Boeing ramp up goals will be realized according to Boeing CEO

Boeing is on track to ramp up 787 production to five aircraft a month by the end of this year and to 10 a month by late 2013, the company’s top executive said Wednesday.

Announcing a strong set of second-quarter and first-half results, Boeing chairman, president and CEO Jim McNerney told financial analysts the company would be focused through the rest of the year on execution, production ramp-up and profitability. “I am confident of our ability to deliver all our goals,” he said.

Those include the 787 ramp-up to 10 a month by late next year and also firming the design of the 737 MAX in 2013 so that it can meet its scheduled in-service date of 2017.
Boeing also announced Wednesday a commitment by Aeromexico to purchase 90 737 MAX 8s and 9s, and 10 787s.

Boeing reported a second-quarter net income of $967 million, a 3% improvement over the same quarter a year ago, on revenues of $20 billion, a 21% increase. For the 2012 first half, revenues were up 25% to $39 billion and net income increased 24% to $1.9 billion.

Increased aircraft productivity was a major contributor to the increases, with commercial aircraft deliveries up 27%.

“We continue to see a positive worldwide expansion in air traffic,” McNerney said. Cargo, on the other hand, is stabilizing, but growth is expected early next year. Customer demand for commercial airplanes is equally divided between fleet renewal and growth.”

McNerney added that total commitments and orders for the MAX stands at 1,200, of which 649 are firm orders.

(Karen Walker - ATWOnline News)