Aircraft
Paris Air Show 2011 Report
Organizers of the 2011 Paris Air Show (June 20-26) promised a feel-good factor that would leave the aerospace industry in no doubt that the long-awaited re

Organizers of the 2011 Paris Air Show (June 20-26) promised a feel-good factor that would leave the aerospace industry in no doubt that the long-awaited recovery has kicked in. They kept their word, and then some, with wave upon wave of new airliner orders and the associated new business in engines, equipment and support packages.

As the penultimate trade day opened at Le Bourget, the running total of contracts signed at Le Bourget had topped $87 billion, according to AIN analysis. Visitors got a daily drenching from incessant showers, but it felt great–as if the heavens were trying to wash away the despondency brought on by trading in limbo for three unsettling years since the financial crisis. For every drop of rain that fell on the show site, it felt as if a dollar bill also fell.