Airbus will move back to the top of the annual order ranking next week after Boeing declared a 2008 commercial aircraft net sales tally that fell 53% to 662 units.
Airbus, which will reveal its 2008 performance next week during its annual press conference, had already secured 756 net orders by the end of November putting it at least 90 units ahead its rival's full-year tally.
Boeing's 662 orders mark a four-year low for its sales team, which had achieved three straight years of 1,000-plus orders and beat Airbus in 2006 and 2007. Scott Carson, Boeing Commercial Airplanes chief executive, says the company faced "obstacles" in 2008, such as a global financial downturn and a string of missteps in its production system and supply chain.
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Boeing's output, which had been forecast to increase by 10% in 2008, ended up declining by nearly 15% from 441 to 375 as the result of its 58-day machinists' strike. Had the industrial action not occurred, Boeing is likely to have matched Airbus's 2008 output, which stood at 437 by the end of November and is forecast to reach around 470 for the full year.
Boeing's order backlog grew 8% during 2008 to 3,714 aircraft, which is a similar level to Airbus's November total. Boeing will update orders and sales guidance for 2009 later this month when it presents its annual financial results for last year.
Source: Flight International
