Dinesh Keskar is the most motivated Airbus salesman the jetmaker never had on its payroll.
Keskar, president of Boeing Aircraft Trading, has one of the trickiest sales jobs around: helping Boeing sell more planes by peddling trade-in jetliners built by Airbus.
In fact, Keskar has more used Airbus jets for sale than Airbus itself, thanks to Boeing’s deal in 1999 to buy 17 A340 widebody planes from Singapore Airlines in exchange for an order for the rival Boeing 777.
Keskar, 47, has devoted the majority of his 20-year Boeing career to selling new planes. Until his reassignment to Renton, Wash., last year, he was president of Boeing India. Before that, he directed Boeing sales and marketing in India. During Keskar’s 13-year sales stint, Indian carriers ordered planes exclusively from Boeing.
Keskar says his new job still is about selling new jets, because Boeing will take back Airbus or Boeing jets only in exchange for new orders. It otherwise isn’t interested in used aircraft, which it has to quickly resell or lease to avoid having millions of dollars in assets sit idle, he said.
Boeing Aircraft Trading has 27 aircraft for sale. They include 12 of the A340s it bought from Singapore, two of which won’t be delivered from Airbus’ factory in Toulouse, France, until 2003. There is a chance Boeing could end up with more.
The two manufacturers are vying for a possible order of about 20 widebody jets from China Airlines, a longtime Boeing customer that snubbed Boeing’s 777 two years ago for an A340 order.
Keskar would not disclose details of the China Airlines negotiations. But the carrier reportedly is considering trading in its 340s for 777s. The airline, whose cargo business has dropped steeply, also has said it may exchange pending orders for 747-400 freighters for 777-300 passenger jets or buy Airbus’ smaller A330 widebody planes.
Analysts say Boeing is hustling to capitalize on the popularity of the 777, whose spacious cabin interior and fuel efficiency have produced wins over the A340 lately.
Boeing and Airbus are coming out with longer-range versions of the 777 and the A340, and each keenly needs new buyers. At the same time, airlines increasingly are making new-aircraft deals conditional on being able to unload used aircraft. The slowdown in the airline industry and dimming prospects for major orders this year also are pushing Boeing and Airbus to consider more creative transactions.
Buying back each other’s aircraft is “aggressive, and it’s high-risk,” said Richard Aboulafia, a senior aerospace analyst with the Teal Group, a consulting and research firm in Fairfax, Va.
Yet, Aboulafia said, Boeing in particular stands to gain from supplanting Airbus jets with its own. That’s because in addition to building airplanes, Boeing is more involved than Airbus in aircraft financing and after-sales markets such as modification and maintenance.
“It’s potentially win-win for Boeing,” he said.
The practice of knocking out competitors’ planes from a customer’s fleet is not new. In 1985, Boeing sold three 737s to Kuwait Airways by buying back three new A310s. But the tactic remains uncommon, and unwelcome to the competitor.
Airbus spokeswoman Mary Anne Greczyn said the company considers Boeing’s methods “rather unconventional.”
Keskar said Boeing acquires Airbus jets only if the airline asks. “We don’t walk around saying, `Give me your Airbus aircraft,”‘ he said.
An angry Airbus initially threatened to withhold factory parts and service for the A340s bought by Boeing from Singapore two years ago. But many of those jets will be 5 years old by the time Singapore phases them out of its fleet, which means most of the warranties will have expired anyway, Keskar said.
More Top Picks Best Budget Mattresses Quality Sleep With Adjustable
Two A340s have been sold to an unidentified airline, and three others have been leased to Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways. “Cathay is a big Airbus operator, so Airbus is not going to give them a hard time” with the Boeing-leased A340s, said Keskar, who marketed the planes to Cathay.
Thanks to Cathay’s familiarity with Airbus planes, Keskar said, he fortunately “never had to sit down and tell them why they have to buy an A340.”
In 2001, Boeing Aircraft Trading bought a dozen planes in trades, including MD-11s, 757s, 767s and an A310.
Boeing tries to secure new customers for the traded aircraft to avoid having to take delivery itself.
Keskar said pitching Airbus planes is a job he approaches with resolute pragmatism.
“These airplanes are ours now, and we have to find a home for them,” Keskar said.