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A nearly done deal
01 May 2007
By Rossa McPhillips and Tom Zaitsev
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Aeroflot
Boeing
Airbus
United Aircraft Corporation
Aeroflot's board of directors assembled for what was to be an uneasy meeting. It was September 2006 and they had convened to vote on a potential contract with Boeing for 22 787s. It was not long before news reached members that the US was imposing sanctions on various Russian companies, including Sukhoi, for allegedly supplying Iran with materials in violation of the US's Iran Non-proliferation Act of 2000.
The Russian government's representatives abstained from any commitment, and it was left to Alexander Lebedev, the chairman of National Reserve, which owns 30% of the airline, to rescue the Boeing bid. He was able to prolong the deadline for a deal by reserving the aircraft out of his own pocket.
It was not to be. The Boeing deal fell through and Aeroflot decided to throw in its lot with Airbus.
Under a tentative two-tier agreement with Airbus, delivery of 22 A350s, which...
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