Aircraft
Boeing Cuts 787 Rate Amid China Trade Tensions
Muilenburg blames trade war for suppression of Dreamliner demand.
Boeing 787s undergo assembly at the company's factory in Everett, Washington. (Photo: Boeing)
Boeing 787s undergo assembly at the company's factory in Everett, Washington. (Photo: Boeing)

A day after now-former Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Kevin McAllister lost his job amid the crisis surrounding the grounding of the 737 Max, wholly unrelated difficulties involving trade tension between the U.S. and China prompted Boeing to announce a cut in production of its best-selling widebody—the 787 Dreamliner—from 14 to 12 per month starting next year. Speaking Wednesday during the company’s third-quarter earnings call, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg acknowledged that the trade war has depressed the order outlook despite recent proclamations by U.S. President Donald Trump of $20 billion of impending business from China for the aerospace giant. Although Boeing still projects demand from China for 7,700 widebodies over the next two decades, the company clearly signaled that it sees no breakthrough in the short term, prompting it to plan for no rate increase beyond 12 a month for at least another two years.