How Much Do Your Planes Really Cost?

Get an executive from Airbus and another from Boeing on the same stage in what's billed as a debate, and you might think that what you'd hear is a long back-and-forth over which new airplane is better or in worse shape, the 787 or the A380. That may have been the case a year or two ago, but with the industry slammed by a steep drop-off in passenger traffic and cargo, interest veers to issues of money.

This morning, at the the 29th Annual New York Airfinance Conference in New York, representatives from the world's two largest aircraft manufacturers seemed a bit ill at ease when an analyst from Goldman Sachs asked them why their companies considered the actual purchase price of an airplane to be a secret.

"It is confidential information ... We're not selling commodities, we're selling assets of high value," said Andrew J. Shankland, Airbus' vice president for marketing. Shankland added that the company has basic, list prices for its various models on its website, but the final cost of a plane is between Airbus and the buyer.

Randy Tinseth, Boeing's vice president for marketing, said the final price of an aircraft was dependent on how the buyer wanted the plane outfitted. "At the end of the day we're selling a product that's a value to a (specific) airline," he said.

But some in the audience of airline executives, bankers, and avaition analysts weren't satisfied. One person pointed out to Shankland and Tinseth that the shipping industry has more transparency, so why can't the airlines follow this model?

The question was met by silence from the Airbus and Boeing reps.