Boeing (NYSE: BA) has had its share of troubles in the last year. It suffered from a two month strike of its 27,000 worker machinists union which cost it an estimated $10 million a day in lost profit, it delayed its 900-backlog 787 Dreamliner several times and it's now two years behind schedule; new orders fell to about 662 planes in 2008, just over half the 1,413 ordered in 2007; and it laid off 800 workers, or 27% of its 3,000-worker Wichita, KS defense unit anticipating lower orders due to the government's focus on the financial crisis.

That's not to say that all is terrible at Boeing. After all, it has a 3,714 aircraft backlog and assuming it can make about 400 aircraft a year -- that means Boeing needs to produce over nine years worth of aircraft. And that doesn't take into account the possibility that Boeing could win a $35 billion airborne refueling tanker project that could be put out for bid in 2009. Not only that, Boeing's finances are pretty good -- it has $65.7 billion in revenues and $3.8 billion in net profit over the last 12 months.

So why did Boeing announce Friday that it plans to cut 6.7% of its Washington state-based Commercial Aircraft unit's workforce beginning in February? Boeing expects a slowdown in commercial aircraft demand that it believes requires it to cut 4,500 jobs. That could be because with the economy contracting and financing tough for just about everything -- including multimillion dollar aircraft -- there could be a serious order slowdown in 2009 and 2010, order deferrals -- potentially between 30% and 70% of the total, and some cancellations as well.

The Associated Press reports that The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) has announced that it's delaying the shipment of its 787 Dreamliner from May 2008 to November 2008. The culprit? Unspecified manufacturing problems.

Boeing CEO Jim McNerney was disappointed with new schedule and said, "Notwithstanding the challenges that we are experiencing in bringing forward this game-changing product, we remain confident in the design of the 787, and in the fundamental innovation and technologies that underpin it."

It will be interesting to see how Boeing will be able to meet the new deadline without "materially affect[ing] its earnings or guidance for next year." Meanwhile, with its stock down 3%, the market appears skeptical of this claim.

Peter Cohan is president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in Boeing.

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) today reaffirmed its outlook for 2007 and 2008. The outlook, which calls for strong double-digit earnings and revenue growth, is consistent with the new 787 Dreamliner jet. Naturally, the stock is down 0.9% to $95.59 with less than an hour left in the trading day. Investors, or at least it seems these days, always want more. The outlook in numbers: $4.55-4.75 earnings per share (EPS) and $64.5-65 billion in revenue for 2007; $5.55-5.75 EPS and $71-$72 billion in revenue 2008. The company will probably pay higher dividend for 2008.

These are crucial times for Boeing. The company has 568 orders lined up from 44 companies for the new jet and had just opened an assembly plant for the Dreamliner on Monday in Everett, Washington. The 787 parts will be flown from all over the world and be put together into the Dreamliner in the new plant.

July 8 was set as the date the first airplane should be ready with the first flight scheduled for mid-August. That's provided everything works well, of course. All Nippon Airways, Boeing's first customer, should receive its first Dreamliner in May, 2008. It's definitely crunch time for Boeing, as Stanley Holmes writes in BusinessWeek. So if there are no more delays from suppliers (as there have already been), other production challenges, and if Boeing can overcome the fastener shortage (currently the fuselage is held by temporary fasteners), then, perhaps, Boeing might make it in time and start collecting the money -- most of the money is collected during the delivery.

To add to investors' concerns, Boeing's Chief Executive Jim McNerney said that he expects a third airplane maker to emerge, probably in China, to challenge Boeing and its rival Airbus in coming decades. However, McNerney also said Boeing is considering buying back additional company stock.

No doubt there are challenges ahead in Boeing's near-future, but I trust the company can overcome them relatively painlessly if the path it took to where it is today with the Dreamliner is any indication of management and engineering quality.