Boeing loses $4.4 billion deal

Boeing Co. suffered the biggest cancellation yet for its delayed 787 Dreamliner plane, with a dropped order valued at about $4.44 billion, and now has lost one more contract this year than it has won, Bloomberg reported.
The scrapped deal for 25 787s takes Boeing’s cancellations in the first four months to 59, versus 58 purchases, according to data published today on the Chicago-based company’s Web site. Airbus SAS said earlier it has 11 net orders after signing 30 agreements and losing 19.
The Dreamliner cancellation by an unidentified customer means Boeing has surrendered 57 contracts for the plane in 2009 as airlines respond to the global recession and a near two-year production delay. Sixteen orders were terminated by Dubai-based leasing company LCAL, 15 by Russian carrier S7 and one by Hong Kong real-estate developer Joseph Lau’s Sky Peace Ltd.
The 787 remains Boeing’s best-selling new plane ever, with 861 contracts remaining. The jet, built mostly of composites, has suffered four delays because of defects, parts shortages and redesigns and is due to fly by the end of next month before entering service in the first quarter of 2010.
The 25-jet deal was dropped April 30 and had been part of a group of 42 orders from unidentified customers that now number 17 after today’s weekly Web site update, said Jim Proulx, a Boeing spokesman. He declined to give further details.

777 order
Boeing also lost an order for a 777 in the past week, today’s data shows. Airbus said that in the first four months, it lost contracts for 14 A320 single-aisle planes and five of its A350 long-haul aircraft, the planned rival to the 787.
Boeing handed over 160 planes in the first four months, up from 155 a year earlier, and expects to deliver 480 to 485 in 2009. Toulouse, France-based Airbus built 162 aircraft, unchanged from last year, and predicts the annual total should approach last year’s 483.
Both companies are trimming production plans to better match output to demand. Boeing said last month it would reduce build rates for the 777, its most profitable plane, in mid-2010 and postpone planned increases in output for the 747 and 767.
Airbus, a unit of European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co., said yesterday it will rein in production of the A380 superjumbo to 14 this year, from the previously planned 18, as carriers seek to delay operating the world’s biggest jetliner.
Boeing fell 67 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $43.53 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have fallen 49 percent in the past year. EADS fell 56 cents, or 4.6 percent, to 11.53 euros in Paris, extending the drop over 12 months to 29 percent.

Source: Transportweekly