June 12 (Reuters) - Boeing ( BA ) and GE Aerospace

are scaling back their public activities following the fatal

crash of an Air India jetliner, with the planemaker's CEO

canceling his trip to the Paris Airshow next week and GE

postponing an investor day.

More than 240 people were killed when an Air India Boeing

787 jet bound for London crashed moments after taking off from

the city of Ahmedabad on Thursday, authorities said, in the

world's worst aviation disaster in a decade.

Boeing ( BA ) CEO Kelly Ortberg said in a message to staff on

Thursday evening that he and Boeing Commercial Airplanes boss

Stephanie Pope had canceled plans to attend the Paris Airshow

"so we can be with our team and focus on our customer and the

investigation."

The air show, which runs from June 16 to June 20 at Le

Bourget, is the global aviation industry's largest trade show,

where many aircraft orders are typically placed by airlines.

Aircraft engine-maker GE Aerospace, whose engines were in

the Boeing 787 plane, had planned an investor day on June 17

coinciding with the show.

The company said on Thursday the briefing had been canceled

and it would put a team together to go to India and analyze data

from the crashed airplane.

"GE Aerospace's senior leadership is focused on supporting

our customers and the investigation," the company said in a

statement.

GE said it planned to give a financial update later this

month.

The decisions by Boeing ( BA ) and GE come as delegates said the

crash is casting a somber mood over the Paris Airshow.

One delegate said the show would go on and business would

continue but with fewer of the high-profile press conferences

and in-person announcements associated with the industry's

biggest commercial showcase.

Another said some order announcements could be delayed until

later in the year as a mark of respect for victims of the

accident.

(Allison Lampert in Montreal and David Shepardson in

Washington. Additional reporting by Tim Hepher in Paris; Editing

by Leslie Adler and Jamie Freed)