Boeing to Cut Production of 747 Jumbo Jets

Courtesy of Boeing Co.While the company continues to struggle with getting its 787 Dreamliners back in the air, Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) said this morning that it will reduce its production of it jumbo 747-8 airliner from two new planes…

Published April 19, 2013, 9:15am ET · 1 min read

Boeing 747

Courtesy of Boeing Co.
While the company continues to struggle with getting its 787 Dreamliners back in the air, Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) said this morning that it will reduce its production of it jumbo 747-8 airliner from two new planes a month to 1.75 planes a month (21 per year). The company said the move is due to lower market demand for the big planes from both passenger and freight carriers.

We noted earlier this morning that the 787 may be cleared to fly again as soon as today, but how that will affect public sentiment about the safety of the plane remains to be seen.

Regarding the 747-8 aircraft, Boeing said that there have been a total of 110 orders for the planes, of which 46 have been delivered. Over the next 20 years the company expects to see demand for 740 of the planes.

Boeing will deliver the first 747-8 under the new production plan early in 2014. The company does not expect a “significant financial impact” to follow the production slow-down. The average list price for a 747-8 is $351.4 million.

Shares of Boeing are trading down about 0.5% in the premarket this morning, at $85.70 in a 52-week range of $66.82 to $89.46.

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Paul Ausick

Paul Ausick has been writing for 247Wallst.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.

He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.

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