Serving as an American diplomat, Commerce official, even the president of the United States, sometimes requires being a salesman for Boeing.

 

Another revelation brought about by the WikiLeaks publication of classified State Department cables has shown how involved U.S. government officials are in the sale of Boeing commercial jetliners. Boeing is the largest exporter of manufactured goods in the U.S., and earns about 70% of its sales overseas. The State Department claims that every $1 billion in company sales translates into an estimated 11,000 American jobs.

 

To get large Boeing deals to go through, U.S. officials have had to entertain, and in some cases oblige, special requests from foreign heads of state.

 

For instance, in pitching a sale of 43 airliners to Saudi Arabia, the government included a personal letter from President George W. Bush urging the deal be approved. Last year, the Saudis agreed to a $3.3 billion package of twelve 777-300ER airliners (with an option for 10 more), but only after getting certain “security enhancements” for King Abdullah’s plane. The upgrade followed a communiqué asking for the same technology found aboard Air Force 1. The State Department would not elaborate on what exactly was added to the king’s aircraft.

 

Other special requests as part of Boeing deals have included Bangladesh’s prime minister, Sheik Hasina Wazed, asking for landing rights at Kennedy Airport, and the government of Turkey wanting assurances that one of the country’s astronauts join a future NASA space flight.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Diplomats Help Push Sales of Jetliners on the Global Market (by Eric Lipton, Nicola Clark and Andrew W. Lehren, New York Times)