Company Will Make Final Decision This Summer

Have you ever heard the old saying, "you have gotta make hay when the sun shines?" Well, Boeing has a bumper crop of customers waiting to take delivery of its upcoming 787 Dreamliner series of airliners... and as Airbus mulls over what to do with its competitor to the composite aircraft, more customers are looking in Boeing's direction.

Boeing has one small problem with that, albeit an enviable one: the 787 is already sold out for its first two years of production, and slots in 2011 are filling up fast.

So, what is Boeing to do? Boeing's VP of commercial airplane marketing, Randy Baseler, told Reuters recently the only answer may be to double production capacity for the 787.

"There are still a lot of people who want planes," he said.

Boeing already has 347 firm orders for the composite-bodied aircraft... and in addition to speeding up existing deliveries, adding a second line would also allow potential customers like Qatar Airlines and Israel's El Al to order planes, and have them delivered sooner than they'd have to wait for Airbus's plane to be ready... a major selling point.

Boeing is expected to make its decision this summer... and while adding a second line seems to be a no-brainer, there's also the matter of what to do with that second production line, once demand for the 787 slows down.

Well, there's always the talked-about replacement for the 737...

FMI: www.boeing.com