 The strike by mechanics cost Boeing 21 deliveries, the firm says |
Strikes and slow growth in the military market have hit sales at US aircraft giant Boeing. The firm said its revenues fell 4% in the three months to September to $12.63bn (�7.1bn).
Net profits more than doubled to $1bn - but only thanks to a sizeable gain from selling a subsidiary.
The core business of selling passenger jets had its worst quarter in a decade, delivering just 62 aircraft after a crippling assembly workers' strike.
Investors gave the figures a cautious response, and Boeing shares fell 2.5% to $65.39.
Rivalry
Both Boeing and its European arch-rival, Airbus, have been chasing a string of new orders from rapidly-growing carriers in China, India and the Middle East.
However, Boeing has found itself embroiled in a month-long strike by the International Association of Machinists, which only ended on the last day of September.
During that month the company said it lost 21 deliveries.
The result of the strike and its aftermath will be to leave Boeing with 290 delivered aircraft for the whole of 2005, the firm said, down from a previous estimate of 320.
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