Definitely goes to Reuters today for their story entitled, “Airbus CEO Dropped Trousers for Key U.S. Plane Deal.”

“Jean Pierson, the former chief of European plane-maker Airbus, “dropped his trousers to seal a key U.S. plane order in 1997,” Reuters reports. The news agency says the account comes from the book “Boeing versus Airbus,” which is set to be published Tuesday.

As for Pierson’s episode, Reuters writes that Airbus was negotiating with then-US Airways chief Stephen Wolf on a 400-plane deal. “At the last minute, … Wolf started arguing for a 5% discount on the selling price,” Reuters says. And, according to the book, “Pierson began slowly lowering his trousers and saying ‘I have nothing more to give.’ He then allowed the trousers to fall around his ankles.” Wolf is said to have responded by saying: “Pull up your pants. I don’t need any more money.”

Reuters writes that “shortly afterward, US Airways announced the purchase of 124 single-aisle Airbus A320 family jets with options for 276 more, a stab into the heart of Boeing’s competing 737 program. It put the European company on track to overtake Boeing in global orders only two years later.”

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