Boeing signs $13.8B deal with Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines agreed to buy $13.8 billion worth of Boeing jets, inking the deal at the White House on Monday.

The airline will purchase 20 Boeing 777-9 aircraft and 19 of the Chicago-based plane maker’s 787-10 Dreamliner jets—all long-haul aircraft. The airline already has an order placed for 30 of the Dreamliners, and will serve as the launch customer of the airplane. Earlier this month, Boeing rolled out the first of the airline’s 787-10s at its Final Assembly facility in South Carolina.

President Donald Trump, who joined Singapore Airline’s CEO Goh Choon Phong and Kevin McCalister, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said the new deal would employ 70,000 jobs.

Last week while hosting Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras at the White House, Trump said the European country was “looking at buying” additional planes from Boeing, and that the U.S. would help with the process.

The deal with Singapore comes at a time when Boeing is in the midst of a trade dispute with Canadian plane maker Bombardier, with the U.S. aerospace manufacturer accusing its rival of selling its new C Series single-aisle jets at significantly lower prices in the U.S. market. As a result, the U.S. Commerce Department sided with Boeing and placed a 300% tariff on Bombardier, which will make its jets at its facility in Alabama.

Airbus, Boeing’s largest competitor in the industry, announced last Tuesday it would take a majority stake in the C Series program.