Despite hopes for an imminent recovery, the world's air transport industry remains hobbled by slack demand and a changing business environment. Airline uncertainties and a difficult economic outlook also are complicating manufacturers' efforts to position themselves for the next market upturn. Traffic and yields remain below 2001 levels. The inactive jetliner fleet still hovers near 2,000 airplanes, more than 13% of the total fleet.

In the past decade, the world rotorcraft market has been hit by the downturn in military spending. The military side makes up the overwhelming majority of this market, and like other military segments, procurement has fallen as new systems are delayed and armed forces coast on existing inventories.

Competitive tensions between Airbus and Boeing are truly at a new high point following Airbus Industrie's late-December decision to launch its A380 (formerly A3XX) mega-transport. This means Airbus and Boeing now have intense competitions going at every level of the jetliner spectrum. It also means the manufacturers have two fundamentally different philosophies of how the air transport market will develop in the coming years. JUMBO VERSUS MINI JUMBO