Boeing Expands India Management, As Demand for New Jets Soars in the South Asian Country
Boeing Co. on Thursday announced an expansion of its management team in India by relocating two senior executives to New Delhi, as demand for new jets soars in the South Asian country.
Larry Coughlin, who was a director of strategic projects, has been named managing director of India operations for Boeing's commercial airplanes. Mike Devers, currently a director for Asian markets, has been appointed vice president of Boeing's defense-related business in India.
The changes will help the U.S. aircraft maker pursue new business opportunities and interact more closely with the government and industry groups in India, said Mark Hooper, a Boeing spokesman.
"We want to have people closer to the customers," Hooper told The Associated Press.
The announcement came weeks after Chicago-based Boeing nearly doubled its forecast for India's aircraft needs to 856 commercial jets worth more than US$72 billion over the next 20 years.
India's aviation policy and the success of several budget airlines launched over the past two years contributed to the revision in its forecasts, the company said.
"India is a priority market for Boeing," a company statement quoted its Chairman and CEO Jim McNerney as saying. "There is a tremendous opportunity for Boeing and India to work together on a multitude of projects and business initiatives."
In 2005, Boeing won orders valued at US$15 billion (euro12 billion) at list price from Indian carriers, including an order for 68 airplanes worth US$11.4 billion (euro9 billion) from state-run Air India.
Boeing is also lobbying the Indian Air Force for the F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet. India plans to buy 126 fighter jets to modernize its military.
Dassault Aviation of France, which makes the Mirage, Sweden's Gripen-SAAB, Russia's Sukhoi fighters and F-16s from Lockheed Martin are also in the race.
Hooper declined to comment on the prospects of India opting for the Super Hornet, but the company remains optimistic.
"We think we have a product that fits the requirement of the Indian air force," he said.
India currently has no U.S.-made combat aircraft, because of decades of frosty ties between the two countries during the Cold War era.
But relations have warmed in recent years. The two countries have signed a civilian nuclear deal and both Lockheed and Boeing hope such strategic ties would get them more business here.
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