BUKIT KAYU HITAM: The Boeing Company is upbeat about strengthening its global presence this year, fuelled by the recent formation of the Boeing Global Services (BGS) to weather the cyclical market demand globally.
Boeing Southeast Asia International president Ralph L. (Skip) Boyce said BGS comprised services in engineering, digital aviation and analytics as well as supply chain logistics and training support.
“We provide maintenance, repair and service (MRO), engineering and technical services for the 30-year lifecycle and requirements in commercial and defence segments,” he said after celebrating Aerospace Composites Malaysia Sdn Bhd’s 1.5 millionth part milestone ceremony here today.
Boyce said Boeing was no longer a cyclical company, as it had embarked on BGS 18 months ago, taking the service elements of Boeing defence and commercial combined into a new business unit.
“So there are three business units, we are hoping that we can demonstrate to the market that we can ride out our cycles from now on,” he said, adding that the global aerospace was projected to be a US$15 trillion market over the next 20 years.
Boyce said Boeing had outperformed its competitors last year, recording a high single-digit growth with a US$100 billion in revenue despite challenging market conditions.
With a total of revenue target at US$200 billion by 2025, he said Boeing aims to hit a 50 per cent revenue contribution for its commercial aircraft, while the remaining portion, 25 per cent (each) will be for its BGS and defence segments.
Boyce said one third of the projection demand of the total 47,000 aircrafts globally over the next 20 years would be derived from Southeast Asia (SEA).
SEA continues to be Boeing’s growth driver with over 4,500 new airplanes expected to be delivered over the next 20 years.
He said air travel remains a vibrant market, following a robust demand trend of the last several years backed by strong economic growth, growing middle class, and increasing consumer spending on services involving airline business.
“We will continue to increase our manufacturing rates, mainly for stronger 737 orders despite struggling with supply chain problems,” he added.
Boeing delivered over 800 commercial aircrafts last year.
He said Malaysia has capabilities in terms of education, workforce, openness to foreign investment and export-driven oriented, which would provide opportunities to establish itself as a hub for the regional aerospace.
However, he cautioned that the trade tensions between the US and China were likely to have a major impact on plane orders.
Another issue that could hampered its growth would be the 737 production programmes with engine supply problems.