Not a good time to be head of Air France KLM

[woolybanana]

The airline is seeking to renew it fleet of long haul carriers which is presently mainly Boeings. The entire French political and industrial establishment is now putting immense pressure on them to buy EADS. The arguements being used range from jobs to patriotism and those calling on the airline to "see sense" range from the president down to the local doorman. Interestingly, any mention of fair competition has been pushed aside on then grounds that La Nation needs these orders. I think I even heard the minister of external trade mutter something about "common sense".

I suspect that they are even getting late night fone calls offering large sums of money or to beware in case their elmderly mothers are kneecapped.

Frankly, the whole process in nauseous.

However, given the affair of the air refuelling tankers for the American airforce in which the contract was taken away from EADS after a fair tendering process and then reawarded to Boeing, I do have some sympathy in this instance.

http://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-eco/2011/06/14/97002-20110614FILWWW00402-mega-commande-air-france-convoque.php

(english version)

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=fr&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lefigaro.fr%2Fflash-eco%2F2011%2F06%2F14%2F97002-20110614FILWWW00402-mega-commande-air-france-convoque.php

[idun]

I suspect that they are even getting late night fone calls offering large sums of money or to beware in case their elmderly mothers are kneecapped.

Don't believe you did a typo, are you implying dutch elm disease linked to knee capping?

I used to like flying KLM.  Those very tall blonde cabin ladies on the KLM flights were the very thing I needed to keep my youngest son in order on a long flight when he was young. Have had a couple of unhappy flights when I have booked KLM and ended up on their partner's planes. Strangely on one of the flights we were sat next to my brother's double, spooky and he too was lamenting that he had booked KLM and was on North West(ern)(sp) too.

[Quillan]

I wonder if EADS will do any 'deals', they certainly wouldn't with O'leary so he went to Boeing (737-800's, he now has in access of 212 of them replacing his 737-200's) instead who of course were willing to do a deal.