Boeing is a best-in-class stock with great management and a competitive position, CNBC's Jim Cramer said on "Squawk on the Street" Thursday. He told investors that the company should be part of just about any portfolio.
With a slew of negative press coverage on Boeing this year centered around a faulty battery system on the new 787 Dreamliner aircraft, Cramer said of the company's CEO, Jim McNerney, that "many execs might have run from this one, many execs might have ducked. He never did, he was at the forefront."
"That issue has been resolved and the full promise of the 787 has not been impaired," McNerney told "Mad Money" in an interview Wednesday.
(Read More: Cramer: 787 Should Lift Boeing Much Higher)
"Boeing presented a world view that was incredibly strong; talking about how many airports are being built in China, talking about an amazing resurgence in airline traffic," Cramer said. "This is a secular growth trend and Boeing is the best manufacturer, bar none."
When Cramer asked McNerney about the competitive landscape, he said that the gap was relatively wide between Boeing and Airbus. "This guy comes to play. They're in there selling these planes every day against Airbus, offering technological superiority."
(Read More: Boeing to Airbus: We've Got You Boxed and Bracketed)
Cramer pointed out that the waiting list for a Dreamliner is until 2019, demonstrating both demand and reliable cash flows several years out. "We're out to about 1,000 in our backlog; you can't get one before 2019," McNerney said in the Wednesday "Mad Money" interview.
"How can you not own this stock?" Cramer asked. "The runway here is so long, the company is so well managed, the orders are so great. Yeah, Boeing. A key holding for institutions, it has to be. Individuals: don't be put off by the $100 price."
(Related: Inside Dreamliner's Operations Center)
—By CNBC's Paul Toscano. Follow him on Twitter and get the latest stories from "Squawk on the Street" @ToscanoPaul.
