Boeing's 777 delivery brings sliver of relief
EVERETT, Wash. -- Some good news surrounded Boeing Corp. Thursday as the company delivered its first ever 777 freighter plane. But the news comes as layoffs are about to begin.
The 777 freighter has its signature fly by wire cockpit and boasts the world's largest cargo bay for a commercial twin engine jet.
The 747 freighter is bigger, but it's all about what the customer wants, and Air France wants three of the first five 777 freighters. On the other hand, it's delaying delivery of two others -- a sign of the times.
"The crisis is affecting everybody, passenger and cargo," said Pierre Vellay, the executive vice president of Air France. "So it's true that it's a very serious crisis."
Sitting inside the cockpit of the 777, you can see why it's just an amazing piece of machinery to fly. It's great news for the 777 today, but it's the 787 that people are wondering about.
The 787 is Boeing's best-selling new model ever, with nearly 900 on order. But the economy has airlines calling in cancellations and deferrals.
In an ironic twist, this may play into Boeing's favor, says one airline analyst. It's like when an airline routinely overbooks a flight. It knows not everyone will show and passengers will take a voluntary bump for a free ticket.
"And Boeing is basically in that position and they are going to have voluntary deferrals because there really is no penalty involved as opposed to the involuntary where they have a contractual penalty with the customer," said Scott Hamilton, a commercial airline analyst.
Boeing is about to layoff 4,500 mostly non-assembly line workers in the Puget Sound area. Production line layoffs may be ahead.
"The key thing to be looking for is this may decision by Boeing whether or not it's going to reduce production in 2010 by 10 percent in response to the global economy conditions and if Boeing does that, that's when you're going to be looking at production jobs." Hamilton said.
Analysts says Boeing is now protecting its production jobs, especially on the 787 line. But if Boeing announces layoffs in May, analysts say those cuts could come at the mercy of the 737 line in Renton.
The 777 freighter has its signature fly by wire cockpit and boasts the world's largest cargo bay for a commercial twin engine jet.
The 747 freighter is bigger, but it's all about what the customer wants, and Air France wants three of the first five 777 freighters. On the other hand, it's delaying delivery of two others -- a sign of the times.
"The crisis is affecting everybody, passenger and cargo," said Pierre Vellay, the executive vice president of Air France. "So it's true that it's a very serious crisis."
Sitting inside the cockpit of the 777, you can see why it's just an amazing piece of machinery to fly. It's great news for the 777 today, but it's the 787 that people are wondering about.
The 787 is Boeing's best-selling new model ever, with nearly 900 on order. But the economy has airlines calling in cancellations and deferrals.
In an ironic twist, this may play into Boeing's favor, says one airline analyst. It's like when an airline routinely overbooks a flight. It knows not everyone will show and passengers will take a voluntary bump for a free ticket.
"And Boeing is basically in that position and they are going to have voluntary deferrals because there really is no penalty involved as opposed to the involuntary where they have a contractual penalty with the customer," said Scott Hamilton, a commercial airline analyst.
Boeing is about to layoff 4,500 mostly non-assembly line workers in the Puget Sound area. Production line layoffs may be ahead.
"The key thing to be looking for is this may decision by Boeing whether or not it's going to reduce production in 2010 by 10 percent in response to the global economy conditions and if Boeing does that, that's when you're going to be looking at production jobs." Hamilton said.
Analysts says Boeing is now protecting its production jobs, especially on the 787 line. But if Boeing announces layoffs in May, analysts say those cuts could come at the mercy of the 737 line in Renton.