Hawaiian Hldgs Inc

There's an old business maxim that tells us "All business is war."

And the one company, more than any other, that's currently bringing that maxim to life is The Boeing Co.

Indeed, to hear the experts tell it, Boeing is right now fighting two "wars."

There's the so-called "order war" – the year-in, year-out skirmish Boeing fights with its European perennial archnemesis, Airbus SE.

And there's now the "trade war" – or the potential for one – stemming from the Trump administration's institution of tariffs on steel and aluminum – two materials it's mighty hard to skimp on when you're building thousands of jetliners.

If you've been a reader for a long time, you know we'll come back to look at the tariffs and "trade war" impact on Boeing when it's fully warranted.

Today, I want to talk about the more urgent conflict as far as shareholders are concerned: the war raging between boardrooms in Chicago, Ill., and Toulouse, France, right now.