Boeing sales chief says Rolls setbacks not impacting 787 sales

Engine problems at Britain’s Rolls-Royce have rattled the aviation industry but have not slowed sales of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Boeing’s commercial sales chief said. The UK engineering company faces problems with parts of the Trent 1000 engine, leading to the grounding of some 787s for repairs, and separately plans to cut 4,600 jobs. “Does it rattle people? Yes it rattles people. Nobody likes that. Airplanes make money when they are in the air; they don’t make money when they are on the ground,” Ihssane Mounir, senior VP of commercial sales & marketing for Boeing said. “I haven’t seen any slowdown in sales right now. These are growing and teething pains for any product.” Privately, Boeing executives are said to be frustrated about the problems which have left dozens of 787s grounded. Boeing sees continued 787 demand but it is too early to think about raising output beyond existing plans, Mounir said. Boeing is expected to complete a plan to raise 787 output to 14 a month from 12 a month by March 2019. “We are sold out in 2019 right now, and we are doing just fine in 2020 and in the out years. We are taking it one step at a time,” Mounir said.<br/>