Boeing Predicts Drop in Jet Orders in 2006 After Setting Record in ’05

Boeing Co. expects a drop in commercial plane orders next year after a record-setting surge in 2005, a senior executive at the plane maker said Tuesday.

Boeing, along with European rival Airbus, is on track for its best-ever year, with 806 firm commercial plane orders already on the books for 2005, helped by a recovery in air travel and strong demand from Middle Eastern and Asian carriers.

That may be the peak in the current cycle, said Randy Baseler, Boeing’s vice president of marketing for commercial airplanes, speaking at the Reuters Aerospace and Defense Summit in Washington.

“The only thing you can do is look historically. The next year tends not to be as high,” Baseler said. “Every cycle is different. The tendency is that orders will be somewhat lower than this year.”

Boeing has been helped this year with 185 orders for its new 787 Dreamliner, which is scheduled for its first delivery in 2008.

Last month the company launched its biggest aircraft ever, announcing orders worth $5 billion from freight carriers for an upgraded version of its 747.

Demand for the passenger version of a larger 747 jetliner should start to pick up next year once the industry works through some of its current large plane supply, Baseler said.

“You have to absorb that excess lift and then it should take off again,” Baseler said.