Boeing to Delay Jet Deliveries: Report

Plane maker Boeing is reworking its entire production schedule, adding up to 10 weeks to original delivery dates for all 3,734 jetliners in its order backlog as it tries to recover from a machinists' strike, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the situation.

Since early November, Boeing officials have been working to bring production lines back up to speed, after they lay dormant during a 58-day strike by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the paper said.

The process, which calls for careful coordination among hundreds of suppliers and tens of thousands of workers worldwide, could take several weeks, the paper added.

Boeing officials could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters.

Boeing officials have decided against trying to kick the factories into a higher gear to make up the lost ground, fearing such a move might backfire and add to manufacturing woes at the Chicago aerospace company's jet plants, the Journal said.

Boeing is not expected to publicly discuss details of its new schedule, which will include updated financial guidance and projections of how many airplanes it will deliver this year and next, until early December, the paper added.

Last week, Boeing pushed back the schedule on the cargo version of its 747 jumbo by as much as nine months.

Copyright 2008 Reuters. Click for restrictions.