CEO McNerney says 737 replacement is unlikely =0ABy Padraic Cassidy, Market= Watch=0ALast Update: 3:23 PM ET Feb 6, 2007=0A=0ANEW YORK (MarketWatch) - A= ircraft maker Boeing Co., after two record years of airplane orders, reiter= ated Tuesday it was on schedule to deliver its 787 twin-aisle jet by May 20= 08 and that it didn't foresee replacement any time for soon for its 737 air= craft.=0A"I am more than confident that we are going to get within shouting= distance of our weight reduction target" on the 787, CEO Jim McNerney Jr. = said at an analyst and investment banking conference in New York.=0A GET QU= OTES=0A Enter one or more symbols=0A =0A=0AQuotes delayed up to 20 M= inutes=0A=0A=0A=0A=0A=0A RELATED QUOTES=0A=0A BA90.11 -0.61 =0A=0A PCP89.9= 2 +0.09 =0A=0A=0A=0A=0A=0A=0A Top MarketWatch=0A Headlines=0A=0ABiotech, p= harma stocks dip; Myriad rises=0A=0AAirTran boosts sector amid rising crude= -oil prices=0A=0AU.S. stocks close higher ahead of Cisco's earnings=0A=0A= =0A=0A=0A=0A=0ABoeing (BA: news) has received 452 orders so far for the new= , mid-range, composite built plane, named the Dreamliner, but has had to sp= end more than originally planned to lighten a plane that is said to be abou= t 2% over its designed weight. Boeing is about halfway to its weight-reduct= ion goal, McNerney said.=0AThe company is also leaning on suppliers to meet= tight schedules for a plane that, unlike others in the company's fleet, is= heavily outsourced.=0A"That schedule has had a tremendous amount of pressu= re on it," said Mark Donegan, the chief executive of Precision Castparts Co= rp. (PCP: news) , which is supplying 787 parts.=0AAbout two weeks ago, Wach= ovia analysts downgraded Boeing shares, saying there could be a delay of th= ree to six months on 787 deliveries, a charge Boeing strongly disputed. See= full story.=0ABoeing's major suppliers on the 787, wing maker Mitsubishi H= eavy Industries and center fuselage manufacturer Alenia, have fallen behind= schedule, making cost overruns or a delay in customer deliveries likely, a= ccording to Wachovia.=0A"We have made good progress on heavies in Japan but= there is some schedule pressure," McNerney said Tuesday.=0AThe current dem= and for aircraft is being driven by airlines in Asia and the Middle East, r= ather than in the United States and Europe, according to McNerney. "I don't= think you are going to see the same year as we saw in the last two years,"= he said. But, he added, "There is still skyline available on the 787 where= we are today and when the A350 comes on line," he said.=0AThe Boeing chief= also said the company was working with customer to finalize a design for a= stretched version of the 787. =0AAirbus, owned by pan-European aerospace c= ompany EADS , has redesigned the A350, adding the letters XWB for "extra wi= de body" to compete with the Dreamliner. =0ABoeing's net income more than d= oubled in the fourth quarter, capping a year in which it set a record for a= irplane orders and setting the stage for higher growth in 2007. See full st= ory.=0AMcNerney said Boeing was not planning to make a successor to the 737= line, but was studying how to update the 30-year-old technology on the air= craft.=0A"I don't see that plane happening any time soon," he said. "We hav= e no immediate plans for it. It's sort of a technology maturation investiga= tion at this point."=0ABoeing stock, a component of the Dow Jones Industria= l Average, rose 3 cents to $90.75 late Tuesday.=0A=0APadraic Cassidy is a r= eporter for MarketWatch in New York.