Boeing decelerated the growth of deferred production and tooling costs on the 787 programme in the third quarter.
In real terms, Boeing delivered 37 787s in the third quarter at an average loss of $15.6 million per aircraft, according to financial documents released on 21 October.
That rate shows significant progress since the second quarter, when Boeing delivered 34 787s with an average loss of $23 million. In the first quarter, each 787 was delivered at an average loss of $30 million.
However, Boeing must accelerate cost reductions even faster to reach a stated goal of breaking even on each 787 delivery by the end of this year.
Deferred production costs arise from Boeing’s “programme accounting” financial system, which amortises the production and tooling costs of a commercial aircraft over the length of a block of units.
In the case of the 787, Boeing has specified that the deferred costs will be amortised over a production block of 1,300 aircraft.
Boeing added $579 million in deferred production, tooling and other costs in the third quarter, raising the total deferred amount to $32.2 billion.
Boeing had delivered 329 787s by the end of the third quarter. That leaves 971 aircraft remaining in the accounting block, including 203 that have yet to be ordered.
That means Boeing must deliver the remaining 787s in the accounting block at an average profit of nearly $33 million each for the programme to break even.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
