The Boeing 787-9 civil jet airplane of Vietnam Airlines performs its flight display at the 51st Paris International Airshow in Le Bourget near Paris, France. (Photo by: aviation-images.com/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
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Kelly Ortberg’s first Paris Air Show as Boeing CEO was set to be relatively upbeat.
Under his leadership that began in August, the company has made strides in ramping up production of its bestselling 737 Max jets, increasing cash-generating deliveries of new planes, and indicating that it’s turning a corner from a series of manufacturing and safety crises and years of lost ground to rival Airbus. Shares are up more than 13% this year, outpacing the S&P 500.
But after an Air India flight crashed on Thursday, marking the first fatal air disaster of a Boeing Dreamliner, Ortberg canceled plans to go to the massive air show that begins on Sunday.
The trade event is a big draw for the industry and is held every other year, alternating with the Farnborough Air Show in the U.K. Boeing, Airbus and other aerospace giants host champagne-flowing parties, hold flashy deal-signing ceremonies with executives flanked by model planes, and show off their new aircraft with extreme maneuvers for spectators below.
“As our industry prepares to start the Paris Air Show, Stephanie and I have both canceled plans to attend so we can be with our team, and focus on our customer and the investigation,” Ortberg said in a note to employees late Thursday, referring to Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Stephanie Pope.
All but one of the 242 people aboard Air India Flight 171 were killed when the more than 11-year-old Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner that was headed for London on a sweltering day crashed into a medical student dining hall seconds after takeoff from Ahmedabad in western India. The sole survivor was an India-born British national in seat 11A.
The cause of the crash is unknown and will take weeks or months to determine. Questions focus on how the plane so quickly and evenly lost altitude, appearing to glide into a fireball crash. Cockpit voice and data recorders, known as “black boxes,” will provide key information.
Firefighters work to put out a fire at the site where an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane crashed in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025.
Amit Dave | Reuters
“It is important that we do not speculate about the accident and let the investigators do their work,” Ortberg wrote.
The plane’s engine maker, GE Aerospace, said it will postpone an investor day scheduled for Tuesday.
overnight missile strikes on Iran. Hours later, Iran launched drones toward Israeli territory. Airlines canceled flights, with jets in the air diverting or returning to their destinations, while hundreds of others skirted the airspace.
The escalating tensions will make military budgets and spending an even bigger focus for the air show, but they also raise concerns about how conflicts and geopolitical tensions could impact demand for commercial air travel.
Airbus and Embraer are expected to lock in hundreds of airplane orders. Wait times for popular new aircraft models already stretch into the next decade with demand still strong.
Boeing forecast on Saturday that the world will need 43,600 commercial airplanes over the next two decades, with emerging markets driving growth. It expects those markets will account for more than half of the world’s fleet in 2044, up from a 40% share last year.
