Randy's Journal: Archives

20 June 2005

Moving forward

Just as you're recovering from a couple of weeks of Air Show frenzy in Europe, you come home to some disappointing news.

Basically, over the weekend, Air Canada cancelled its order for 777s and 787 Dreamliners. The Air Canada Pilots Association voted to reject a contract agreement the airline had included as a condition of completing the sale. As a result, Air Canada has told us it won't be purchasing the airplanes.

I know Air Canada is disappointed, and certainly so are we. We thought it was a great opportunity for the airline to renew and modernize its fleet with two game-changing airplanes. The 777 and 787 combination offered attractive economics for Air Canada as well as tremendous benefits for passengers who desire more nonstop, point-to-point service.

Still, as disappointing as it is, there's no need to worry for Boeing here. We're seeing very strong demand for the 777 and 787. In fact, we've acknowledged that we're sold out on 787s for the first three years of production. And we have a lot of opportunities to place these very popular airplanes with customers.

And so we move forward.