Leaked embassy cables show that US diplomats aggressively pushed foreign governments to purchase Boeing airplanes, helping the US aviation giant in the bitter transatlantic battle with its European rival, Airbus.
In late 2007, the national airline of the Kingdom of Bahrain announced a huge deal to buy airplanes from European aviation giant Airbus. But only a few weeks later, Gulf Air’s decision was suddenly reversed and a new contract signing ceremony with US aerospace rival Boeing was scheduled to coincide with then US President George W. Bush’s trip to Bahrain – the first ever visit of a sitting US president. Airbus had been sidelined by backdoor dealings at the highest levels, and not even an eleventh-hour appeal by French President Nicolas Sarkozy could undo the damage. It was just one of many incidents of US diplomatic wrangling that led foreign governments to favour Boeing over Airbus.
Hundreds of newly leaked cables, obtained by the US daily the New York Times, show that US diplomats have aggressively lobbied foreign governments to buy commercial jetliners built by the Seattle-based airplane manufacturer.
“United States diplomats were acting like marketing agents, offering deals to heads of state and airline executives whose decisions could be influenced by price, performance and, as with all finicky customers with plenty to spend, perks,” the daily wrote.
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In 2006, a senior Commerce Department official hand-delivered a personal letter from former President Bush to the Jeddah office of the Saudi King,
urging him to buy 43 Boeing jets. According to the cables, the king replied in turn with a personal request: “all the technology that his friend, President Bush, had on Air Force One,” for his own private jet.
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