2009 Is Creating Major Pain For Airliner Builders

Like the news about Airbus A380 delivery cutbacks, there continues to be some serious pain occurring on the Boeing side of the airline building business. Media reports confirm that Boeing has lost a 25 airplane order from an unnamed customer for a whopping 25 B787 Dreamliners... a order that should have totaled about $4.4 Billion. In any language, that is a serious boo-boo.

It is reportedly the biggest cancellation yet on Boeing's high-profile Dreamliner, now scheduled to make a first flight in under 60 days and brings Boeing to a net loss of one order for the 2009 totals tallied up so far this year. With 59 cancellations and 58 orders for the year, the additional loss means that there has been a total contraction of 57 airframes for the high-flying modern jetliner effort.  

Still, the 787 order book still leads Boeing's efforts with a total roster of 861 orders remaining on a program that is now two years behind schedule.

While Airbus is claiming somewhat better results for '09 with 30 sales and 19 cancellations (14 A320s and 5 A350s), no one expects those numbers to remain a constant. Depending on the recent escalations in the price of oil and the continuing economic issues worldwide, a number of other aircraft sales are reportedly on the bubble.

Boeing hopes to certify the mostly composite 787 next year and build a total of approximately 480-485 airplanes during 2009.

FMI: www.boeing.com