Boeing to increase widebody production rates

Boeing announced (19-Mar-2010) plans to accelerate planned production rate increases on both the B777 and B747-8 programmes. B777 production will be lifted from six to seven aircraft per month from mid-2011, earlier than the 'early 2012' initially planned. The B747-8 programme's planned production rate increases from 1.5 per month to two per month and will move forward from mid-2013 to mid-2012. Suppliers for both the B777 and B747 will be prepared to support the accelerated rate increases. The move will support "increasing customer demand in the recovering airplane market". The current production rate decisions are not expected to have a material impact on 2010 financial results. The company will provide a complete guidance update when it releases first-quarter financial results. [more]