Boeing Co chief executive officer Harry Stonecipher, who replaced Philip Condit last month, probably will look to Asia to help the company rebound from a three-year slump in aircraft orders.
China Southern Airlines Co, Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd and other Asian carriers added more than 5,600 flights this month as the region's economic growth accelerates. Condit had already been relying on Asian carriers more for orders. More than half of the Chicago-based company's orders came from the region last year compared with 10 percent in 2000.
Asia "seems to be where the demand in the world is right now," said John Murray, an analyst at Delaware Investments, which held 2.98 million Boeing shares in September. "Those airlines are the ones seeing the demand and they're healthy enough to order aircraft."
Boeing's orders fell 50 percent in 2001 as a slowing economy depressed air travel and the Sept. 11 attacks pushed US airlines to record losses. Boeing deliveries dropped 26 percent last year, allowing Toulouse, France-based Airbus SAS to overtake it as the world's biggest maker of commercial aircraft.
Asian air traffic will rise as the region's economic growth accelerates and governments allow airlines greater access, said Peter Harbison, managing director of the Center for Asia-Pacific Aviation.
"The airlines of Asia are all recovered from SARS and they're looking pretty strong. You definitely see a lot of potential in Asia," said Drew Magill, director of market analysis for Boeing's commercial airplane business. "There is just phenomenal growth there. Most of the deliveries will be for growth purposes."
China's economy is increasing at about 8 percent a year and its airlines need planes to support increasing traffic, analysts said.
Boeing in November won a US$2 billion order for 30 737-model planes from five airlines, including Air China, Shandong Airlines Co and Xiamen Airlines Co.
Stonecipher, 67, came out of retirement to become chief executive on Dec. 1 after Condit resigned when the Pentagon opened investigations into bids the company made for contracts.
He joins the company as it seeks to generate orders this year for its 200-seat 7E7 "Dreamliner." The board last month voted to begin taking orders for the plane.
Stonechipher, whose pay as CEO hasn't been disclosed yet, declined through a spokesman to be interviewed for this story.
Boeing has yet to recover from the slump in orders that began in 2001, logging 250 commitments last year, down from peaks of more than 600 a year in the 1990s.
Airbus CEO Noel Forgeard told reporters earlier this month he didn't expect his company or Boeing to win any significant orders from US customers this year.
Boeing plans to deliver 275 to 290 planes this year, while Airbus anticipate deliveries of 300.
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