Boeing (BA) missed it projections on the date of the first flight of its new 787 Dreamliner. The company blew hitting that milestone, by its own estimate, but six months. The plane is still not in the air.
The misfire cost Boeing a great deal of its credibility with Wall St.
And, that cycle is about to repeat itself as the aircraft company has made promises about the production rate of the new plane that it almost certainly cannot keep.
Boeing say that it will make 100 of the 787 Dreamliners in the next two years. "Reaching the planned monthly production rates to achieve 109 deliveries by the end of 2009 is still a near-Herculean task, in our view," said Bear Stearns according to MarketWatch. That is a pleasant way of saying it will never happen.
In the meantime, rival Airbus is picked up orders for its A350 and A380 jets. Airbus was left for dead last year when it missed production targets on almost every product it designed.
MarketWatch adds "Despite the delayed launch (of the 787), Boeing only shaved three planes off its planned rate of 112 by the end of 2009, an assembly rate deemed dicey by some analysts, such as those at J.P. Morgan Chase and BernsteinResearch"
Boeing’s shares have fallen from almost $99 to under $93 so far this month. If the company hints that analysts are right about the 787 production schedule, Boeing could be back at its 52-week low of $84.60 in no time.
Douglas A. McIntyre
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