Published March 2003

Aerospace Briefs

Boeing: 2002 net earnings
down 24 percent from year before
Announcing its financial results for 2002, Boeing reported net earnings of $2.3 billion, down 24 percent from its 2001 profits. Revenue for the year fell 7 percent, to $54.1 billion. However, one-time events, including a $1.8 billion write-down relating to a change in accounting rules, reduced the annual net earnings to $492 million.

For the fourth quarter, Boeing reported adjusted net earnings of $571 million, down 21 percent from the same quarter of 2001. Revenue was $13.7 million, down 13 percent.

Still, Boeing’s earnings per share of 71 cents for the quarter met the expectations of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

After last year’s layoffs, which slashed 30,000 workers from the payroll, Boeing was left with 65,000 workers in its Commercial Airplanes division. About 18,000 of them work in Everett, the company’s biggest jet-building plant. Boeing plans to eliminate another 5,000 commercial jet jobs this year through attrition and layoffs.

Employment should be more stable in 2004, Chairman Phil Condit said, “as a general rule.”

Goodrich, Precision Conversions
to partner on 757 project
Goodrich Corp. in Everett could end up converting some Boeing 757s from passenger jets to cargo carriers under a deal announced with Precision Conversions LLC in February.

Under the agreement, Precision Conversions would design, certify and manufacture the conversion kits, while Goodrich workers in Everett would do the actual modification work on the 757-200 jets.

As yet, there has been no decision on when the work will start, or how many planes could be involved, Goodrich corporate spokeswoman Gail Warner said.

Beaverton, Ore.-based Precision Conversions is in charge of marketing for the conversion program. As yet, there haven’t been any orders placed for the converted planes as yet, Warner said.

Ryanair orders 22 737s,
with options on dozens more
The Boeing Co. landed its first order of the year Jan. 31 when Irish discount carrier Ryanair announced it had ordered another 22 737-800s and taken options on 78 more.

Ryanair was Boeing’s biggest customer last year, placing orders for 100 737s and taking options on another 50, and later converting three of those options to firm orders.

The two deals combined represent Boeing’s biggest 737 order ever, said Toby Bright, the company’s vice president for commercial jet sales.

Ryanair’s firm orders have a book value of about $1.25 billion, and the newest deal would be worth about $6 billion at list prices if Ryanair exercises all the options.

Ryanair won a substantial discount when it placed last year’s order, and the January deal was “very comparable to what was done last year,” Bright said.

Related: Boeing calls next jet '7E7'

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