How Boeing Defied the Airbus Challenge

Book excerpt: For the first time since WWII, a European airplane manufacturer, Airbus, not only succeeded in challenging Boeing, the storied American aviation titan, but also nearly crippled the giant-a fate fully realized by McDonnell Douglas, a previous American icon. This book chronicles an insider's account of more than two decades of how Boeing fought back in the extremely fierce, high-stakes, and highly political quest for global aviation supremacy. The book also shows how the industry shapes the regulations and, working with the regulators, how it has changed the direction of aviation.