Earnings Labs

The Boeing Company (BA)

Q2 2015 Earnings Call· Wed, Jul 22, 2015

$226.42

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Good day, everyone, and welcome to The Boeing Company's Second Quarter 2015 Earnings Conference Call. Today's call is being recorded. The management discussion and slide presentation, plus the analyst and media question-and-answer sessions are being broadcast live over the Internet. At this time, for opening remarks and introductions, I'm turning the call over to Mr. Troy Lahr, Vice President of Investor Relations for The Boeing Company. Mr. Lahr, please go ahead.

Troy J. Lahr - Vice President-Investor Relations

Management

Thank you, and good morning. Welcome to Boeing's second quarter 2015 earnings call. I'm Troy Lahr, and with me today are Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing's President and Chief Executive Officer; Greg Smith, Boeing's Chief Financial Officer; and Jim McNerney, Boeing's Chairman. After management comments, we will take your questions. In fairness to others on the call, we ask that you please limit yourself to one question. We've provided detailed financial information in today's press release, and you can follow the broadcast and presentation through our website at boeing.com. Before we begin, I need to remind you that any projections and goals in our discussions today are likely to involve risk, which is detailed in our news release, various SEC filings and the forward-looking statements disclaimer in the presentation. In addition, we refer you to our earnings release and presentation for disclosures and reconciliation of non-GAAP measures that we use when discussing our results and outlook. Now, I'll turn the call over to Jim McNerney.

W. James McNerney - Chairman

Management

Thank you, Troy, and good morning to everyone. As you all know, in June, our Board of Directors elected Dennis as Chief Executive Officer of the company, effective July 1. The move was the result of a dedicated effort over several years to develop the future leaders of this company, including my successor as CEO. This has always been a top priority. Our aim was a seamless transition and continuity in our business strategy and overall direction, and that's exactly how it's playing out. I look forward to continuing to work with Dennis and Greg from my role as Chairman. In a moment, I'll turn this call and all subsequent ones over to them. But before doing that, let me just say a very few words about where we are as a company at the start of our 100th year, which began July 2015. These calls tend to have a heavy focus on our performance quarter-to-quarter, and rightfully so. But when you zoom out for a wider perspective, a clear picture emerges of an enterprise that is unified in its mission and purpose to lead the industry. It is as strong as it has ever been financially and is positioned to deliver sustained profitable growth in the years ahead. The commercial, defense and space markets we serve are large and growing at a global level. We have already captured a significant share of that growth in our unprecedented backlog. And unlike many companies, our opportunity is largely organic, and harvesting it rests on our execution, a good place to be. As we deliver that backlog to customers, we are intensely focused on productivity and profitability to drive increased shareholder returns, and to reinvest in technology and innovation to further strengthen our market leading portfolio of products and services. The board…

Operator

Operator

Our first question comes from Carter Copeland with Barclays. Please go ahead.

Carter Copeland - Barclays Capital, Inc.

Analyst · Barclays. Please go ahead

Hey. Good morning. Welcome, Dennis. And congratulations, Jim, on your retirement. I hope this doesn't mean you're going to hang up your skates for the Pond Hockey League as well.

W. James McNerney - Chairman

Management

(22:10). Dennis A. Muilenburg - President, Chief Executive Officer & Director: Thanks, Carter.

Carter Copeland - Barclays Capital, Inc.

Analyst · Barclays. Please go ahead

Just a clarification and a question. Greg, the comment you made on the stronger performance on production programs, I just wanted to clarify if that was a result of any margin change on those programs? And then, Dennis, just from a high level, I mean, I know it's been a lengthy transition, and you've been with the company for a long time, but these events always cause some reflection on where the company can and will go. And I think, if you could just expand on the comments you made before in terms of now seeing where the company's been over the last couple of years and the lessons learned, when you look out over the next three years to five years, what do you see is the biggest opportunities and risks that the company will face? And more specifically, how are you thinking about long-term margin potential, the need for major new investments, programmatic risks? Any more granular details you can provide on how you're thinking about that? Dennis A. Muilenburg - President, Chief Executive Officer & Director: Greg, you want to answer the question first? Gregory D. Smith - Executive Vice President-Business Development & Strategy and Chief Financial Officer: Yeah, sure. We had good performance across the board on margins, Carter. We had a little bit of impact on escalation on the commercial programs, but overall I'd say, across the board and you saw it in the results today, good performance across all areas of the portfolio. Having said that, there's a lot of productivity initiatives still in place, and that continues to be a big focus for the teams on all production and our services business. So we've still got some things to do that we want to try to capture going forward. Dennis A. Muilenburg -…

Operator

Operator

Our next question is from Doug Harned with Sanford Bernstein. Please go ahead. Doug Stuart Harned - Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. LLC: Thank you. And first, Jim, just want to say it's been great working with you over the years, and just want to wish you all the best in your next steps.

W. James McNerney - Chairman

Management

Thanks, Doug. Appreciate the comment. Doug Stuart Harned - Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. LLC: And something you may not miss is 787 deferred production discussion, but I want to just get into that. But specifically, when you look at the 787 over the course of this year, you've said in the past that by the end of this year we should see cash positive on the 787 just by the end of the year, not for the whole year. I want to confirm that's still the case. But also, as you see the model shift towards the 787-9, 787-9 should ultimately be, we would think, considerably more profitable than the 787-8. So as you see these two airplanes mature, the 787-8 and the 787-9, can you give us a sense of the relative profitability of these two models longer-term? And when would we likely see the 787-9 cross over in terms of becoming more profitable than the 787-8? Gregory D. Smith - Executive Vice President-Business Development & Strategy and Chief Financial Officer: Yeah, I mean, to answer your first question, Doug, no change on the outlook for 787 cash, so we do expect that to be positive later this year, and the team's tracking well to that. On 787-9, I mean, certainly as I indicated, the team has done a very nice job coming down that learning curve. If you think about the numbers, I talked to you about 30% over 34 deliveries. It gives you really good sense of how well that's being incorporated. But you remember, we made some investments upfront to ensure we had that smooth introduction. At the same time, lessons learned after 787-8 and getting those into 787-9, so the producibility of the 787-9 has definitely improved. So over time, that favorable mix will…

Operator

Operator

Our next question is from Howard Rubel with Jefferies. Please go ahead.

Howard Alan Rubel - Jefferies LLC

Analyst · Jefferies. Please go ahead

Thank you very much. Good luck, Jim. Although, I don't think you're going away any time soon. And Dennis, it will be fun to work with you.

W. James McNerney - Chairman

Management

Thanks, Howard. Dennis A. Muilenburg - President, Chief Executive Officer & Director: Thank you, Howard.

Howard Alan Rubel - Jefferies LLC

Analyst · Jefferies. Please go ahead

There's sort of two questions. One is on the KC-46. My understanding is you have price options on the seven and 12 tankers. So how did you think about managing the risk so that when you exercise those contracts, or when Air Force exercises those contracts, we don't see a follow on charge? And then second, if I back out what appears to be the revenues associated with the 787 and 747, it would seem that there was a little deterioration in the margins on the mature aircraft. Could you address that as well, please? Gregory D. Smith - Executive Vice President-Business Development & Strategy and Chief Financial Officer: Sure. Maybe I'll (31:03) and then I'll pass it back over to Dennis on KC-46.

Howard Alan Rubel - Jefferies LLC

Analyst · Jefferies. Please go ahead

Thank you. Gregory D. Smith - Executive Vice President-Business Development & Strategy and Chief Financial Officer: Yeah. Slightly, Howard, as I said, we had some little bit of additional escalation with oil deteriorating slightly. But again just on those particular production but very, very slight. And again good solid performance I'd say across the board, and you're seeing that in the margins, both the BDS and BCA. Dennis A. Muilenburg - President, Chief Executive Officer & Director: And Howard, on your question regarding tanker. That's one of the reasons that we're investing now during the development program to refine the production system and ensure we're ready to ramp into the low rate initial production. There was priced options that you mentioned are part of the low rate initial production program. And I think as you're aware, we've already got the first two aircraft loaded into the production line system in our commercial factory in Everett. And our ability to integrate that into the full commercial line is one of the big ways that we've reduced risk on the program overall. And some of the charge that we've taken in this quarter is the fact that we are having to retro-fit a couple of those early aircraft that are in early build stages. But that allows us to get into a mature position now, so again we have high confidence in the production program. We've got Ray and our BCA team very much engaged on ensuring we're doing the right things now to drive profitability in the production system for the long run. So we'll complete that work here during the development phase. We're confident that as we get into low rate initial production and then full production, this program will have a lot of financial value both for the company and for our shareholders.

Howard Alan Rubel - Jefferies LLC

Analyst · Jefferies. Please go ahead

Thank you both, gentlemen. Dennis A. Muilenburg - President, Chief Executive Officer & Director: Okay. Gregory D. Smith - Executive Vice President-Business Development & Strategy and Chief Financial Officer: Yeah.

Operator

Operator

Next we'll go to Sam Pearlstein with Wells Fargo. Please go ahead.

Sam J. Pearlstein - Wells Fargo Securities LLC

Analyst

Good morning. Gregory D. Smith - Executive Vice President-Business Development & Strategy and Chief Financial Officer: Good morning.

Sam J. Pearlstein - Wells Fargo Securities LLC

Analyst

I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about the cash flow just given this cash outflow that you're going to get for the tanker program. Can you just talk about what is the offset? I know you said operations. Is it C-17, is it taxes, is it BCA, is it Defense? And where do you still see the opportunity to potentially drive higher even during this year? Gregory D. Smith - Executive Vice President-Business Development & Strategy and Chief Financial Officer: I'd say, Sam, it really was across the operations. It's not tax related. It's just purely operational performance. Both BDS and BCA that is, A, drove the solid performance in the quarter, so not timing, just pure core performance. And that's what's going to offset the impact on tanker through the balance of the year. And we're going to obviously continue to focus on being efficient on all uses of working capital. Dennis A. Muilenburg - President, Chief Executive Officer & Director: Sam, just to add on to Greg's point here, I think this just represents fundamentally how we're driving the business. This is part of our core operating engine, our focus on disciplined cash management, all of the levers that are inside the business. We are committed to that for the long run, and I think that's reflected in the guidance that you see and our confidence for long-term year-over-year cash growth.

Sam J. Pearlstein - Wells Fargo Securities LLC

Analyst

But you didn't change the number of C-17 deliveries. Dennis A. Muilenburg - President, Chief Executive Officer & Director: No.

Sam J. Pearlstein - Wells Fargo Securities LLC

Analyst

Okay. Thank you. Dennis A. Muilenburg - President, Chief Executive Officer & Director: You're welcome.

Operator

Operator

Our next question is from Noah Poponak with Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead. Noah Poponak - Goldman Sachs & Co.: Hi. Good morning, everyone. Gregory D. Smith - Executive Vice President-Business Development & Strategy and Chief Financial Officer: Good morning. Noah Poponak - Goldman Sachs & Co.: Let me add my congrats to Jim and Dennis on the post changes.

W. James McNerney - Chairman

Management

Thanks, Noah. Appreciate it. Dennis A. Muilenburg - President, Chief Executive Officer & Director: Thank you. Noah Poponak - Goldman Sachs & Co.: Greg, a question on working capital change, and specifically advances and their impact on cash flow. It looks like if I strip out what's happening with 787 deferred, and I'm just looking at total working capital change other than that, it's been about a third of total company free cash, excluding deferred, the last kind of three years to five years or so. Should I be reverting that back to zero over time, or can that be sustainably greater than zero for a long time because it's a growth industry? And then specifically on advances, specifically given that's kind of a big part of that, has there been any strategic change with how and when the company takes advances, whether it's a competitive advantage driver or any other reason just because that's been such a big piece? Gregory D. Smith - Executive Vice President-Business Development & Strategy and Chief Financial Officer: Yeah, there's no fundamental changes to how we handle advances in our contracts. I think as I've said to you before, as you think about just purely the production rate increases that are going to take place over time, and how that advanced stream is completely associated with that, you're going to continue to see advances grow going forward as we increase production rates and then ultimately increase deliveries, so that profile will continue. Now, it won't be at the same growth rate that it's been because we don't have 18 rate breaks in front of us that we've just completed. We've got about five. So you'll still see a healthy increase in advances going forward. And then ultimately, as you know, the bulk of the…

Operator

Operator

And next, we go to George Shapiro with Shapiro Research. Please go ahead.

George D. Shapiro - Shapiro Research LLC

Analyst

Yes. Good luck, Jim, and congratulations, Dennis.

W. James McNerney - Chairman

Management

Thank you, George. Good morning. Dennis A. Muilenburg - President, Chief Executive Officer & Director: Thanks. Hi, George.

George D. Shapiro - Shapiro Research LLC

Analyst

I question Greg, if I try and look at the deferred, it was $26 million a plane this quarter, the same as Q1. I'm assuming it stayed flat because you had more 787-9 deliveries this quarter or in the first quarter? Could you just give us at least some quantitative measures as to how much above the $26 million the 787-9 might be at this point, and how much below the 787-8 might be? And then one for Dennis, any reason to increase two 767 production rate? I know you're going up to two, but any need to go a little further with the FedEx order? Dennis A. Muilenburg - President, Chief Executive Officer & Director: Can you go first? Gregory D. Smith - Executive Vice President-Business Development & Strategy and Chief Financial Officer: Yeah, on the deferred, Howard (sic) [George], you're right. I mean, certainly mix comes into play here. But as I said to you, I mean, we're focused on unit cost performance. So unit-by-unit, are we improving? What are the opportunities? How do we capture those opportunities? And as I said, the 787-8, down 35% over the last – over 200 deliveries, and 787-9 down 30%. So to your point, mix comes into play here. But we only have 34 787-9s delivered. So as 787-9 becomes more of that portfolio on the deliveries, and we continue to come down that learning curve, we'll see more benefit as associated with that. Dennis A. Muilenburg - President, Chief Executive Officer & Director: And George, on the 767 side, we'll treat future rate considerations like we do in all of our production lines. It's a very disciplined evaluation process. As you said, we've already planned to go up from 1.5 a month to two a month next year. That'll position us well for the tanker production program, as I noted earlier. The fact that we see the order strength here, especially with the FedEx order just announced yesterday. By the way, that 50 plus 50 is the largest single order in the history of the 767 program. So that gives you some sense of the strength and longevity of that line. As we look at future demand, we get into full rate production on the tanker program. We have a lot of confidence in that mature 767 production line. And any changes that we might consider beyond two a month, again, we'll go through that normal, very financially disciplined assessment. Right now, we're very focused on just ramping up successfully to two a month. That will position us for what we need to do for both tanker and our FedEx customer, and we'll use our disciplined process beyond that.

George D. Shapiro - Shapiro Research LLC

Analyst

Okay. Thanks.

Operator

Operator

And next we go to Myles Walton with Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead.

Myles Alexander Walton - Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc.

Analyst

Thanks. Good morning, and congratulations to the role changers. First, a clarification on the inventory. It looks like there was about a $1 billion liquidation of commercial spare parts and used aircrafts from the disclosures on the website. But the bigger question for me is on the book-to-bill. You've been targeting, I think, full year around one. I'm curious if you still have confidence in that and the pathway to get to the 1.2 implied in the second half? Thanks. Gregory D. Smith - Executive Vice President-Business Development & Strategy and Chief Financial Officer: Yeah, the inventory is driven by C-17. It's been the other category there, Myles. So it's the liquidation on the C-17s as we firmed up those contracts and got advances associated with that. That moves into that category of long-term contracts in progress. So you'll see that shift there.

Myles Alexander Walton - Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc.

Analyst

Got it. Gregory D. Smith - Executive Vice President-Business Development & Strategy and Chief Financial Officer: That's all that's going on there. I'll let Dennis address the book-to-bill. Dennis A. Muilenburg - President, Chief Executive Officer & Director: Myles, our outlook on book-to-bill hasn't changed. We still anticipate roughly a book-to-bill of one by year-end. Obviously, timing plays into that, but we're continuing to see strong fundamental order strength. We're pleased with the amount of activity we saw in and around the Paris Air Show. We're continuing to see interest in both narrow-bodies and wide-bodies. And the fundamental marketplace still looks strong. Traffic growth trends are good. Cargo is returning a bit, and we're waiting to see that play out in terms of demand. Replacement value continues to be attractive to our customers. And we're not seeing any changes in the demand cycle or signals in the marketplace. So steady as she goes on our book-to-bill expectations.

Myles Alexander Walton - Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc.

Analyst

Okay. And aside from that, feathering dynamic on the 777, when is the earliest that you'd have to think about bringing the rates down more on a demand basis? Gregory D. Smith - Executive Vice President-Business Development & Strategy and Chief Financial Officer: So the key thing there on the bridge, two things, Myles. One is building the 777 order book, and we're pleased with the progress this year. As we said, we needed to achieve about 40 to 60 orders a year to build that bridge, and we're at 44 firm and commitments so far this year. So continuing to see strong demand signals there. 2016 is essentially sold-out now; 2017, more than half sold-out, so progress there. We're beginning to fill the 2018 pipeline well also. Several campaigns still underway. So our ability to build the bridge one, we continue to be confident there. In terms of the transition, this is where we'll be feathering in the new production system. As you know, that'll start hitting the production system around the 2018 timeframe in terms of long-lead implementation for 2020 deliveries on the 777X. So specific decisions around that will be more in the next year timeframe. But to the key thing we're doing now is de-risking that transition by pulling some of the technology and some of the automation forward into the 777 line, things like the Fuselage Upright Build, for example, and that's allowing us to de-risk the production system. And we'll continue to look for ways to make sure that feathering in is done most effectively and efficiently. We know how to do this. We've built bridges on our other production lines. We're doing the same thing on the NG to MAX transition in the 737 line. So we know how to do these transitions with discipline. And we'll make sure it's done as efficiently as we can. We'll get more into details as we get into next year.

Myles Alexander Walton - Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc.

Analyst

Okay. Thanks.

Operator

Operator

Our next question's from Cai von Rumohr with Cowen & Company. Please go ahead. Cai von Rumohr - Cowen & Co. LLC: Yes, thank you very much, and congratulations to Jim. So quick question. You had very good 787 deliveries in the quarter. And I guess one of the blogs is talking about potential for a big Q3. What is the chance that you could exceed your bogie of 125 for the year? And relatedly what kind of impact do we see potentially on cash flow? Because you had very strong Q2 cash flow with essentially very little increase in progress and advances. You still have some deposits to come on the C-17 orders you received. So it would look like on paper as if you should easily come in well above your cash flow guide. Thanks. Gregory D. Smith - Executive Vice President-Business Development & Strategy and Chief Financial Officer: Thanks, Cai. On deliveries certainly we expect the back half to be healthy on 787 deliveries. But as you know quarter-to-quarter, Cai, just purely from customer ability to take the aircraft, I mean that moves around a little bit. But we're comfortable about where we are on our guide. If we have the opportunity to change that, we'll do that. But I'd say, we're well on track to hit that our objective on about 120. So I think we're in pretty good shape there. But again the back half will be important for us. On Q3 cash, I mean, as you know Cai, again, there's a lot of moving pieces in here. But we expect solid performance. We do have some milestone payments and progress payments that will come in in 3Q as well. So we're tracking those, and trying to capture those in the third quarter. But again, a lot of moving pieces quarter-to-quarter. We're comfortable about where we are now with our guidance. And we'll see where we end up at the end of Q3 and go from there. Cai von Rumohr - Cowen & Co. LLC: Thank you. Gregory D. Smith - Executive Vice President-Business Development & Strategy and Chief Financial Officer: You're welcome.

Operator

Operator

And we'll go to Jason Gursky with Citigroup. Please go ahead.

Jason M. Gursky - Citigroup Global Markets, Inc.

Analyst

Hi. Good morning, and congratulations to both Jim and Dennis as well from me.

W. James McNerney - Chairman

Management

Thanks. Dennis A. Muilenburg - President, Chief Executive Officer & Director: Thanks.

Jason M. Gursky - Citigroup Global Markets, Inc.

Analyst

I just want to spend, if you don't mind, a few more minutes on 777 program, talked about the timing on a decision sometime next year, which is great. Helpful for us all. I think it would be helpful as well to look a little bit beyond next year. And perhaps just give us an update on how you're going to manage through this process with regard to inventory that's going to get built on the 777X program for production, that may get built on that program. And just perhaps give us some guidance on when we should expect you to begin communicating that kind of stuff to us, and if there are some historical examples that you can point to so that we can begin really gauging the potential impacts on expenses and cash flows as the 777X begin to feather in. Thanks. Dennis A. Muilenburg - President, Chief Executive Officer & Director: Jason, let me start on that one. Then, Greg, I'll flip it over to you for some additional comment. Again when we look at that overall transition, Jason, it's important for us to first note that the market demand for the 777 remains very strong. So our ability to confidently build the bridge and to plan on that is part of the equation here. The bridge itself and the transition to the 777X, the key there is to flow it efficiently into the production system and into our supply chain. So long lead planning is already underway. As I said we'll make some additional decisions next year on exactly how we'll implement that and feather it into the production system. But we do this across the entire depth of our supply chain. Any technologies or investments that we can pull forward and pre-implement on the 777…

Jason M. Gursky - Citigroup Global Markets, Inc.

Analyst

Great. Thank you. Gregory D. Smith - Executive Vice President-Business Development & Strategy and Chief Financial Officer: Okay.

Operator

Operator

The next question's from David Strauss with UBS. Please go ahead.

David E. Strauss - UBS Securities LLC

Analyst · UBS. Please go ahead

Good morning. Thanks. Congratulations, Jim.

W. James McNerney - Chairman

Management

Thank you, David.

David E. Strauss - UBS Securities LLC

Analyst · UBS. Please go ahead

Greg, the deferred step down that you're expecting in Q4, can you just talk about exactly what's driving that? Is there some sort of supplier step down in pricing that you're expecting? But just what's driving that? Thanks. Gregory D. Smith - Executive Vice President-Business Development & Strategy and Chief Financial Officer: Yeah, no, I think there's mix involved, and continued productivity in our operations combined with some pricing step downs out of the supply chain. So it's really a combination of things, David. At the same time, we're continuing to make those investments I talked to you about on improving the overall reliability, and improving the long-term productivity and profitability of the program. So a lot of moving pieces in there, but all of those, fundamentally, have an impact in that step down going forward. We've got good plans in place in order to do that, so the team's focused on capturing those and coming down the curve.

David E. Strauss - UBS Securities LLC

Analyst · UBS. Please go ahead

And then one quick follow up on 747, the step down to one a month, can you talk about where you guys stand from on a forward loss standpoint, how this might impact that? Thanks. Gregory D. Smith - Executive Vice President-Business Development & Strategy and Chief Financial Officer: Yeah, That's already been incorporated, so there's no forward losses associated with that. Again, I think that is just, again, a focus on productivity inside and outside the complete supply chain in order to offset any of that pressure as a result of that rate coming down. The team was able to do that and hold the program profitability through that rate transition.

David E. Strauss - UBS Securities LLC

Analyst · UBS. Please go ahead

Great. Thank you. Gregory D. Smith - Executive Vice President-Business Development & Strategy and Chief Financial Officer: You're welcome.

Troy J. Lahr - Vice President-Investor Relations

Management

Operator, we have time for one more question.

Operator

Operator

And that will be from Seth Seifman with JPMorgan. Please go ahead.

Seth M. Seifman - JPMorgan Securities LLC

Analyst · JPMorgan. Please go ahead

Hey. Good morning. Thanks very much for taking the question. Dennis A. Muilenburg - President, Chief Executive Officer & Director: Good morning.

Seth M. Seifman - JPMorgan Securities LLC

Analyst · JPMorgan. Please go ahead

Good morning, and congratulations to Jim and Dennis. One more question on working capital, and just thinking out over the next couple of years. You guys have done a very strong job through all the rate increases we've had over the past three years to four years in terms of managing physical inventory build. How do we think of that as a component of working capital as we move to 2016, 2017, 2018 of rate increases on the 737 and the 787? Gregory D. Smith - Executive Vice President-Business Development & Strategy and Chief Financial Officer: Yeah, Seth, I guess I would just put it in the category of day-to-day business, just day-to-day business, solid execution across the board. I wouldn't differentiate that any different than trying to drive productivity in the factory or getting additional flow time. It's all key measures on our programs and objectives that we have and opportunities we're trying to capture. So again, it remains just a key element of how we're running the business. Dennis A. Muilenburg - President, Chief Executive Officer & Director: Seth, I'll just reinforce that, this is fundamentally how we are doing business and how we'll continue to do it. We understand the linkage between that productivity machine, cash machine and our ability to return value to shareholders and invest for the future. So it's fundamental to our business model, and we remain committed to it.

Seth M. Seifman - JPMorgan Securities LLC

Analyst · JPMorgan. Please go ahead

Great. Thank you.

Operator

Operator

That complete the analyst question-and-answer session. I'll now return you to The Boeing Company for interjectory remarks by Mr. Tom Downey, Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications. Mr. Downey, please go ahead.

Thomas J. Downey - Senior Vice President-Communications

Analyst · the Puget Sound's Business Journal. Please go ahead

Thank you. We'll continue with the questions for our speakers this morning. If you have any questions following this part of the session please call our media relations team at 312-544-2002. Operator, we're ready for the first question, and as we're pressed for time we ask that you limit everybody to one question, please.

Operator

Operator

And we'll go to Jon Ostrower with The Wall Street Journal. Please go ahead.

Jon Ostrower - The Wall Street Journal

Analyst

Hey. Good morning, guys. Dennis A. Muilenburg - President, Chief Executive Officer & Director: Good morning, Jon.

Jon Ostrower - The Wall Street Journal

Analyst

Two parter. First one is for Jim. Jim, you told Aviation Week in May that you had a high degree of confidence that another tanker charge wasn't coming. Just curious where your confidence was coming from at that point, and when did you guys become aware of the fuel system issues and how was the process of this arriving on your desk? The second, continuing on the tanker theme is, thinking about the pace of rework on the fuel system and looking at the history of 787 and what happened with F-35 over at Lockheed, is it wise to push headlong into production when you're not totally clear on the pace of changes ahead of KC-46A flight tests? And how are you guys going to kind of avoid manage a pile-up of post-production modification like you had on 787? And ultimately what you did last week, is that the last of the charges?

W. James McNerney - Chairman

Management

Jon, as you know, we evaluate our position every quarter. I think the – we said back in that specific interview you're talking about, I never made a categorical statement. I said we're always reviewing it, and when we see issues we deal with them. And the facts were that in the second quarter, as we tested out the fuel system and as we got into flight tests, we began to see issues that you can only see when you integrate fuel system into an airplane. And those are the issues we're dealing with now. And so Dennis, do you have any other comments? Dennis A. Muilenburg - President, Chief Executive Officer & Director: Yeah, I'll just add on, Jon, to the second part of your question. The key here is the work to go is well understood. There's no technology or invention that has to be accomplished. As Jim said, this is the nature of what came out of some final ground and flight testing on certifying the integrated fuel system. This is the last major system to be qualified under the development program. So while we're disappointed in the charge, it reflects the ripple effect that is the last system. As a result there's no retrofit into the aircraft that are in the line already. That said we have our arms around this. We understand the work that has to be done. We have found a way to execute that work and keep the program on schedule for our customer, and we're confident that we're going to do that. So now, it's about executing the work ahead of us and delivering those first 18 tankers by 2017. And part of the message here is, we have invested in system integration labs that did allow us to find some of these issues now rather than later in flight tests. And while disappointed in taking the charge now, we're doing the right thing and we remain committed to meeting our customers' schedule.

Operator

Operator

Our next question is from Julie Johnsson with Bloomberg. Please go ahead.

Julie Johnsson - Bloomberg News

Analyst · Bloomberg. Please go ahead

Hi, all. Dennis A. Muilenburg - President, Chief Executive Officer & Director: Hi.

Julie Johnsson - Bloomberg News

Analyst · Bloomberg. Please go ahead

Quick Ex-Im related question. I'm just wondering what the prospects are for reauthorization over the next few months and the sales impact that you see beyond 2015 if that doesn't occur. A – [07JL49-E Dennis Muilenburg]>: Julie, let me give you the short answer first on the prospects here. We know that's a very active discussion on the Hill right now. As you know the Senate was in the midst of discussing the highway bill yesterday, and the potential of Ex-Im being included, Ex-Im reauthorization being included as part of that bill. We know it has the attention of both the House and the Senate right now. We remain optimistic that we'll ultimately see reauthorization. But we also recognize that there's a political risk to that. So we're being mindful of that and staying properly engaged in the process. I will say, from a company perspective, as we said before, this is not something that creates near-term financial risk for Boeing. There are multiple commercial credit sources available today that the market is sound there. We have about 15% of our customers that use Ex-Im financing as backstop financing, but in the current financing market that doesn't create risk for us. This is about long-term global competitiveness. And that's why we're so forceful on this topic that it's important Ex-Im be reauthorized. It's about allowing U.S. industry to be globally competitive. It's about American manufacturing jobs. It's the right thing for the country to do. And we're going to continue to advocate on behalf of U.S. manufacturing jobs.

Operator

Operator

Our next question is from Al Scott with Reuters. Please go ahead.

Alwyn Scott - Thomson Reuters

Analyst · Reuters. Please go ahead

Good morning. Can you hear me okay? Dennis A. Muilenburg - President, Chief Executive Officer & Director: Yes.

Alwyn Scott - Thomson Reuters

Analyst · Reuters. Please go ahead

Great. You guys have stressed continuity and the transition to CEO, for Dennis as CEO, which raises the question. Other than the lower age, is there some ambition or vision or goals that you bring to the table that sets Boeing apart for the next 100 years? Without moonshots, what does Boeing do to be great? Merely, are you guys going to merely execute on production, or is there a bigger vision? Can you talk a little about that? Dennis A. Muilenburg - President, Chief Executive Officer & Director: Al, I'll talk about it a bit here. Just to give you prospective, as we're rounding out our first century here we do have a great company. It's the leader in aerospace today. And the advancement that the company's made over the last 10 years under Jim's leadership has been very significant. And we do have a very strong market position today. We've created the right strategy. Jim, Ray, Greg, myself, the whole team, we've been deeply involved in that strategy. So it's something we understand and we're committed to. It is a big bold strategy, one that is a growing business strategy. We've invested in our Commercial Airplane product line for the future. You can see that reflected in our backlog, and you can see it reflected in the new innovation that we're bringing to the market. So I would offer that that reflects a bold vision for the future, and one that will grow and allow our company to beat the competition. We continue to look for opportunities to invest in the future on the Defense and Space side of our business as well. And you can see the number of newer products that we've brought to the market there. So we do plan to continue a path of strategic consistency, but as I said we also sharpen and accelerate where we need to. And I think this is about taking a company that's very good today and making it even better. And fundamental to business, for 100 years we've led with innovation, disciplined innovation. And that's part of how we'll continue forward. Innovation is fundamental to our mission as a company. And bringing disciplined innovation to the market for long-term growth continues to be our strategy.

Operator

Operator

And next we go to Dominic Gates with The Seattle Times. Please go ahead.

Dominic Gates - The Seattle Times Co.

Analyst

Hi. Good morning. I want a clarification, something on tanker. Earlier this year Boeing and the U.S. Air Force negotiated a revision to the tanker schedule. It didn't change the end target of 2018 deliveries, but it did shift around the timing of first flight, the timing of the decision on LRIP and so on. Now, that was earlier this year. And the fuel system problem was discovered. I saw it in the last six weeks since Jim's interview with Aviation Week. So my question is, is that latest problem factored into that revision of the schedule, or is there possibly more revision to the schedule now needed because of this new problem? Dennis A. Muilenburg - President, Chief Executive Officer & Director: Yeah, Dominic, let me take that one. Yeah, in addition to what we announced previously, these intermediate program level milestones about exact flight dates and sequencing of flight tests, those are things that we will, with the customer, refine to allow us to most efficiently complete the program. As we said, we still plan to fly the first full-up tanker which is aircraft number two later this summer. We remain on track to do that. We have re-sequenced some of the downstream flight test phasing, again in the name of efficiency. All of that has been done to hold the delivery schedule at the end. And if, as you talked to our Air Force customer, the most important thing to them is for us to deliver those first 18 aircraft by 2017. We remain resolute and committed to meeting that schedule. Incorporating the latest learnings on the integrated fuel system. We've rolled that into our planning. And while we may move some of these intermediate program level milestones, we remain committed to the overarching milestone of delivering on our customer commitment. And that's all part of what we've announced with the 2Q charge.

Thomas J. Downey - Senior Vice President-Communications

Analyst · the Puget Sound's Business Journal. Please go ahead

Operator, we have time for one last question, please.

Operator

Operator

That will be from Steve Wilhelm with the Puget Sound's Business Journal. Please go ahead.

Steve Wilhelm - American City Business Journals, Inc.

Analyst · the Puget Sound's Business Journal. Please go ahead

Hi, gentlemen. Congratulations for your transition. There's a question for Dennis. When I've talked to people on the factory floor, there's still a lot of rough feelings from the vote in 2014. And I just wondered, as you move ahead as CEO, what is your relationship going to be with union people, how do you hold that and look at that? And in particular, what are you thinking about the possibility of unionization in South Carolina, and will Boeing be pushing back as actively as it has been? Dennis A. Muilenburg - President, Chief Executive Officer & Director: Hey, Steve. First of all, I think it's important to emphasize the fact that we understand how important our people are to our business. We invest in our people. I have a great deal of respect for our team and the work they do every day, building the best airplanes in the world. I think, as you may know, I had a chance to start with Boeing about 30 years ago in Puget Sound. So I have a very deep appreciation for our workforce there as well. And during the first couple of weeks in my new role here, I've had the chance to get out on the factory floor as well and continue the dialogue with our team. So this idea of mutual respect and partnership and investing in our people is very important to me and will continue to be important. We know this is a long-term business that demands those kind of good partnerships and relationships, and I expect to emphasize that going forward. As far as Charleston goes, we're equally pleased with the progress we're seeing there. Our team there is performing and performing well. Our business in Charleston is growing as a result. We're looking forward to the 787-10 being built there. And the investments we've made in Charleston are reflective of the quality of our workforce there. And we treat that management to workforce relationship as very important, and we'll continue to invest in that relationship as well. And going back to Puget Sound, I think you can also see the fact we're investing there for future. Our new composite wing factory in Everett, I think is a good example. So the employee relationships are important, investing in our people is important, and our ability to do work at multiple sites is important.

Thomas J. Downey - Senior Vice President-Communications

Analyst · the Puget Sound's Business Journal. Please go ahead

That concludes our earnings call. Again, for members of the media, if you have further questions, please call our media relations team at 312-544-2002. Thank you.