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Cailianshe News, July 23 (Editor: Ma Lan)Boeing kept a low profile at this week's Farnborough Air Show, saying it was focused on meeting quality requirements of U.S. regulators and meeting delivery commitments to customers, and that it was not currently planning to sell its aircraft in large numbers.

Boeing Chief Operating Officer Stephanie Pope said Boeing is focused on delivering aircraft to customers and hopes to restore production of the troubled 737 Max aircraft to 38 per month. Boeing has significantly slowed production at its factories for quality and safety reforms.

The statement is inconsistent with the original purpose of the Farnborough Air Show. The aviation expo has traditionally been a place for aerospace companies to showcase their latest technologies and for manufacturers to promote large orders for new passenger, cargo and military aircraft. Boeing's low profile at the Farnborough Air Show reflects the company's plight to some extent.

Earlier this year, a door plug on a Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft of Alaska Airlines exploded during flight. Afterwards, several Boeing insiders came forward to report the quality problem under their real names, which put Boeing at the center of controversy. Subsequently, the US aviation management agency and judicial department also intervened in the investigation, and Boeing's aircraft business plummeted.

Richard Aboulafia, a consultant at consulting firm AeroDynamic, said he hopes Boeing's new CEO next year will change the status quo, but before that, Boeing needs to work together to keep Boeing running. This is a tragedy and an embarrassment, and I hope this air show will be the darkness before dawn.

New orders emerge

John Strickland, an aviation analyst at JLS Consulting, said that normally, manufacturers would have a large number of aircraft on display at air shows, seize every opportunity to promote and test fly. But this time, Boeing showed contrition and focused on safety to win trust.

And it has won over some customers. Korean Air, South Korea's largest airline, intends to buy 20 Boeing 777s and 20 787 Dreamliners, while Japan Airlines has agreed to order 10 787s, according to Boeing. Both orders include options for 10 additional Dreamliners.

Korean Air Chief Executive Walter Cho said he expects to start receiving the planes by the end of this decade. He also said that if he didn't have confidence, he wouldn't have ordered the planes and he believes Boeing will get through all the current difficulties.

But at the same time, Korean Air has also ordered a batch of Airbus A350 aircraft this year. Cho pointed out that whichever company's aircraft can reach the apron first will become Korean Air's flagship aircraft.

Currently, both Boeing and Airbus have a large backlog of orders that will take years to deliver, but Boeing's monthly orders have dropped significantly due to quality issues, allowing Airbus' market share to increase dramatically.

Airbus is currently developing the A321XLR, whose core selling point is fuel efficiency, allowing airlines to use narrow-body aircraft on long-haul flights at a cheaper price. The model is expected to be certified later this year and has accumulated more than 500 orders.