Published January 2005

Boeing: 7E7 ‘most successful
commercial launch to date’

By John Wolcott
SCBJ Editor

Boeing’s new 7E7 airliner is opening up new markets that will contribute to the company’s financial strength for years to come, according to Boeing Commercial Airplanes’ vice president of marketing analysis, Kent Fisher.

“It’s important to realize that 10 years ago we set off to transform Boeing from a commercial aircraft company to an integrated aerospace company,” a transformation that is being achieved with products such as the new 7E7, Fisher told an RBC Dain Rauscher Premier Client Investor Conference in Seattle in November.

In 1994, Boeing’s revenue of $22 billion was primarily from commercial airplane sales (77 percent), with the rest from integrated defense systems. The firm’s 2003 revenues of $50 billion came primarily from integrated defense systems (55 percent), with the rest from airliner sales.

Despite media news that focuses on Boeing’s toe-to-toe competitiveness with Airbus, Boeing remains a world airliner marketer to be reckoned with, offering a popular array of aircraft from the 717 to the 7E7. Aircraft deliveries totaled 281 in 2003, with a value of $22.4 billion, while 2004 totals are expected to reach around 295 deliveries valued at about $20 billion, followed by deliveries of 320 or more in 2005, valued at $24 billion, he said.

“We’re structuring our business to remain profitable despite cyclical industries such as commercial aircraft,” Fisher said, noting that with more than 100 orders for the 7E7, and a potential for at least 500 sales, the plane "has been our most successful commercial launch to date.”

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