Boeing will raise production of its 787 Dreamliner in 2019 and bolster a key accounting measure that will improve the plane’s long-term profit margins, Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg said.
Both moves signal Boeing’s confidence that the carbon-composite jetliner will continue to generate strong sales despite a tough market for long-haul aircraft, Muilenburg said at a Morgan Stanley conference Wednesday.
Speeding production will help Boeing generate more cash from its most-advanced plane as the company slows output of the 777 ahead of transitioning to a new model. The company will increase Dreamliner output to 14 planes a month from the current rate of 12.
The Chicago-based planemaker is also increasing the accounting block for the 787 that it uses to calculate expected sales and profitability of the aircraft under arcane program-accounting rules.