The View | As Boeing looks set to be bested by Airbus, lessons from the tennis court might explain the American firm’s ‘unforced’ errors

Aircraft manufacturer Airbus has received a significant boost to its order book this year, particularly from Asian carriers such as India’s IndiGo, Vietnam’s VietJet Aviation and the Philippines’ Cebu Air. These, combined with handsome orders worldwide, will see Airbus storm ahead of its rival Boeing, which used to be regarded as the larger, more commercially successful aircraft manufacturer.

While Boeing was founded more than 50 years before Airbus came into being, in recent times, the two manufacturers have been competing head to head, slugging it out over some of the toughest years the industry has experienced after September 11, the severe acute respiratory syndrome crisis and rising oil prices. In the years following these events, the aviation industry proved resilient and the fortunes of Boeing and Airbus grew with the surge in demand for air travel.

And now Airbus is set to overtake Boeing’s commercial jet sales for the first time since 2012, as the US company reported a slump in deliveries of new commercial jet airliner after two fatal crashes involving its 737 MAX.  

A recent example of how overwhelmingly positive news about an up-and-coming competitor can intimidate an established player is this year’s Wimbledon women’s singles final. Simona Halep, the seventh seed, defeated multiple Grand Slam champion Serena Williams 6–2, 6–2 to claim the title.

In a recent study of more than 117,000 professional tennis matches, we found professional tennis players, such as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, perform worse and commit more unforced errors when they compete against players who have recently risen in their rankings, compared to those with similar rankings but who lack the same momentum.