After several heady years of record-breaking aircraft orders, this year’s Paris Air Show is looking like a much more reserved affair. But don’t be fooled by the quieter mood: this marks a pivotal moment for the most important airplane makers and no outcome is a given.Reeling in the wake of two 737Max crashes, with no clear date for recertification, Boeing looks less like the proud maker of some of the world’s best airplanes and more like a company clumsily doing damage control (and whether it’s actually controlling the damage is questionable). As Airbus asserts its growing hold on the long-range single-aisle market with the launch of the highly capable A321XLR, Boeing is deliberating over whether it will build its own anticipated mid-sized plane from scratch, the NMA – an imaginative acronym for New Midsized Airplane. No doubt Boeing executives wish they could go back to 2011 and decide to build an all-new plane then, instead of the Max.Boeing needs to move decisively. The only way out of its current funk is to admit its mishandling of the 737Max, reform its internal safety culture then push on with a revolutionary new plane to show the world that it still means business.