<\/p>\n LNA<\/strong> editor Howard Hardee touched on the announcement concurrent with Farnborough International Airshow that more emphasis will be placed on shareholder value<\/a>. I wrote about this as far back as April 2023<\/a>. The timing was not coincidental with the come-to-Jesus meeting I had with Airbus over arrogance and complacency.<\/p>\n Thomas Topfer, the CFO of Airbus Group, laid out the new emphasis in an investors\u2019 briefing concurrent with Farnborough.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s now the right time to accelerate shareholder returns; therefore, we are launching a \u20ac5 billion share buyback program to be executed over a three-year time horizon subject\u2026to continued shareholder approval,\u201d Topfer told analysts. \u201cThis marks clearly a significant step change over the past four years we returned \u20ac7.2 billion to our investors through regular and special dividends. With this new program, we are expanding that commitment. We expect total cash returns over the 2026 to 2029 period to represent around 60% of our accumulated free cash flow generation.\u201d<\/p>\n At least Airbus has limited the shareholder returns to 60% of free cash flow. Boeing committed to returning 100% of free cash flow to shareholders, leaving limited room for product development. Boeing suspended dividends and share buybacks following the second 737 Max crash in March 2019.<\/p>\n \u201cImportantly, I would like to emphasize, of course, this share buyback is a targeted tactical move based on our current strengths rather than a permanent recurring annual commitment,\u201d Topfer said. He said that this ensures that Airbus will \u201ccontinuously drive long-term shareholder value while fully preserving our strategic flexibility. These strategic levers mark our transition into a value-driven phase for Airbus, and as we scale past 1,100 deliveries and surpass the triple-digit revenue mark, our success is driven by disciplined execution across commercial aircraft, defense, space, and helicopters alike.<\/p>\n \u201cOur structural cash generation enables us to invest in our future while accelerating shareholder returns at the same time. We\u2019re delivering on this through our continued commitment to a progressive dividend policy which will be complemented by the \u20ac5 billion share buyback program, and these actions demonstrate our focus on consistent value,\u201d Topfer said.<\/p>\n LNA<\/strong> was told long ago that institutional shareholders were pressing Airbus for more value. Although Airbus hasn\u2019t gone to \u201cfull Boeing\u201d yet, by dedicating 100% of free cash flow to shareholders, the trend is worrying, nevertheless.<\/p>\n \n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Scott Hamilton Free for nonsubscribers\u00a0 By Scott Hamilton\u00a0 Aug. 31, 2026, \u00a9 Leeham News and Analysis: Today is my last day as a full-fledged participant in Leeham News and Analysis (LNA). When LNA was sold to AIN Media Group in July 2025, a two-year contract for me was included, with a provision that AIN […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7039807,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12027],"tags":[12585,60497,60645,11604],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-7052891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-airbus","tag-airbus","tag-disturbing","tag-pontifications","tag-trends"],"yoast_head":"\nAirbus Overtakes Boeing, Begins Mimicking It<\/strong><\/h5>\n
Called on the Carpet<\/strong><\/h5>\n
Who Do the Influencers Influence?<\/strong><\/h5>\n
Supply Chain Flip<\/strong><\/h5>\n
Shareholder Value<\/strong><\/h5>\n
Reserving Money for Product Development<\/strong><\/h5>\n
Related<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n