By Jon Ostrower
Boeing Co. on Friday named Mark Jenks to lead its flagship 787
Dreamliner program following the July 31 retirement of Larry
Loftis, a company veteran credited with transforming its
jet-manufacturing operations.
Mr. Jenks will become vice president and general manager of the
787 program, and faces the challenge of moving the Dreamliner
toward profitability on each delivery by cutting costs and
shrinking the $27.7 billion in combined unit losses that have
accumulated during production.
The executive has been involved since the early days of the
program, overseeing the development of two larger models of the
original plane, and in January was named deputy general
manager.
Boeing has been aggressively working to reduce the cost to build
its Dreamliner, which still costs around $26 million more to build
than its average sale price, according to Credit Suisse. Boeing
anticipates the program will turn cash positive late this year and
it expects to generate a profit on each jet after it accelerates
production to 12 a month in 2016.
The company's accounting treatment allows it to spread the high
costs of building early jets across a block of 1,300 deliveries,
deferring those production costs and recording future profits on
today's earnings.
Mr. Loftis, the outgoing program chief, took over Boeing's
expensive advanced new jetliner program in 2012 as the company
worked to smooth and accelerate production of the mostly carbon
fiber composite aircraft. Mr. Loftis was instrumental during his
35-year career at Boeing with shaping efforts toward lean
manufacturing, helping to make its single-aisle 737 and long-range
777 jetliners the company's most profitable commercial jets
today.
Write to Jon Ostrower at jon.ostrower@wsj.com
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