Boeing Delay Buoys Skeptics

Generally, Boeing has been forthcoming about its problems, which has helped it to maintain credibility. Investor confidence was buttressed Thursday when Standard and Poor's said it has maintained Boeing's A+/Stable/A-1 rating.

"We do not expect the delay to significantly affect Boeing's forecast earnings in 2007 and 2008, which are benefiting from solid performance in all business segments," S&P said.

Nevertheless, there are chinks. Hamilton said it is now clear that the rush to roll out the airplane on July 8, 2007 was an instance where "public relations and marketing took control of the process." The plane displayed to the world was put together with thousands of temporary fasteners, but it turned out that documentation was lacking.

"They basically had to take it apart and put it together again," he says.

Still, Boeing remains ahead of Airbus on the credibility scale, Hamilton said. Besides incurring A380 delays, Airbus cancelled production of an earlier A350 version scheduled for delivery in 2011. One might assume the week's events have brought smirks at Airbus, but spokesman Clay McConnell says the emotional response is not so simple.

After all, he notes, "We're familiar with the impact a program delay can have."