Boeing to Speed Its Streamlining Process, Exec Says

Boeing Co., the world’s biggest plane maker and Southern California’s largest employer, is likely to accelerate a consolidation of its operations this year as the company moves to improve efficiency, Chief Financial Officer Michael Sears said Wednesday.

Sears said the company, which employs 189,000 people in more than two dozen states, could sell some plants or take other steps to trim factory space, according to analysts at a meeting with Sears in New York.

Boeing has lagged its main rival, Airbus Industrie, on several measures of productivity such as inventory and the time it takes workers to make a typical airplane. The company wants to shed lower-margin parts operations to focus on design, final assembly and services such as maintenance, analysts said.

Managers “are not going to hollow out Boeing, but I do think they’re taking a hard look at the businesses they want to be in,” said Prudential Securities analyst Todd Ernst, who has an “accumulate” rating on Boeing stock.

Boeing also said it will launch its Delta III rocket, which is built in Huntington Beach, with a mock payload this August in a bid to restore confidence among satellite operators after two consecutive failures.

Seattle-based Boeing will bear the cost of the launch, which would be quoted at $85 million. While the company had sought a paying customer, Boeing couldn’t get a commitment as quickly as it wanted to demonstrate the rocket’s recovery, executives said.

Boeing could announce specific actions in the jetliner division before year’s end, according to Merrill Lynch analyst Byron Callan.

Boeing was unchanged at $38.81 on the New York Stock Exchange.