FARNBOROUGH: Boeing will press for deeper price cuts from some suppliers once it completes its planned acquisition of the regional jet business of Brazil's Embraer, Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg told Reuters on Tuesday.
"The key thing you are going to see is that through the combination between Boeing and Embraer, we will be able to increase volume for our supply chain, which is generally going to be beneficial. And that beneficial volume should also turn into more affordability and competitiveness," he said in an interview at the Farnborough Airshow
Asked if he expected further price cuts beyond those already agreed with suppliers, he said: "Yes. Because you'll see additional increases in volume. And a very typical discussion we'll have with our supply chain is, if there's an opportunity for them to increase volume or access to additional platforms, if we can gain a cost advantage in the marketplace, that's a mutual benefit."
Boeing, meanwhile, continues to "keep a very close eye" on consolidation among its major suppliers and will continue to expand where necessary, he said.
Analysts say Boeing's tentative deal with Embraer, which closely followed rival Airbus' deal to buy Bombardier's 110-130-seat CSeries jet, may fuel consolidation.
"In some cases, consolidation can be beneficial where it allows the supply chain to take costs out. If we get to a point where consolidation is reducing our sources to a level where we can't stand, we've had the opportunity to build new sources of supply. We always have that flexibility," Muilenburg said.
Muilenburg also suggested Boeing would continue to push into areas traditionally dominated by suppliers, bringing some areas of production in-house in a process known as vertical integration.
Some aerospace suppliers have been rattled by Boeing's recent moves to integrate parts. In the most recent example, it set up a joint venture with France's Safran to break into the highly concentrated market for auxiliary power units.
"We are very targeted in that area," Muilenburg said, when asked where he would set the limits for such expansion.
Boeing has 30-40 categories or "verticals" across its platforms and when deciding where to invest, it considers whether there is a good services business attached, he said.
Muilenburg said Boeing would offer services to airlines operating not only Boeing jets but Airbus jets, mirroring remarks by its European arch-rival that it was prepared to provide data services on Boeing planes.
RESILIENT DEMAND
Muilenburg was speaking after the world's largest planemaker unveiled a higher 20-year demand forecast for passenger jets driven by a steadily expanding global middle class.
Muilenburg, who said on Sunday he was concerned about recent protectionist trade rhetoric, defended the bullish forecast.
"Those trends that we've talked about are proving to be sustainable even when there's tough trade rhetoric around the world, when there are geopolitical issues that are being addressed and brought to the surface," Muilenburg said.
Boeing became embroiled in a trade spat last year when it claimed Canadian planemaker Bombardier had billions of dollars in illegal government subsidies, only to find itself getting drawn into a row with the UK over Bombardier jobs.
Muilenburg said relations remained sound with Britain, where Boeing had doubled investments.
He confirmed Boeing was holding discussions over replacing its six British E-3D Sentry airborne early warning planes with Boeing E-7 Wedgetail jets.
"It's a lesson," he said, referring to the Bombardier matter and the ripple effect regional geopolitical spats can have on a global business in a world "becoming more and more networked".
But he said Boeing would do "exactly the same" if given the chance to rethink the trade claim, which was overturned by a US tribunal, adding it had acted against unfair practices.
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