Re: Boeing faces cancelled aircraft orders
sniglet wrote:
Quote:
Plagued with losses, some major airlines in India are considering deferring orders of new jets. India's largest airline by market share, Jet Airways (India) Ltd., said it is in talks with Boeing Co. to defer deliveries of two widebody Boeing 777s to next year from their planned handover in October.
Some industry observers are closely watching China, which saw passenger volumes fall in June for the second straight month.
But the rapid shift in the outlook for India's carriers shows how fast-moving developing markets can trip up industries, ranging from aerospace to autos to banking, that are counting on them for growth.
The International Air Transport Association, an industry group, estimates that the global industry could lose as much as $6.1 billion this year if oil prices remain close to recent highs, with almost one-third of that coming from outside North America.
All is not well in the airline industry... It looks like those airlines in emerging markets might not provide the panacea of never-ending sales that aircraft manufacturers have been hoping for.
Any guesses as to when the first Boeing lay-offs will occur in the Puget Sound? I am going out on a limb to say the second half of 2009.
The first round of layoffs has already occurred. Other rounds will be spread over the remainder of the year. It's not been fun walking past large meeting rooms with 'Layoff Briefing' signs in front of them. It has also not been fun overhearing statements like 'I won't be at the meeting next week, I've been laid off and this is my last week'.
The announced layoffs (so far) aren't as severe as 1995 (when my engineering division ceased to exist and I learned about South Snohomish county and Everett [not all bad]), 1997, and the big layoffs following the 9/11 attacks.
Fortunately I'm on the design/cert side of things, not production, my work is pretty much the same whether 1 or 100 airplanes are produced. Not 'golden' or impervious by any means, but am somewhat buffered by direct production rate cuts. Of course, if the vendors ever do actually prove that they can do the work themselves then I'll likely find myself being tossed out the gate head first.
