“Air shows are only for special events; they are a necessary evil.”
Patrick de Castelbajac, ATR CEO
Credit: Courtesy, ATR
“I used to love them. When I was younger, I used to take a day off and pay to go to air shows. I wouldn’t say now that I would pay not to go [laughs]. No, they are crazy, hectic days, but fun.”
Randy Tinseth, Boeing Commercial Airplanes VP, marketing
Credit: Courtesy, Boeing
“I look at air shows as one week out of 52. This year we will deliver between 750 and 755 airplanes and that makes us the clear market leader where it counts.”
Harry Hohmeister, Swiss International Air Lines CEO
Credit: Kurt Hofmann
“It’s actually my first time at Le Bourget. The reason I’m here of course is the fabulous product the CSeries [of which Swiss is the launch customer]. I think air shows are very, very important because they give the wider public entry into aviation, a look at what the airframe and engine manufacturers are doing. For the manufacturers, it’s an ideal platform to announce new initiatives. It’s like a stage.”
Ron Baur, United Airlines VP, fleets
Credit: Victoria Moores
“I always liked airplanes as a kid, so for me to come out and see the product live is great. At air shows they put the aircraft through maneuvers that we don’t do at the airline and it’s always fun to see them do it. I’m a big fan.”
Jozsef Varadi, Wizz Air CEO
Credit: Karen Walker
“I don’t like these air shows because whenever I come to them I buy something. I knew when I decided to come here that it would be dangerous.” (Varadi signed a $13.7 billion deal with Airbus for A321neos on the last day of the show.)
Just Asking is a forum where ATW editors put a single question to key industry players. The question this time went to the attendees of the 24th Annual Phoenix International Aviation Symposium.
