Deck the halls

All I can say is, "Wow, it's been an incredible year."
So many things have happened in our business in 2006 I don't even know where to begin. I guess I can just sum up by saying that with more than 900 orders and counting for the year, there's no way anyone could have predicted the amazing, sustained, strong demand for airplanes we've been seeing.
With 619 orders for the Next-Generation 737 so far this year, we have already smashed the single-year sales record for our single-aisles (which we set in 2005). I know that in the past year there's been a lot of buzz speculating about an all-new airplane in the 737/A320 size category. But quite frankly, the 737 is doing very well, and sets a very high hurdle to beat.
The 787 Dreamliner program has already set a record as the fastest-selling commercial airplane ever. We've seen major assembly get underway in recent months, as orders increased to 438 airplanes from 35 customers since launch. And we remain on schedule for first flight next year.
http://www.boeing.com/randy/images/l..._poster_sm.jpgSince the December 6 announcement, the halls of Boeing Commercial Airplanes have been decked with banners celebrating Lufthansa and
the 747-8 Intercontinental.

Just a couple of weeks ago, a major customer came on board for the Intercontinental when Lufthansa announced as the first airline order for the passenger model of the 747-8. This being coffee-crazy Seattle, some of us celebrated that day with espresso and lattes!
The 747 has logged 67 orders in 2006, including some 747-400 freighters - the most 747 orders in a single year since 1990. For the 747-8 alone, we've seen 73 orders since program launch a little over a year ago.
The 777 is having another solid year, with 61 orders so far, and the 600th 777 delivery just last week. The 767 program received orders for 10 airplanes - passenger and freighter - from two customers in 2006, increasing the backlog of 767 orders that will already extend the life of the program for several more years.
Boeing Business Jets is having a stellar year, with 21 orders, and the launch of the 747 and 787 VIP models.
And in Commercial Aviation Services, we expanded with some key, strategic acquisitions, such as Aviall and Carmen Systems, and we offered the GoldCare Lifecycle Support Solution, with seven aviation industry leaders now signed to the team.
I'd be remiss if I didn't also mention the blog itself. It's likely that by the end of this month we will have surpassed the half-million mark in terms of individual visits to Randy's Journal since we started this blog about 23 months ago.
I can't tell you how much that means to me personally, that people from all over the globe take the time to check out this page regularly. It shows what a continued commitment and interest our visitors have in the Boeing Company and in the dynamic world of commercial aviation. Your comments are fascinating, intelligent, often thought-provoking, and sometimes just plain bizarre. I can't answer them all, but I can assure you I do read them all.
This blog has been a real surprise to me over these past couple of years. It's been used as source material (!) in news articles, and has been cited in Web articles about corporate blogging. It's all been somewhat surreal, but the blog sure is achieving one thing, the big reason we started it - spreading to a wider audience the word about the important issues in commercial aviation and Boeing's vision of the future of flight.
In 2007 we hope to be making another small step - as we take our blogging software and design a little further. Like anything else that's new, this has been a learning process, and we appreciate all the feedback. I'm glad you've been along for the ride. And I can't wait to see what the next year has in store for our company and for the business of flying.
Until then, all the best to you, whatever your year-end celebrations may be, and we'll talk again at the start of the year!


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