Boeing Boosts Jet Deliveries

Boeing's (BA - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) third-quarter deliveries are up, as the company continues to put an ethics scandal in the past.

The company said it delivered a total of 67 commercial aircraft during the third quarter, up from 65 a year ago, driven by the next-generation Boeing 737, a mainstay of the low-cost carrier fleet. Through the first three quarters of 2004, Boeing has delivered 218 planes, up from 210 a year ago.

In reaction, shares of the company rose 48 cents, or 0.9%, to $52.10.

But while Boeing's results are better than last year, when the aerospace giant lost its position as the world's largest commercial jet maker to rival Airbus, they pale in comparison to 2002. Through the third quarter of 2002, Boeing already had delivered 295 commercial planes, 10 more than Boeing said it will deliver for all of 2004.

In other news, former Boeing executive Darlene Druyun was sentenced to nine months in jail and a $5,000 fine for improperly awarding government contracts to the company when she was a weapons buyer at the Pentagon.

After Druyun awarded Boeing a $20 billion contract to make refueling tankers -- a price that Druyun later admitted was inflated -- she took a $250,000 job with the company.

The scandal, which broke nearly a year ago, forced the resignation of Druyun, the company's CEO and CFO, while tarnishing its reputation in Washington and on Wall Street.