Business | Aviation
Strike at Boeing delays deliveries of its jumbo jets
Boeing yesterday said deliveries of its 747-8 freight aircraft, a stretch-ed version of its jumbo jet, will be delayed by about nine months, and a passenger version will suffer a six-month delay.
- By Hal Weitzman, Financial Times
- Published: 23:41 November 15, 2008
Chicago: Boeing yesterday said deliveries of its 747-8 freight aircraft, a stretch-ed version of its jumbo jet, will be delayed by about nine months, and a passenger version will suffer a six-month delay.
The delays are the latest to hit the company in recent days as it struggles to cope with the impact of an eight-week strike by machinists that paralysed production of its commercial aircraft.
The aircraft-maker said last week that the flight test of its 787 Dreamliner, which is already at least 14 months behind schedule, was being pushed back from this year into 2009.
Flight testing
Although Boeing has not confirmed how that will affect deliveries, analysts expect that flight testing may not be completed before 2010.
While the machinists' strike was damaging, many of Boeing's recent problems are self-inflicted. On the 747-8, the company said the project had been hit by "supply-chain delays driven by design changes to the airplane (and) limited availability of engineering resources inside Boeing".
Boeing revealed last week that several thous-and fasteners had been fitted incorrectly on four 787 test-flight aircraft and two ground-test aircraft, which could aggravate further the beleaguered production schedule for the medium-sized passenger jet.
The company also said last week it was delaying deliveries of its 737 aircraft - the single-aisle jet that makes up the bulk of its commercial backlog - because one of its suppliers had fitted faulty fasteners on more than 390 aircraft since August last year.
Boeing's latest problems come as investors are becoming increasingly pessimistic about how the downturn in the global economy will affect aircraft demand.
The manufacturer's shares have tumbled from $106.65 (Dh391.78) last October to $41.65 by mid-morning trading in New York on Friday. Joseph Nadoll, an analyst at JPMorgan, wrote in a research note yesterday: "We expect continued negative newsflow out of Boeing as it updates its guidance through the end of the year and into early 2009."
The longer-term outlook may be no better. UBS is forecasting that global air traffic will drop by 3 per cent next year and that Boeing deliveries will fall by more than 20 per cent in 2010 and 2011 before stabilising in 2012.
Yes vote
Adding to Boeing's headache is the possibility of another strike next month by engineers, whose union leaders last week called for a vote by members on strike authorisation.
The union said: "A simple majority Yes vote gives the negotiation teams authority to call a strike if necessary. "The action comes after two days of non-productive and discouraging dialogue with Boeing over key economic issues."
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