According to Yahoo Finance, Boeing has landed international orders for its 787 airliner worth $3.5 billion.
The Qantas order announced on Thursday includes five 787-9 Dreamliners worth $1.3 billion, and conversion of three 787-8s from Jetstar into 787-9s.
El Al ordered nine 787s, including three firm orders for 787-9s. The order, valued at more than $2.2 billion, is the largest in the airline’s history and keeps El Al an all-Boeing airline. El Al said it also intends to lease six more 787s as part of its plan to increase capacity.
The models for the rest of El Al’s order will be determined as the contracts are finalized, Boeing said.
But without the Export-Import Bank, how is this possible? I pose the question to the 127 Republicans, along with the all but one Democrat, who voted to revive the crony-capatalist program, also known as “Boeing’s Bank”, on Tuesday night.
It’s worth noting that the airlines buying these planes have used Ex-Im in the past but, as this deal demonstrates, are also perfectly willing to continue buying Boeing planes even without Ex-Im.
Meanwhile, GE admits that an Ex-Im reauthorization will not stop jobs from moving overseas:
With a plan to open up a new manufacturing plant in Canada, the company pointed to export financing that it would receive in Canada as a reason for the recent closure of a GE plant in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
Pressed for details, GE’s Vice Chairman of Global Operations John G. Rice said the Waukesha jobs will be moved to Canada, even if the bank is reauthorized.
“If financing for the Export-Import Bank is quickly restored, will the Waukesha plant and its workers be spared? No, Mr. Rice said, the decision is irreversible,” Steve Lohr of The New York Times reports.
This isn’t surprising, especially considering that growing its workforce overseas has been a big part of GE’s growth plan for years – even when Ex-Im was alive and kicking.
By the way, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell blocked an attempt by the Democrats to reauthorize Ex-Im Wednesday. As he explained:
“I would remind my colleagues that we’ve voted on the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank already. There are numerous objections on this side of the aisle,” he said, adding that because of those objections he would block Cantwell’s request.
What does this all mean? It shows that Democrats expect to get what they want all the time — and are annoyed when they don’t.
Now, the ball is in Paul Ryan and Kevin McCarthy’s court. Let’s see what they do in the House.