By Dan McCue

NORTH CHARLESTON -- Thanks in part to orders associated with the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner project, Vought Aircraft Industries Inc. of Dallas posted a narrower loss for the fourth quarter of 2006 compared to a year earlier, company officials announced in a conference call Thursday morning.

The company, which designs and manufactures major airframe structures such as wings, fuselage subassemblies and other components for aircraft manufacturers, reported a net loss for the quarter of $6.3 million. That compares to a loss of $15.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2005.

Vought President and CEO Elmer Doty said other factors contributing to the company’s improving fortunes include work force and attendant payroll reductions over the past year, facility consolidations and increased deliveries.

The 787 program will continue to be a key focus for the company, Doty said.

To date, Vought has built three sets of fuselage barrels and its composite manufacturing process in North Charleston has been verified as acceptable for production, Doty said.

Global Aeronautica, Vought’s joint venture with Alenia North America, has received the first shipment from Japan’s Fuji Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries for integration.

“The 787 startup is progressing well and the program itself looks very promising for the decade ahead,” Doty said.

For the full year 2006, the net cash expenditures for the 787 program were $47 million including startup, capital and production costs.

Doty said he believes Vought will be able to fund future, foreseeable expenditures related to the 787 program through operating cash flow and advances from Boeing, rather than through bank loans.

Overall, Vought’s sales for the quarter ending Dec. 31, 2006, were up 16% to $417.6 million from $360 million in 2005.

Those sales were boosted by increases across all its product lines, with the largest increases coming from deliveries on its longstanding Boeing 747, 767 and 777 contracts, and military demand for the H-60 Black Hawk and Global Hawk helicopter programs, Doty said.

For the full year 2of 006, Vought said it lost $36.7 million, down significantly from a loss of $229.7 million in 2005.

Sales for 2006 rose 20% to $1.55 billion from $1.3 billion the previous year.

Vought is one of the world's largest independent manufacturers of large aircraft components. It currently has about 110 employees in North Charleston and about 6,000 employees worldwide.