Airbus teams up with Bombardier to deepen Delta ties and outmanoeuvre Boeing

The Bombardier-Delta-Boeing triangle created by a recent tentative decision of the US government to place tariffs on 75 CSeries jets in Delta's order book is the latest chapter in a years-long grudge match between Delta and Boeing - one that was spurred by Delta's campaign to institute reforms of the ExIm Bank as part of the airline's quest to quash what it deemed as unfair competitive advantages held by the three large Gulf airlines, Emirates, Etihad and Qatar. 



Now Boeing's rival Airbus has joined the fray, pledging to take a stake in the CSeries programme, which would allow Bombardier to sidestep the potential tariffs imposed on the new generation widebody aircraft. The result of the deepened ties between Airbus and Bombardier is that Airbus now influences approximately 75% of Delta's order book.

The Airbus twist puts the administration of US president Donald Trump in an interesting position. The airframer has pledged to add a new assembly line at its US manufacturing plant to build CSeries jets, which obviously creates US jobs and supports his "America First" agenda.

Building some of the CSeries jets in the US would also smooth ruffled feathers of two of the US' major allies - Canada and the UK; each country has factories that help manufacture the CSeries. The leaders of Canada and the UK have voiced their vehement opposition to the tariffs, and pledged retaliation against Boeing if the charges are levied against the CSeries.