Uncertain future of 717

From an article about Boeing announcing a $300 million writeoff if the
military refueling contract falls through.


717 PROGRAM NEARING END?

Boeing also said it could take a pretax charge of about $400 million if the
company terminates its 717 program due to lack of market demand. The company
said it lost a major 717 sales campaign in the fourth quarter of 2003,
increasing the possibility that it would end the program.

Boeing's 717 order backlog has dwindled to 35 at the end of January despite
slowing production to just one jet per month.

The 106-seat jetliner, Boeing's smallest, began life as the MD-95 under
McDonnell Douglas, which Boeing bought in 1997. Starting with a December 1995
launch order from ValuJet, which later became AirTran , Boeing booked only 161 orders.

Larger jets -- like the popular 737 and rival Airbus SAS's strong-selling A320
-- along with smaller regional jets have siphoned orders from the 100-seat segment.

"Boeing plans to stay the course because it recognizes that the 717 is the
right product to fulfill airline needs," the company said in a recent posting
on its Web site.

The company announced a forward loss of $250 million related to weak 717 sales
in late 2001 and has said repeatedly that the program was not profitable. But
it has yet to cancel the program, voicing optimism that sales would emerge.