Boeing, Iran Air in deal for 80 airplanes
American manufacturer Boeing and Iran Air announced they have finalised a deal for 80 aircraft that includes 50 737 MAX 8s, 15 777-300ERs and 15 777-9s, valued at US$16.6 billion at list prices. The two sides announced their original deal with a memorandum of agreement in June and Boeing said the contract “was reached within the terms of the US government licence issued to Boeing in September”.
In its statement, Boeing touted the deal’s potential to “support tens of thousands of US jobs directly associated with production and delivery of the 777-300ERs and nearly 100,000 US jobs in the US aerospace value stream for the full course of deliveries. The first airplanes under this agreement are scheduled for delivery in 2018.”
Those jobs are a key part of the deal if Boeing is to see the deal survive to completion because of fierce opposition by some in the US government. The deal could also be eventually scuppered because of recent moves by President-elect Donal Trump, who in recent weeks criticised Boeing for its Air Force One presidential programme. Trump said on his infamous Twitter feed that the planned update to the famous American symbol was too expensive, but it later emerged that Trump’s comments came following a speech by Boeing’s CEO Dennis Muilenburg in which Muilenburg extolled the virtues of international trade agreements, a view that clashes with Trump’s calls to end agreements like NAFTA and the planned Trans-Pacific Partnership.
“Boeing and its more than 13,600 US supplier and vendor partners across all 50 states are proud to ensure America continues to lead in global aerospace and to create jobs and opportunities in communities across the nation. Boeing’s US supply chain currently supports more than 1.5 million US jobs,” Boeing said in its statement announcing the deal.
Various Congressional critics are also opposed to the deal because of Iran’s history of supporting listed terrorist groups and because of the recently implemented deal with Europe and the US in which Iran will curtail its nuclear ambitions. US representatives and se
