On Track For 445 Planes Out The Door For Year

Efforts by Boeing to increase the rate it can build planes, and send them out the door to waiting customers, appear to be paying off. In the second quarter of 2007, Boeing delivered 114 commercial planes, increasing its year-to-date tally to 220 airliners.

Reuters reports the figure is an 18 percent increase compared to the same period in 2006, when Boeing delivered 97 planes. The YTD total for 2007 is 25 aircraft more than the same timeframe last year.

Over on the orders side, Boeing lays claim to 544 firm orders for the year, with 228 of those commitments coming in the second quarter.

That isn't quite as many as rival Airbus may lay claim to, however. The European planemaker collected 425 firm orders at the Paris Air Show, building on the 201 orders it claimed at the end of May. The exact total for Airbus will be revealed next week, when the planemaker updates its online order book.

In any event, 2007 looks to be another healthy year for new airliner orders, if not a record one. Boeing is on pace to exceed the 1,044 orders it was able to claim for 2006, although it remains to be seen whether Boeing will be able to maintain that pace down the later stretch of the orders race.

As ANN reported, Boeing surpassed Airbus in orders in 2006, for the first time in five years. The European manufacturer retained its title as world's largest commercial aircraft manufacturer, however, by delivering 434 aircraft for 2006 -- 36 more than Boeing was able to muster.

Boeing has taken steps to ramp up production, in large part to meet demand for its hot-selling 787 Dreamliner, and erstwhile 737 narrowbody. With Airbus preparing to bring more factories online to produce its popular A320 Family, however, it's likely both the orders and deliveries races for 2007 will be tight.

Stay tuned.

FMI: www.boeing.com, www.airbus.com