Business Shaping Up, Target Firm

Calling the post-Sept. 11 slump the worst the aviation industry has seen "since airplanes existed," Boeing CEO Phil Condit Thursday said he expects to complete 35,000 lay-offs by the end of the year. And that, said Condit, should signal the worst is over.

"The impact has been on every airline in the world," Condit told reporters in Tokyo. Still, he says the Chicago-based manufacturer of commercial and military aircraft and prime contractor on the space shuttle program will deliver between 275 and 300 commercial airplanes to airlines around the world this year.

In Hindsight, Condit Says, Boeing Done Good

The travel slump, said Condit, vindicated his strategy of rapidly building a defense-based business by buying up other DOD contractors. Last year, Condit said Boeing made 53% of its revenues from commercial aircraft sales and 47% from defense-related projects. That ratio, he said Thursday, will reverse in the coming year.

But don't write off Boeing's commercial sales just yet. As ANN reported Thursday ( ANN: May 28, 2003 - "Somebody's About To Buy A Lot Of Heavy Iron"), Emirates Airlines in Dubai will reportedly buy 26 777-300ERs at the upcoming Paris Air Show. Even with heavy discounts expected from Boeing, that sale should generate billions of needed dollars in revenue for the aircraft giant.

Condit was in Tokyo Thursday to celebrate his company's 50 years of operations in Japan.

FMI: www.boeing.com