This book is a first person account by a Boeing Regional Sales Director, who sold commercial airplanes in nine countries in Latin America from 1973-1978. Boeing salesmen were fiercely dedicated. No corner of the globe escaped their attention. No country was too small, no government too recalcitrant, no revolution was too intimidating, no climate too harsh, or no schedule too severe. During the '70s, the great "jumbo war" among the Boeing 747, the McDonnell Douglas DC-10, & the Lockheed L-1011 was in full swing, & the head ...
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This book is a first person account by a Boeing Regional Sales Director, who sold commercial airplanes in nine countries in Latin America from 1973-1978. Boeing salesmen were fiercely dedicated. No corner of the globe escaped their attention. No country was too small, no government too recalcitrant, no revolution was too intimidating, no climate too harsh, or no schedule too severe. During the '70s, the great "jumbo war" among the Boeing 747, the McDonnell Douglas DC-10, & the Lockheed L-1011 was in full swing, & the head-to-head competition between the 737 & the DC-9 was at its peak. The superior product did not always win, & it became necessary to hire in-country consultants to help make sales. Payoffs & bribes were the expected norm in many countries in Africa, Asia & Latin America. It was the decade of the "Lockheed Scandal," investigations by the SEC & by the Justice Department--culminating in the passing of the Corrupt Practices Act. In 1972, Boeing targeted overseas commercial airplane sales as its top priority, & subsequent events proved the '70s to be the defining decade for Boeing in achieving international market dominance. Orders by foreign airlines were more than double of those of all previous years (1955-1969).
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