Moody’s Investor Services (MCO) has downgraded Boeing Co.’s (BA) rating outlook to "negative" from "stable". The major reason for the downgrade was the delay in the airplane maker's new 787 series, besides other setbacks that had hurt its financial flexibility.   Pitted against Airbus’s A319 aircraft, Boeing’s 787 series is plagued by delays. The inaugural test flight at the end of fiscal 2009 is more than two years behind the original delivery schedule. The company has already deferred the inaugural delivery of the 787 series aircraft five times.   Boeing has witnessed falling orders in the recent times for its commercial planes on account of tepid demand for air travel and cargo services. Already, a slew of commercial airlines have cancelled or deferred their fleet additions. Boeing has cut costs and announced reduction in its workforce along with scaling back production of some aircrafts. Moody's estimates a 20%

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The Boeing Company (BA) yesterday announced that it will record a $1 billion charge in the third quarter of fiscal 2009. The company attributed the charge from a delay in producing a new version of the 747-8 series freighter jet, leading to slow sales and late design changes. The aircraft competes with Airbus' A380 series aircraft. The goliath of commercial aerospace, Boeing has witnessed falling orders for its commercial planes in the recent times on account of tepid demand for air travel and cargo services. Already, a slew of commercial airlines have cancelled or deferred their fleet additions. Boeing has cut costs, reduced workforce and scaled back production of some aircrafts to cope with the changing market dynamics.   The $1 billion charge includes $640 million for higher estimated production costs consisting of late engineering design changes. This is besides the $360 million stemming from Boeing's decision ...

Standard & Poor's said on Friday that it is apprehensive about The Boeing Company’s (BA) risk in terms of order cancellations and deferrals for its commercial aircrafts. Pitted against Airbus’s A319 aircraft, Boeing’s 787 series is plagued by delays. The inaugural test flight at the end of fiscal 2009 is more than two years behind the original delivery schedule. The company has already deferred the inaugural delivery of the 787 series aircraft five times. Standard & Poor's is apprehensive this may force Boeing to scale back production of models 737, 747, 767 and 777 -- virtually everything other than its new 787 series in fiscal 2010. This viewpoint is shared by Fitch Ratings as well. As of now, Standard & Poor's has a Buy rating on Boeing’s shares while Fitch has an "A+" rating. The goliath of the commercial aerospace, Boeing has witnessed falling orders in ...