Boeing and Airbus - a difficult choice ahead

Came across this marvellous quote from the Chairman of the aircraft leasing company ILFC talking about the impact of the downturn on the aircraft manufacturers: ' When a bomb explodes,the light travels a lot faster than the sound. The flash occurred in September, but the sound hasn't reached Seattle and Toulouse yet'. The quote relates to a difficult decision that the manufacturers will soon have to face. With many of their customers finding it difficult to arrange the financing for new planes Boeing and Airbus are faced with a stark choice - either cut production back by 25% in mid 2010 or finance the purchasers from their own balance sheets.