Boeing 2011 Annual Report Download - page 5

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We also continued to incrementally increase our pro-
duction rates in 2011 to meet growing market demand
and speed the flow of airplanes to customers. We
increased the 737 rate from 31.5 per month to 35 per
month and raised the 777 rate from five per month
to seven per month—both historic highs. We plan
to raise the 737 rate to 38 per month in the second
quarter of 2013 and to 42 per month in the first half
of 2014. Production of the 777 will increase to more
than eight per month in the first quarter of 2013.
Although we fell short of our 2011 target for 787 deliv-
eries, we successfully increased production to 2.5
planes per month in our Everett, Washington, facility.
With improving performance throughout the supply
chain, we raised the rate to 3.5 per month in the first
quarter of 2012, and plan to increase the rate to 5 per
month by year-end.
Our new 787 final assembly facility in North Charleston,
South Carolina, which opened midyear, has made
steady progress with its first 787s; the inaugural
delivery from that site is scheduled for mid-2012.
The combined production rate across both 787 facili-
ties is slated to reach 10 per month in late 2013.
Overall, we ended 2011 with a backlog of 3,771 firm
commercial airplane orders valued at a company
record $296 billion—setting the stage for unprece-
dented and lasting growth.
Boeing Defense, Space & Security also achieved
strong operational success in 2011. We delivered 115
military jets, 131 new and remanufactured helicopters,
four satellites and more than 10,500 weapons sys-
tems. Key milestones included the final space shuttle
mission; introduction of the Block III Apache helicop-
ter; and deliveries of the first Intelsat 702 MP satellite,
the 500th on-cost, on-schedule F/A-18 Super Hornet,
and the final KC-767 tankers to the Italian Air Force.
Despite U.S. budget constraints, revenues held
steady at $32 billion on customer demand for our
core offerings and increased international sales,
which grew to 24 percent of revenues. We also
strengthened our market position and growth
prospects with an impressive string of strategic wins
and new contract awards:
— In winning the U.S. Air Force KC-46 tanker
program, we will design, develop and build 179
next-generation 767-based tankers, maintain our
50-year franchise in the business, and open a
sizeable international market.
— A U.S. government agreement with Saudi Arabia
for 84 new F-15s and upgrades to 70 existing ones
will extend F-15 production for several years and
position it well for more international sales.
— Our U.S. Navy contract for 13 P-8A Poseidons
begins a production run of this 737 derivative that
we expect will exceed 100 airplanes.
— Winning the Ground-based Midcourse Defense
development and sustainment contract preserves
our role as prime contractor and keeps us at the
forefront of critical missile defense technology.
— And, contracts for the core rocket stages and the
avionics system for NASA’s new Space Launch
System ensures Boeing a leading role in the future
of U.S. space exploration.
We also expanded our reach into important growth
markets by opening a Cyber Engagement Center,
acquiring information solutions provider Solutions Made
Simple, and reaching test milestones on our Phantom
Eye and Phantom Ray unmanned aerial vehicles.
Defense, Space & Security’s year-end backlog of
$60 billion—still nearly twice 2011 revenues—ranks
among the industry’s highest and reflects the on-
going strength of our product-and-services portfolio.
The Path Forward
Last year we defined our priorities for achieving
sustained growth—and continued global leadership in
aerospace—as we approach our 100th anniversary in
2016. We made considerable progress on each of our
priorities in 2011, but more work remains to be done
to unleash our full potential.
U.S. Navy awards Boeing
first P-8A Poseidon
production contract
747-8 Intercontinental
makes first flight
FebruaryJanuary March
Boeing wins U.S. Air
Force tanker program
A Year of Achievement
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