Boeing Names New Senior Plane Salesman

Boeing Names New Senior Plane Salesman

Boeing named a former aerospace engineer to the post of senior airliner salesman on Friday, giving him the task of leading the US plane maker’s efforts to outsell Airbus in the fiercely contested USD$100 billion a year global market.

The company’s commercial plane unit, which is based in the Seattle area, named 55-year old John Wojick as vice president of sales, filling the place of Ray Conner, who took over leadership of the commercial plane unit in June.

Wojick, who started at Boeing in 1980 as an engineer and progressed through several international sales roles, now has the job of steering Boeing’s sales campaigns at a crucial time in its development of new planes.

“John’s experience working with customers worldwide and his ability to align Boeing resources in support of their needs are critical in today’s competitive environment,” said Conner in an internal Boeing memo.

Boeing is pushing airlines hard to buy its new 737 MAX single-aisle planes, which is catching up with Airbus’s competing A320neo launched a year earlier. But it is struggling to find buyers for its new 747 jumbo, while sales of its carbon composite 787 have stalled.

Last year Airbus outsold Boeing, due to strong A320neo sales, and won a landmark order with core Boeing customer American Airlines. But this year Boeing is setting the pace with 701 net plane orders to Airbus’s 270, powered by sales of the 737 MAX.

(Reuters)