Boeing Head Sees `Significant' Woes If Plane Lines Lag
SEATTLE -- Boeing Co. Chairman Frank Shrontz, while remaining "somewhat optimistic" that the company's airplane business will pick up soon, said that unless signs of improvement appear by early next year, "we could end up with a significant problem."</br></br>Speaking with reporters here after delivering remarks to a symposium sponsored by an aerospace industry group, Mr. Shrontz noted that Boeing's market "is a world market." He said airplane orders from the Asia-Pacific area remain relatively strong, with Europe weaker and the U.S. "very uncertain."</br></br>The stock market reacted sharply to what some analysts saw as the Boeing chairman's first suggestion that the airline industry slump could begin to disrupt manufacturing operations as early as next year. In late trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Boeing shares were quoted at $41.375 a share, down $3.125.</br></br>"It's his first time saying that schedules going out into the future could be at risk," said Howard Rubel of C. J. Lawrence Inc., New York. "It's putting us on notice that the {business} cycle's having its effect."</br></br>Mr. Rubel added that such negative-sounding airline news as Pan American World Airways' closure actually tend to cheer Boeing investors, because strong Boeing customers become healthier with the disappearance of marginal players prone to cutting fares.