Connie Akarin arrived at Hong Kong Kai Tak Airport at 10 a.m. on the 11th. After taking his luggage to the hotel, he had no time to rest. He just had a hasty lunch and then went to Li's Building to visit Li Guangyu.
This time he knew that going to Xiangjiang Air Transport Group President Zhao Wenhua would have no effect. The decision-making power rested with Li Guangyu. Only if Li Guangyu changed his mind would Boeing have a chance to win the order.
After arriving at the front desk of the Lee Building, he said to the front desk administrator: "Hello, I am Connie Akarin, Vice President of Boeing Company. I hope to visit Mr. Li Guangyu. Please report to me."
"Hello sir, do you have an appointment?"
"I have not made an appointment, but Mr. Li Guangyu and I are good friends. If you report, I believe he will meet with me."
Why don’t the front desk executives know the origins of Connie Akarin? As employees of the Lee Consortium, especially since they are at the headquarters, they are very concerned about the consortium’s affairs. This time the airline ordered sixty aircraft from Airbus. Boeing is probably in a hurry.
, so the vice president hurried over to visit Li Sheng, and came here rashly without even making an appointment.
The front desk executive said: "Mr. Akarin, I'm really sorry. Our Mr. Li will fly to Japan tomorrow, so we didn't come to the building to work this afternoon. You have to visit Mr. Li, so please come back another day."
When Connie Akarin heard that Li Guangyu was not here, he was very anxious. If he could not meet with Li Guangyu for a long time, then Xiangjiang Airlines' order would be completely missed by Boeing.
He hurriedly asked: "Then did you Li Sheng say when you will return to Xiangjiang? I hope to meet him as soon as possible."
"Sir, we don't know much about this, but Miss Gan Qin just announced that Li Sheng, Yuan Sheng, Miss Li, Miss Zhang, Shi Sheng, Zhao Sheng and other presidents will go to Vancouver the day after tomorrow, and will also visit Mexico and Brazil later.
, it will probably take at least ten days and a half."
Connie Akarin knew that if he did not meet with Li Guangyu at this time, he would probably never have another chance this year, and from where Li Guangyu was about to visit, it was obvious that he was going to American companies.
With so many presidents visiting this time, they will never go to these places just for a formality. Once the Lee Group takes root in these places, it will have a great impact on American companies.
If the Lee Consortium and the Japanese Consortium really took over their American markets, they would not be able to bring down the Soviet Union economically, but they themselves would be killed economically by the Japanese Consortium and the Lee Consortium first.
It was probably impossible for him to see Li Guangyu at this time. He didn't even know where Li Guangyu was in the afternoon.
After saying goodbye to the front desk administrative staff, he immediately went to Xiangjiang Air Transport Group to visit the group president Zhao Wenhua, hoping to get some good news here.
At the headquarters of Xiangjiang Air Transport Group, Connie Akarin did not receive the same rejection as he did at Li's Building, and met Zhao Wenhua very smoothly.
In the reception area of the president's office, Zhao Wenhua asked politely: "Mr. Akarin, I haven't seen you for more than a year. I wonder what happened to your sudden visit this time?"
Regarding Zhao Wenhua's knowing questions, Connie Akarin still responded politely to Zhao Wenhua's question. Who knew that this time it was Boeing that was eager to see the Li Group?
Connie Akarin is very dissatisfied with the practices of some groups. In this way, their companies can only guarantee profits, but who will compensate Boeing for the loss of profits? Hundreds of millions of dollars in profits are lost like this. How can he?
Can be willing.
What's even worse is that this is a disguised form of pushing its important customers to its competitors. Airbus has the profits from these orders and invests them in the research and development of new technologies, which will put increasing pressure on Boeing.
He had long received news that Airbus began developing ultra-long-range civil aviation airliners three years ago in order to offset the advantages of their Boeing 747 and compete with Boeing in all aspects.
Now the research has come to an end. If all goes well, it will be ready for test flight next year and put into the market by the end of 2086.
By then, Boeing will no longer be the dominant player in ultra-long range. Airbus has never lacked technology and has the support of many Western European countries. Akarin does not believe that their aircraft research and development will fail.
If he cannot allow the Lee Consortium to continue to cooperate with Boeing, then Hong Kong Airlines is likely to be an all-Airbus airline in the future, and Boeing will completely withdraw from the historical stage of Hong Kong Airlines.
This is definitely not what Conny Akarin wants to see. A top airline in the world. If there is no Boeing passenger plane, this will be a huge blow to Boeing.
He said to Zhao Wenhua: "Mr. Zhao, according to the information I have learned, your airline plans to purchase 60 aircraft, including 30 passenger aircraft and 30 cargo aircraft. I know that your company's routes are basically transnational routes.
There is more demand for long-range aircraft, and I think our Boeing 747 series is more suitable for you, what do you think?"
Zhao Wenhua naturally hopes that the airline will have a large number of ultra-long-range passenger aircraft, so that the company can arrange the flight routes more calmly. But this time it is not just a matter of choosing the aircraft. The US government has already targeted the Lee Group. What can he do at this time?
They will also shamelessly buy Boeing aircraft.
Although the Li Consortium is not too strong now, it still has its own backbone. The Li Consortium will never become a follower of the American consortium, let alone survive on its knees.
Until the United States lifts its suppression of the products of the Lee Consortium, their airline will never purchase a single Boeing passenger plane.
Zhao Wenhua has received the news that Li Guangyu is planning to order a special plane from Airbus to replace the current Boeing special plane to show the attitude of the Li Group.
Zhao Wenhua said: "Thank you for your attention to our company. However, our airline has signed a purchase agreement with Airbus. The current fleet size has met the development in the next few years. Our company has no demand for new aircraft for the time being. Boeing
You have always been an important partner of our group. If there is a need for development in the future, I will give priority to Boeing."
Connie Akarin was extremely frustrated and disappointed. Boeing had no chance this time. As for Zhao Wenhua's polite words, he didn't believe it at all.
If it were an important partner, Boeing would not have reached a purchase agreement with Airbus without notifying them. From now on, Boeing would give priority to them. It was just polite words. As long as the relationship between the Lee Group and the United States did not improve,
Then Boeing can't even hope to get a purchase order from Xiangjiang Airlines.
Connie Akarin said: "Mr. Zhao, please tell Mr. Li that this time the government and Congress increased tariffs on your Bentley Group's cars and Phoenix mobile phones have nothing to do with us at Boeing. We also hope that Mr. Li can consider it."
We have a long-term cooperative friendship and don’t treat our Boeing differently. Our Boeing is far superior to Airbus in terms of quality, price and applicability, and is more suitable for the needs of Xiangjiang Airlines."
Although Akarin knew that saying this would not have much effect, he still hoped that Zhao Wenhua would pass this word to Li Guangyu, hoping to win a chance for Boeing. He really did not want Boeing to lose Xiangjiang Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways.
A big customer.
Before this incident occurred, Boeing had an advantage over Airbus among the two major companies. The key point was that they had ultra-long-range passenger aircraft, and Xiangjiang Airlines and Cathay Pacific had considerable demand for this.
If it weren't for the British influence in Hong Kong and the Lee Group's purchase of some Airbus aircraft for certain interests, Hong Kong Airlines would have purchased all their Boeing aircraft.
This time, the actions of the U.S. government and the consortium behind them caused Boeing to completely lose the business of these two airlines.