NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Sept. 2, 2005--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that its ratings and outlook on Boeing Co. (A/Stable/A-1) are not immediately affected by a vote by Boeing's machinist union to strike. The International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers' decision will result in a shutdown of the firm's commercial airplanes operations, a business that accounts for almost 50% of its revenues. Boeing's ability to withstand a strike is aided by substantial internal cash generation from its defense business (which is mostly not affected by the strike), sizable cash resources (cash and equivalents were about $5 billion and marketable securities $3 billion on June 30, 2005), and full availability under $3.5 billion of committed credit facilities.
