Bloomberg.com: Boeing Faces $15 Billion Dilemma as Airbus A350 Gains - by Andrea Rothman and Susanna Ray

For the complete report from Bloomberg.com click on this link

Boeing Faces $15 Billion Dilemma as Airbus A350 Gains - by Andrea Rothman and Susanna Ray

Boeing Co.’s 787 Dreamliner, absent from the Paris Air Show this week after two years of delays, may not be the jetmaker’s biggest problem. Airbus SAS’s bigger A350 has won almost 500 orders, 10 of them at the show, forcing Boeing to turn its attention to the market for bigger planes with more than 300 seats. The Chicago- based company is considering an upgrade of its 15-year-old 777. Airlines say it should spend billions on a new aircraft instead. “What Boeing makes next is the big question,” said Doug Runte, a New York-based analyst at Piper Jaffray & Co. who estimates the U.S. company would need to spend $15 billion to develop a new model. “Airplanes require a huge investment of money and effort. If you get it wrong, the consequences are enormous and you have to live with it for a very long time.”