Boeing just scored a blockbuster order from China for 200 aircraft, President Donald Trump said in an TV interview this week.
“One thing he agreed to was he’s gonna order 200 jets. That’s a big thing, Boeings” Trump said in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The order had been in the works for months and possibly signals a thawing in relations between the U.S. and China. Boeing had been virtually shut out of the Chinese market for nearly a decade due to trade tensions between the two countries. CEO Kelly Ortberg was among the major U.S. executives to accompany Trump on his trip to Beijing.
Trump has been Boeing’s biggest salesman during his second term. In the past year, Boeing has closed other blockbuster orders with Qatar Airways and Korean Air.
The order also comes at a time when demand for aircraft in the airline industry is still high, despite surging fuel prices. Ortberg said during a call with analysts in April that the plane maker has not seen an impact to aircraft deliveries so far following the Iran war.
“As always, we stay close to our commercial customers if they make adjustments to their plans, in which case, I think the strength and diversity of our backlog gives us a lot of flexibility,” he said.
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