Boeing Co. said Thursday deliveries of its commercial jets fell 22 percent in August compared with the same month in 2008.
In addition, orders for Boeing aircraft tumbled 11 percent in August as weaker demand for air travel forces airlines to scale back plans to buy new planes.
Boeing delivered just 28 aircraft in August, including six Everett-built 777s, one 767 and 21 737s. That’s down from 36 deliveries in August 2008. Still, Boeing says it remains on track to deliver a projected 480 to 485 planes this year, having handed over 307 aircraft so far.
Boeing has struggled with lower demand amid the economic slowdown, which has hurt its airline customers. It also has grappled with costly production problems related to its new 787, a lightweight plane built for fuel efficiency.
Repeated delays have put the 787 more than two years behind schedule. Boeing says it plans to conduct the first test flight of the plane by year’s end and book a $2.5 billion charge for three of the test planes, which lack commercial value.
Days after announcing the latest 787 schedule, Boeing said on Monday that Scott Carson was stepping down as head of its commercial airplane division and would be succeeded the following day by Jim Albaugh, the head of its defense business.
Despite weaker demand, Boeing has maintained that it would not need to cut aircraft production this year. Boeing announced earlier this year that it will scale back production on its twin-aisle 777 in mid-2010. However, Boeing Chief Executive Jim McNerney reiterated as recently as Wednesday that the company has no plans to slow production of its popular Renton-built 737.
Boeing received 32 orders in August, according to a report updated Thursday on the company’s Web site. During the week ended Sept. 1, Boeing received 11 new orders for 737 planes, including three from Turkmenistan Airlines and eight from unidentified customers. But orders for two 777s were canceled.
Boeing has won just 70 net orders through Sept. 1. The company has picked up 161 total orders but has received 91 cancellations. Of those cancellations, 73 are for Boeing’s delayed 787 Dreamliner. All but six of the cancellations are for Boeing widebody aircraft.
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