Can business be too good?

Boeing finished last year with a record order backlog, nearing 5,100 airplanes valued at nearly $400 billion. The company has been inundated with orders for new, more fuel-efficient versions of its top-selling 737 and other jetliners. Europe’s Airbus has an even larger order book, 5,559 airplanes at year’s end, led by its enormously popular A320 family. The backlogs represent more than eight years of assembly work for both companies. That kind of robust business, however, poses a question both companies have begun to consider: When is an order backlog too big? (Source: Businessweek, 01/29/14) Previous: Airbus eyes higher output; Airbus beats Boeing in sales