NEW YORK -- The global boom in aircraft sales could extend a few years and Boeing Co. could book more than 1,000 annual orders for an unprecedented third consecutive time this year, the U.S. plane maker's chief executive said Wednesday.
The Chicago-based company's highly anticipated 787 Dreamliner — which has already generated more than $100 billion of orders — is on track for delivery next May, he added, but the date of its first test would likely be at the back end of the range it was previously aiming for.
"You could see an extended cycle here. I don't see an end to it right now," said Boeing Chief Executive Jim McNerney on a conference call with analysts Wednesday after reporting higher-than-expected second-quarter earnings.
Boeing's shares climbed more than 3 percent Wednesday to a new all-time high, as the company raised its profit forecast strongly, suggesting that the boom in sales of planes and related parts, which began around the middle of 2005, shows no signs of ending.
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"The momentum is stronger than expected," said McNerney. "Rarely have we had (a cycle) that's been as extended as this. For the next few years it continues to look strong."
Boeing notched a record 1,044 net plane orders last year, winning back the title of world's best-selling plane maker from Airbus, a unit of European aerospace group EADS.
In 2005, Boeing took 1,002 net orders, a massive jump from 272 in 2004, when the air travel business was still suffering from the downturn triggered by the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Boeing doesn't forecast orders, but McNerney didn't rule out hitting 1,000 orders for the third year running.
"You mentioned the 'T word' before I did," he told an analyst who asked if Boeing could reach a thousand orders this year. "If everything broke at good prices, sure, it could happen."
McNerney said recent wobbles in the credit market would likely not affect customer orders, but "some catastrophe in the debt market" could pose a problem.
He pointed to leading aircraft leasing firm International Lease Finance Corp. (ILFC) ordering more 787s at the Paris Air Show this year as evidence that the order boom was not likely to slow.
"They (ILFC) tend to be a pretty savvy group of purchasers," said McNerney. "If they are reordering that's a pretty strong statement that they don't see an abrupt end to the cycle."
787 JUST ABOUT ON SCHEDULE
Boeing repeated that the first 787 was on track to be delivered to Japan's All Nippon Airways next May, but conceded that the projected date for the first test flight had slipped to the later side of its previous goal of late August to late September.
"We are at the back end of the window right now," said McNerney, adding that Boeing did have contingency plans to get back on track in case the first flight slips into October.
Boeing rolled out the first 787 from its plant in Everett, Washington, earlier this month, and is now installing and testing the power and flight systems. It then has to do ground tests on the strength of the carbon-composite wings and fuselage before it can fly.
"We're running slightly behind in certain areas," said Chief Financial Officer James Bell on the same analyst call, but added that testing was going well and unearthing problems that might not usually become apparent until after the plane flies.
He said Boeing has redesigned parts of the wing and used new materials on window frames to get the plane's weight down, which is crucial in delivering the fuel efficiency promised to customers.
"We are confident we know how to build this airplane," said McNerney. "We have a lot of hard work to do in a compressed timeframe, but we have the resources to get the job done."
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