Pressure On Boeing, As Airbus Falters

The latest slip-up by Europe's Airbus -- whose giant A380 jet is now more than a year late and mid-sized A350 set for a total redesign -- appears to hand US rival Boeing a golden opportunity to take back the lead in the commercial jet market.

But the US plane maker, which has trailed Airbus in orders for the last five years, faces a tough schedule of its own as it aims to put its strong-selling 787 Dreamliner into service by 2008, and may not be able to ramp up production quick enough to take advantage of Airbus's problems.

"Boeing has huge challenges in front of it, nothing has changed there," said Richard Aboulafia, an analyst at aerospace consultants Teal Group. "It's high-risk, high pay-off -- there's no getting around that equation."

The 787's fuselage, which is primarily made of carbon composite materials baked into shape and promises fuel savings for airlines and roomy cabins for passengers, has roundly beaten Airbus's rival A350 in sales since its launch two years ago.

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