Boeing, AgustaWestland to make Chinook helicopters for Italian army

Boeing and AgustaWestland have signed a $1.23 billion deal to supply 16  ICH-47H Chinook helicopters to the Italian army, the two companies said.The company also said that it has an option to supply another four.

AgustaWestland has sub-contracted the building of fuselages for the Chinook helicopter to Boeing. The company will start the delivery of the Chinook helicopters by 2013. The final delivery is slated for 2017.

Boeing, though, has not been faring well on its orders front.

The Boeing Co. has lost 25 more cancellations for its delayed 787, taking its tally of cancellations to 57, in 2009.

As per the information available sixteen orders were canceled by Dubai-based leasing company LCAL, 15 by Russian carrier S7, and one by a Hong Kong real-estate developer.

The 25 cancelled orders, for the Boeing 747, 777 and 787 aircraft, were worth US$4.4 billion.

Boeing did not disclose the name of the customer who cancelled the order.

After the cancellation of orders, Boeing now has orders for 861 Dreamliners in its kitty.

Earlier, there was a delay on Boeing’s part in delivering the 787s because of defects and shortage of parts. But now the recession seems to have taken its toll on the plane maker. One order for the 777 was lost in May 2009.

Boeing will now be delivering 480 to 485 planes in 2009.

So far, Boeing has delivered 39 planes in April 2009 as compared to 40 in April 2008. Customers have been canceling orders because of the current downfall in the number of travelers and this has made Boeing lose large sums of money.

Last week Chairman and Chief Executive of Boeing, Jim McNerney, was positive about the company’s growth and remarked that the company was in strong shape to ride out a “once-in-a-lifetime” downturn that has walloped its profits, jetliner orders and stock price.