PARIS (Reuters) - Engine problems at Britain's Rolls-Royce <RR.L> have "rattled" the aviation industry but have not slowed sales of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Boeing Co's <BA.N> commercial sales chief said.
The UK engineering company faces problems with parts of the Trent 1000 engine, leading to the grounding of some 787s for repairs, and separately plans to cut 4,600 jobs.
"Does it rattle people? Yes it rattles people. Nobody likes that. Airplanes make money when they are in the air; they don’t make money when they are on the ground," Ihssane Mounir, senior vice president of commercial sales & marketing for Boeing Co, told Reuters in an interview.
"I haven’t seen any slowdown in sales right now. These are growing and teething pains for any product."
Mounir said it was too early to talk about accelerating planned output increases for the 787 despite recent sales wins. He saw a "great strategic fit" in a potential commercial tie-up being discussed with Embraer, though it was not a must-do deal.
(Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Geert De Clercq)