The Plane Truth for Boeing

It's hard to tell what was worse for Boeing last year--a two-month strike by strike by machinist, or continued problems with its 787 Dreamliner aircraft. Whatever it was, the nation's biggest civilian airline maker suffered two bit hits.

First, the company's plane deliveries fell 15 percent in 2008 compared with 2007, according to Boeing figures released today. Initially, Boeing thought it would deliver as many as 520 planes last year but ended up getting only 375 to its customers. In 2007, the delivery figure was 441.

But by another, longer-term measure, Boeing faces some trouble. Its orders for new commercial aircraft dropped 53 percent from 2007 to 2008, as it took in 662 orders last year. In 2007, the company had a 1,413 orders, a record.

A bad 2008 ended three years of positive sales and delivery news for Boeing.

Boeing's chief rival, Airbus, doesn't report its year-end numbers until January 15, but its figures for the first 11 months of 2008 were better than Boeing's full-year total. Airbus, based based in Toulouse, France, reported 437 jet deliveries and 756 net orders for the year through Nov. 30.

Airbus was able to claim bragging rights with the growth of it's A380 superjumbo program. The company said it reached its target of delivering 12 of the double-decker aircraft to customers last year, bring the total number of A380s to 13.

In contrast, Boeing delayed for a fourth time the projected delivery of the first 787 Dreamliner. The long-range plane, seen as a more energy efficient and lighter aircraft, now isn't expected to get to buyers until the first quarter of 2010--two years behind schedule. Boeing has almost 900 orders for the plane.

by J. Jennings Moss