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Boeing may resume delivery
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February 15, 2000: 3:24 p.m. ET
Aerospace giant deliveries have been halted for week-long engineering strike
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Delivery of Boeing Co. aircraft, halted by a week-long strike of engineering and technical workers, could restart in the coming days, even if the strike does not end, according to a company spokesman.
Among the 17,000 employees on strike since Feb. 9, are many of those certified by the Federal Aviation Administration to clear aircraft as ready for delivery. But, about 5,000 of the employees have been reporting to work during the strike, and the company says it hopes it will soon be able use those employees and managers to start deliveries.
"The process, while moving slower, is continuing," said Peter Conte, spokesman for Boeing (BA: Research, Estimates). "We are striving to make some deliveries in the coming days."
Conte did not have an exact count on the number of aircraft that have had deliveries delayed by the strike. And he could not say if the certification process could be at a normal pace once it is resumed.
A spokesman for the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, the union representing the strikers, doubted the company could make good on its prediction.
"We don't believe that's possible," said Bill Dugovich, spokesman for the union. "There are too many checks that need to be made. They are critical checks. You have to be experienced in the particular airplane and in the particular part of the airplane you're checking. The people who are experienced are on strike."
Talks broke down over wage and benefit issues. Rank-and-file members rejected proposed contracts endorsed by their union leadership before the strike started.
Analysts not yet worried
Conte said that no talks have taken place since the start of the strike and none are scheduled.
Analysts say that while Boeing needs to resolve the work stoppage, it is probably still not hurting the company's prospects in the short-run.
"If you assume these 17,000 guys go away and never come back, it'd make a difference. But if they come back in two weeks rather than one week, I don't see it making a difference," said Joseph Campbell, analyst with Lehman Brothers. "They don't even have a strike fund. I'm a long way from getting worried."
Boeing executive voices concern
The head of Boeing Co.'s commercial airplane unit is concerned that the nearly week-old strike by the company's engineers and technical workers could hurt a financial recovery at the airplane unit, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
Alan Mulally, president of Boeing's commercial airplane division, told the newspaper he was "very concerned" about the lasting effects of the unexpected walkout.
Mulally took the helm of the commercial jetliner unit in September 1998, after the parent company reported a loss for 1997 - its first annual loss in 84 years - reflecting huge losses related to problems producing jets.
May split $200B fighter contract with Lockheed
In other aircraft manufacturing news, the Washington Post reported Tuesday that Pentagon officials are considering having Boeing and Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT: Research, Estimates) work together on a new military aircraft, the Joint Strike Fighter.
The plane could be the largest Pentagon contract ever, topping $200 billion, and the two manufacturers are now competing for it on a winner-take-all basis. But the Post report says that in order to preserve competition among the few manufacturers that make military aircraft, the Pentagon is now considering how the companies might share the contract.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Defense said the department has formed an outside taskforce to study its sourcing options and that it is too soon to comment on whether that makes it more or less likely that there will be a winner-take-all contract.
Officials with Lockheed and Boeing also declined comment, saying discussion is premature at this point in the study.
"We're cooperating with the government on their study," said Boeing spokesman Michael Tull. "We can't make any comment beyond that."
Campbell said that whatever decision is made, it will not be binding on the next administration. He said that the industry has opposed winner-take-all contracts.
"The best thing for the industry is to figure out a way to have nothing like winner-take-all," he said.
Shares of Boeing, a component of the Dow, rose 1/8 to 38-3/8, in afternoon trading Tuesday, while shares of Lockheed fell 1/16 to 18. 
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