Hey, Stop Bashing Boeing!

• Email
• Share
• Print

Over the past several weeks, it occurs to me that I've been saying some pretty harsh things about Boeing (NYSE: BA). In recent articles, I've told you about:

• June's "failure to launch" the inaugural 787 Dreamliner, which forces AMR (NYSE: AMR), Delta (NYSE: DAL), and Continental (NYSE: CAL) to wait even longer before deliveries can begin.
• The curious decision to absorb a South Carolina supplier in-house -- when one of the plane's biggest selling points had been its novel use of outside suppliers like Honeywell (NYSE: HON), United Tech (NYSE: UTX), and Spirit AeroSystems (NYSE: SPR) to lower costs and accelerate production.
• The 15-going-on-30 canceled 787 orders by Qantas.
• And last but not least, Boeing's failure to sell even one net new plane through early June of this year.

As a Boeing shareholder, I've grinned and borne the need to bash my company so often. So it's with great relief, and only a little hyperbole, that I can today announce that ...

It's not all bad news at Boeing
According to Reuters, Boeing is finally back in the black for the year, sales-wise. In a report released just yesterday, the newspaper reported that so far this year, Boeing has in fact netted one more plane sale than it had at the year's beginning. That's not quite up to snuff when compared to Airbus' 68 net sales, but it's better than zero.

Credit for the "good" news goes to Turkey, where airline SunExpress just ordered the half-dozen 737-800s that lifted Boeing back into positive territory. Further good news also hails from a 737 source, as we learn that Air China will be using a Boeing-designed "airplane health management system" to keep tabs on its fleet of 117 737s.

Granted, no figure was named on the Air China deal, and the $460 million SunExpress will pay for its new Boeing birds adds up to something less than three Dreamliners'-worth of revenue -- a bit underwhelming after Boeing's loss of 15 "firm" Dreamliner sales in June.

Foolish takeaway
But hey, it's a start. As for what comes next, Boeing should be updating us on that shortly. The firm takes its place alongside other big names like eBay, PepsiCo, and Wells Fargo in reporting earnings on Wednesday, July 22. Fingers crossed.