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Wed, May 21, 2008

Report: 787 Delays Could Mean Windfall For Older Widebody

Boeing Will Likely Offer 767s To Tide Over Dreamliner Customers

There might be at least one bright spot for Boeing, as the American planemaker struggles to deliver its oft-delayed 787 Dreamliner to waiting customers. Those delivery delays -- some as long as 30 months -- means several airlines are looking for alternate planes to tide them over, and Boeing happens to have a similarly-sized widebody just waiting for more orders.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports Boeing's 767 production line in Everett, WA is currently cranking out just one plane per month, against an order backlog of just 49 planes. As recently as February -- after Boeing lost a lucrative US Air Force tanker contract to an Airbus-derived plane -- it looked as though production of the venerable widebody would end within two years... but the 787's problems might extend that timeframe significantly.

Sources tell the P-I Boeing plans to boost 767 production to two planes a month starting in 2009... regardless of whether Boeing wins its GAO protest of the KC-X award, and the contract goes out for rebid. The reason -- to provide waiting 787 customers with aircraft, as they wait for their composite-bodied wonders to arrive.

"Everyone on the line knows the rates are going up, and why," said one unidentified 767 worker. "It's not over yet."

Such a move isn't unprecedented. Most recently, Airbus bumped up production of its A330 family of twin-engine aircraft, to provide customers for its similarly-delayed A350 XWB with aircraft until that plane is ready for delivery in 2013. The line has also seen a resurgence due to the KC-X win -- the Northrop/EADS KC-45A is derived from the A330-200 commercial airliner -- as well as the recently-introduced A330 Freighter.

Arguably, the A330 and the even-older 767 are far from state-of-the-art aircraft, at least certainly not as advanced as the upcoming Dreamliner and XWB. But that doesn't matter for many airlines which had already planned new long-haul service with their planes, only to see those schedules pushed off for years... those carriers are willing to take what they can get.

Sources say Boeing is making a concerted effort to sell or lease more 767s... but the company won't officially comment.

FMI: www.boeing.com

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