YTD Order Total Stands At -10, After 787 Cancellations

The Boeing Company announced three orders for its 777 were placed last week, raising its tally of aircraft orders so far this year to 22. That's barely more than ten percent of last year's total of 190 new aircraft orders placed over the same period, and is 10 less than the number of orders cancelled so far for 2009.

Bloomberg reports that last week, Air New Zealand ordered one 777, and another unidentified customer placed an order for two 777s. As of March 3, the planemaker has received 32 cancelled orders for its oft-delayed, composite-bodied 787 Dreamliner, according to Boeing's Orders and Deliveries web site.

Boeing delivered only 36 planes last month, down from 39 in February 2008; new orders plunged from 125 orders received in February 2008 to a scant four new orders last month.

While the overall order totals are disappointing to the planemaker, Boeing had already anticipated a significant reduction in orders and even some order cancellations due to the global recession. Boeing said plans are to maintain current production levels through the remainder of 2009, but will likely slow production next year to keep pace with reduced demand.

In January, Boeing told investors it lost $56 million in the fourth quarter of 2008... and said it planned to more than double the number of layoffs previously announced for 2009, cutting its workforce by 10,000 positions.

The loss contrasts sharply with the $1.03 billion profit Boeing posted for the same period in 2007. Quarterly revenues plummeted 27 percent to $12.7 billion, while operating losses came to $205 million.

"The progress we made in many areas of Boeing during 2008 was outweighed by the impact of the strike and our performance on some key development programs," said Boeing CEO Jim McNerney. "Our imperative going forward is improving execution where it needs to be improved, maintaining strong performance across all our production programs, and preserving our financial strength to grow in these challenging economic times."

FMI: www.boeing.com