Dreamliner Woes To Hold Silver Lining For Boeing?

Despite being 14 months behind schedule on its 787 Dreamliner... in the throes of a walkout by the IAM... facing looming contract negotiation difficulties with SPEEA... and a cancelled military tanker project, there still may be a bright side to Boeing's current plight: the American planemaker has struck deals to supply several airlines currently waiting for Dreamliner deliveries with 767s in the meantime.

Boeing announced Thursday 24 new orders have been placed for the 767. Nine of the new orders are from All Nippon Airways, which is waiting on its order of 50 Dreamliners. Japan Airlines, which ordered 35 787s, is said to account for another nine of the 767s (above). Two more 767s are slated for Azerbeijan Airlines, also a 787 customer-in-waiting.

Compensation deals involving the 767s have been in the works for months, and Boeing will be adding more 767s to its list of orders, reports the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. More deals are likely to be reached with other customers waiting for their Dreamliners, to help offset several billion dollars in late-penalty payments to Boeing's 50-plus customers waiting for their 787s.

Cut-rate prices on the 767s will serve to ease the situation of tardy 787s for Boeing, and will supplement current passenger capacity for the airlines involved. Such a move isn't unprecedented; as ANN has reported, Boeing's European rival, 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.

Alas, don't look for immediate deliveries of the 767s, as the new orders have increased Boeing's backlog on 767s to 55. The increased orders for 767s may also help offset Boeing's disappointment over the shelving of a new military tanker project by the Department of Defense.

FMI: www.boeing.com