Leeham News and Analysis
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Leeham News and Analysis
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Boeing KC-46A cleared for production
Click on image to enlarge. Image via Google.
Aug. 14, 2016: The Pentagon cleared Boeing’s KC-46A aerial refueling tanker for Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) after the aircraft completed Milestone C refueling tests.
All that remains now is for the US Air Force and Boeing to execute the contracts.
This is welcome news for Boeing and the USAF.
State officials need to act now, ahead of lean times coming at Boeing Everett
August 4, 2016 (c) Leeham Co.: With the news that Boeing may terminate the 747-8 program, effective around 2019 when the current backlog expires, the obvious
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) is running for reelection. He needs to think about the coming lean times at the Boeing Everett plant in less than three years. So does his challenger and all the incumbents and candidates for Legislature. USA today photo via Google images.
question arises: what happens to the assembly line space now occupied by the massive airplane?
Given that the State of Washington elected and appointed officials generally view Boeing in a reactive rather than a proactive mode, an open letter to them seems appropriate.
It’s imperative that Washington officials begin planning now for some lean times ahead for the Everett plant. Waiting until 2019 is too little, too late.
Pontifications: Boeing softens 747-8F recovery
By Scott Hamilton
July 25, 2016, © Leeham Co.: Boeing July 21 announced it is taking an after tax charge of more than $800m against the 747-8 program. It also canceled plans to increase production of the 747-8F from the current 0.5/mo to 1/mo in 2019 on the long-held belief demand for the 8F would recover as 747-400Fs age.
In an email to LNC, a Boeing Commercial Airplanes spokesman wrote, “We have consistently said that while there is a cargo market recovery – it is not as robust as we had expected. Our new long term forecast projects cargo traffic to grow at 4.2% per year over the next two decades. But in the short term, the cargo market continues to struggle.
“The 747-8 is closely tied to the cargo market. There is an opportunity starting around 2019 when many 747-400 Freighters will be retired. Some of that replacement could go to the 747-8F, some to 777F, but some of those airplanes won’t be replaced at all. The decision we announced reduces future risk for the program and the company– and allows us to see how that replacement cycle plays out.”
With that, years of forecasts of a solid recovery for the 747-8F that ran counter to many outside Boeing was softened considerably.
Boeing announces $2bn in new charges
July 21, 2016, © Leeham Co.: Boeing today announced $1.66bn in new after tax charges to its 787 and 747-8 commercial programs and a $393m after tax charge for its KC-46A USAF tanker program.
“On a pretax basis at the segment level, Boeing Commercial Airplanes will now record an earnings impact totaling $2.78 billion and the Boeing Military Aircraft segment of Boeing Defense, Space & Security will report an earnings impact of $219 million,” Boeing said in a statement.
Boeing also announced that a planned production rate increase for the 747-8 from 0.5/mo to 1/mo in 2019 has been cancelled.
Boeing KC-46A completes Milestone C
Boeing KC-46A refueling Boeing C-17. Photo via Boeing. Click on image to enlarge.
July 20, 2016, © Leeham Co.: Boeing and the USAF last week announced that the KC-46A tanker successfully completed Milestone C in the refueling flight testing program.
The KC-46A completed refueling of five aircraft, a requirement under Milestone C: the F16, F18, AV8B Harrier, A10 Warthog and the C17. Additionally, the KC-46A itself was refueled from a Boeing KC-10.
The C17 previously proved to be a problem when aerodynamics for the refueling boom revealed more stress than was permissible.
Boeing: no new technical issues with KC-46A
Dennis Muilenburg, CEO of The Boeing Co. Boeing photo.
June 2, 2016: Boeing is not discovering more technical issues with the KC-46A, but recent issues relating to the refueling boom and wing pods are being worked through while concurrent production progresses.
“As we discover things in flight tests, we have to roll them into the airplanes. This will be a wide-body program for decades,” he said, forecasting sales of 400 tankers, said Dennis Muilenburg, CEO of The Boeing Co., speaking at the Bernstein Thirty-Second Annual Strategic Decisions Conference 2016.
New KC-46A delay means more charges probable
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Introduction
May 30, 2016, © Leeham Co.: It’s the classic maneuver to bury bad news: Boeing
Boeing KC-46A. Source: National Defense Magazine via Google images.
announced on Friday, the start of the three-day Memorial Day weekend that its KC-46A tanker will be delayed yet again. Only 16 days earlier, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg said the tanker was on time under a schedule that had been revised previously.
That wasn’t all, according to the announcement. Even when the tankers are delivered, the wing pod refueling systems won’t be operational. (The Boeing statement is below the jump.)
If all this has a familiar ring, it should.
The previous version of the KC-46A, the KC-767 International Tanker, was delayed four years in part because of flutter issues with the pod refueling systems.
Only eight of these tankers were built: four for the Italians and four for the Japanese. Boeing took huge write-offs for these tankers.
Summary
- Will the latest delay be the last?
- Boeing is building tankers despite the need for rework and some internal design changes.
- Are we facing the prospect of a new set of “Terrible Teens”?
- Another write-off is probable-and it may not be the last.
- Will the full USAF tanker procurement yield a profit on the sale?
Boeing 1Q results reveal “underlying strength”
Dennis Muilenburg, CEO of The Boeing Co.
April 27, 2016: Boeing delivered better financial results in first quarter that reflect “underlying strength” in the company, said Dennis Muilenburg, CEO of The Boeing Co., on the first quarter earnings call.
Excluding charges of $243m pre-tax charges on the KC-46A tanker, earnings per share equaled last year. Charges related principally to engineering change to the completed tankers, required after flight testing began. Muilenburg said the program remains “on path” to meet the commitment to deliver 18 tankers by August 2017. With a potential program of 400 deliveries over the life of the program, Muilenburg said the program should be profitable.
Why Boeing won’t take a charge on 787s
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Introduction
Boeing 787-9. Source: Boeing.
April 11, 2016, © Leeham Co.: Boeing has $29bn in deferred production costs and another $3bn in deferred tooling costs for its 787. The accounting block, for its program accounting, is a record 1,300 aircraft. Many Wall Street analysts are skeptical whether Boeing will ever recover the huge deferred numbers.
Boeing insists it will.
Still, taking a charge of some number—as it has done twice for the 747-8 and twice for the 767-based KC-46A—is something Boeing repeatedly insists it doesn’t need to do.
Why not?
There are a few key reasons, say Wall Street analysts who follow Boeing: revenue, cash flow and the stock price.
Summary
- Bank of America Merrill Lynch estimates Boeing needs to post a profit of $30m on each of the remaining 900 787s to be delivered to recover the deferred costs. LNC figures this number is higher.
- Pricing pressure from Airbus makes it difficult to obtain this profit.
- The deferred costs limit Boeing’s ability to price down to meet Airbus’ offers to customers.
- Credit Suisse figures Boeing can recover only some $22bn of $29bn in deferred production costs.
- Boeing warns in SEC filings a forward loss might be required.
- But no forward loss is likely unless revenue falls short.
Boeing launches PFS 2.0
Update, 0815 PDT July 7: Boeing Corporate Headquarters responded to our questions. The transcript has been added to the article below.
Boeing wasn’t shy about who it targeted, or punished. Even supply-chain giant United Technologies was placed on Boeing’s no-fly list when it balked at the onerous demand.
Now Boeing is moving forward with PFS 2.0, a second round of demands.
Summary
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21 Comments
Posted on July 7, 2016 by Scott Hamilton
air force tanker, Boeing, Leeham News and Comment, Pacific Northwest Aerospace Alliance, United Technologies
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