Airline executives are frustrated with Boeing (BA.N), opens new tab as its safety crisis has upended their business plans. But in a tight market for large aircraft supplied by two companies, they have little choice but do business with the U.S. planemaker.

Despite some public displays of alarm - United Airlines (UAL.O), opens new tab CEO Scott Kirby flew to France to talk with Airbus (AIR.PA), opens new tab as Boeing's latest crisis erupted - carriers are still negotiating new plane orders, looking to leverage Boeing's delays to secure better terms.

Boeing's delivery schedule faces extended delays following a Jan. 5 mid-flight cabin blowout that exposed problems with safety and quality control in its manufacturing processes. But rival Airbus (AIR.PA), opens new tab already has a backlog of orders that makes shifting over a non-starter.

Instead, airlines are adopting a variety of strategies to try to stay in the game with Boeing, using orders of one type of plane as a placeholder to possibly take deliveries of a different model. They also are negotiating harder, looking to use production delays to get discounts from the planemaker on new orders and compensation for financial losses.