EVERETT – A flood of deals in the waning hours of 2007 pushed the Boeing Co. to a record 1,413 net jet orders for the year.
“2007 told us that global demand for commercial airplanes remains strong and sustained,” said Scott Carson, president of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, in a press statement. “And we’ve responded with what is clearly the strongest product lineup that we’ve ever had, from the Next-Generation 737 through the 747-8, 767, 777, and our newest family, the 787 Dreamliner.”
Boeing released its 2007 sales total late Thursday night, listing 1,423 gross orders, 1,413 net requests, for 2007. The company shattered its previous best years of 1,044 in 2006 and 1,002 net orders in 2005.
The Chicago-based aerospace giant will wait to see if it will receive a late holiday gift: surpassing rival Airbus in commercial aircraft orders for 2007. The European company doesn’t release its final sales figures until mid-month.
At last count, Airbus listed 1,204 gross orders as of the end of November. But the planemaker had several tentative agreements, for more than 200 jets, on the table. The company would need to complete most of those in order to take back the sales title from Boeing, which Airbus lost in 2006 for the first time in six years.
Last year, Boeing set sales records for several of its individual commercial jet lines. The Renton-built 737 netted 846 orders, breaking records set each of the past three years. The single-aisle plane also surpassed the 7,000-order mark in 2007.
Boeing’s real sales success story in 2007 came from its 787 Dreamliner, despite pushing the jet’s first flight and first delivery back six months.
“Clearly we’ve had our share of challenges during the past year, but our customers understand the issues, and market acceptance of our products and services has been nothing short of remarkable,” Carson said.
The 787 turned in its best sales year to date with 369 net orders. The Dreamliner has won 817 orders since its launch in 2003. Boeing intends to turn the power onto the first 787 later this month and put the Dreamliner in the air by the end of March.
All of Boeing’s widebody jets, except the 747, turned in better sales years in 2007 than in 2006. The newly revised 747-8 received just 21 net orders for the year, down from 72 net 747 orders the previous year. However, the revamped 747-8 did bring in its 100th order late in 2007.
Both the Everett-built 767 and 777 grabbed their 1000th orders in 2007. The twin-aisle jets have been in service since 1982 and 1995 respectively, which put into perspective the success of the 787, which with 817 orders won’t begin service until late this year.
The 767 won 36 net orders in 2007, almost as many as it had received in the previous three years combined. The 777 snagged 143 net orders, just 10 shy of its record 153 set in 2005 and nearly double the 77 orders it won in 2006.
Both Boeing executives and most industry observers expect to see an industry downturn in 2008. However, Boeing has a backlog of more than 3,400 unfilled orders, which will keep workers in the Puget Sound region busy for years to come. Boeing delivered 441 jets in 2007, after adding more than 5,500 workers in Washington to do so.
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