Boeing CEO skips Paris Airshow after deadly Ahmedabad plane crash

Boeing BA and GE Aerospace GE.N are scaling back their public activities following the fatal crash of an Air India jetliner, with the planemaker's CEO cancelling his trip to the Paris Air Show next week and GE postponing an investor day.

More than 240 people were killed when an Air India Boeing 787 jet bound for London crashed moments after taking off from the city of Ahmedabad on Thursday, authorities said, in the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade.

Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said in a message to staff on Thursday evening that he and Boeing Commercial Airplanes boss Stephanie Pope had cancelled plans to attend the Paris Air Show "so we can be with our team and focus on our customer and the investigation."

The air show, which runs from June 16 to June 20 at Le Bourget, is the global aviation industry's largest trade show, where many aircraft orders are typically placed by airlines.

Aircraft engine-maker GE Aerospace, whose engines were in the Boeing 787 plane, had planned an investor day on June 17 coinciding with the show.

The company said on Thursday the briefing had been cancelled, and it would put a team together to go to India and analyse data from the crashed airplane.

"GE Aerospace's senior leadership is focused on supporting our customers and the investigation," the company said in a statement.

GE said it planned to give a financial update later this month.

The decisions by Boeing and GE come as delegates said the crash is casting a sombre mood over the Paris Air Show.

One delegate said the show would go on and business would continue, but with fewer of the high-profile press conferences and in-person announcements associated with the industry’s biggest commercial showcase.

Another said some order announcements could be delayed until later in the year as a mark of respect for victims of the accident.