Air Plane order’s and airlines
I read today in the Chicago Tribune that Boeing got record orders last year for new planes. The majority of the orders are for their 777 and 787 models and are going to Indian and Asian markets, though there are still substantial orders for their 737 model that tends to fly connecting legs. Full Tribune Story here
What I find interesting about this is that as domestic airlines are suffering / dying, international and emerging air lines are flourishing (though a part of Boeing having a record year is due to companies delaying orders after 9/11 and other terrorist / natural events). Boeing, long the symbol of US airplanes, is a international company and we all knew that, but the fact that domestic carriers are no longer sufficient to drive their business is what I find interesting.
The nation that developed, expanded, and drove air travel is now trying to sort out where the industry that we created will be in the future. It does not escape me either that similar issues are surrounding the US automobile industry at the moment as well, considering that Asian car makers expanded their US market penetration last year. Of course the difference there is that many Asian car makers actual make their cars in the US now, so the purchase of a Honda, a Nissan, or a Toyota can do more to create a US job then the purchase of a Ford, GM or Chrysler that is made in Mexico or Canada.
Simply, the US is becoming a nation that is no longer driving many of the industries we created. That is the nature of change and development, what will be interesting to see is how this will impact what has historically been US industries in the future. I do not expect the US to be a world leader just because we started or developed something, I expect us to be world leaders because we are innovative and creative. What I wonder is if the US as a whole, i.e. the base citizens that comprise the nation, is as driven to maintain it’s leadership and role as innovator as it has in the past. Part of that is the willingness to allow markets to take their course (as it current is occuring with the domestic air carriers - our views on that here) and let the chips fall where they may. America has to allow things like that to happen where those that innovate will be strengthened, and those that are stagnent will step aside.
