Report: Boeing to delay 747-8 up to 10 months, take charge

Published 8:32 am Wednesday, September 29, 2010

The Boeing Co. likely will delay its 747-8 Freighter for up to 10 months and take a financial charge, say analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.

The delay would put Boeing’s new cargo jet nearly two years behind schedule. Analysts predicted the charge will be between $100 million and $1 billion.

“This is inexcusable — they should know that airplane like any airplane they’ve ever built, and then some,” Howard Rubel, an analyst with Jefferies &Co., told Bloomberg.

Boeing has four 747-8 cargo planes in flight test.