Month of May

Month of May:
I’m getting ready to head to Paris in advance of the air show to unveil our new 2013 version of the Current Market Outlook—our 20 year forecast of market demand. But before we look too far ahead, I wanted to take a quick look back at the month of May— which saw an impressive 64 deliveries.

The 787 program got back to delivering airplanes—putting seven new Dreamliners into the hands of our customers. Two more customers, Thomson Airways and China Southern Airlines, received their first 787. And all of our 787 customers are flying again after the new battery system installations wrapped up.

The first 787 for Thomson Airways. I had the pleasure of being on the delivery flight.

The first 787 for China Southern arrives to a water cannon salute in Guangzhou.

The 747-8 team was also busy with four deliveries in May, including our milestone 50th delivery, an Intercontinental for Lufthansa.

Here’s the 50th 747-8 we delivered.

We also began certification tests on a package of performance improvements on the 747-8, including enhanced GE engines. This package will improve the fuel efficiency of the airplane another 1.8 percent. It’s just one of the ways we continue to invest in the 747-8 program and the airplane’s future.

This 747-8 Intercontinental begins testing our new performance improvement package.

Speaking of efficiency, that’s one of the main things driving our new market outlook this year. I’ll be sharing more thoughts on that in the coming days—and look forward to bringing you all the excitement from the Paris Air Show right here on this blog.