Boeing strike hits airlines and metal makers

By Bill Rigby

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The month-long strike by Boeing Co's (BA.N) aircraft workers is starting to spoil airlines' expansion plans and eat into the profits of parts suppliers and metals makers around the world.

The strike has been pushed out of the headlines by the global financial crisis, but its effects are slowly gathering force and may cause serious disruptions if no resolution is reached by the end of the year, which some analysts fear.

"With both sides firmly holding to their original positions, we remain pessimistic that a negotiated solution can be found in the near term," Goldman Sachs analyst Richard Safran said in a research note this week. "There is risk that the strike lasts into December."

The 27,000 members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) stopped production at Boeing's plane factories in the Seattle area when they walked out on September 6 after rejecting the company's contract offer.

Both sides have agreed to return to the bargaining table with federal mediators, but no dates for talks have been set.

In the meantime, the lines are idle and no planes are being delivered to customers, causing problems for a growing list of companies, from airlines such as Virgin VA.UL to metals makers Alcoa Inc (AA.N) and parts suppliers such as Spirit Aerosystems Holdings Inc (SPR.N).

BOEING TAKES HIT

Boeing itself is losing about $100 million (58.5 million pounds) a day in revenue and 1 cent per share in profit, according to analysts.