 Mr Condit says a BAE merger is not imminent |
Phil Condit, the chief executive of Boeing, has warned that the threat of war will have a further destabilising effect on the global airline business - and could spell disaster for some struggling US carriers. Mr Condit said that, while he believed any conflict would be short, it could depress global air traffic by about 2% this year.
And even though much of the nervousness which has caused passengers to postpone travel may be already factored in to the business, it could still prove costly.
"In Asia a fall of 1% might cause a bit of a slowdown, but in the US it would be hugely important," he told the BBC.
The Boeing boss added that he believed that American Airlines might slip into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and that United Airlines, already in Chapter 11, could sink into insolvency.
Possible exposure
Mr Condit emphasised that Boeing's order book was not overly exposed to United but admitted that the company would suffer if troubled airlines started selling aircraft on the second-hand market.
Boeing will deliver about 280 planes this year and between 275 and 300 in 2004.
And while he denied that Boeing was moving closer to its long-rumoured merger target, Britain's BAE Systems, Mr Condit argued there was a need for greater transatlantic co-operation between firms.
"We must be able to work with companies on this side of the Atlantic much more closely than we have in the past."
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