Boeing is expecting plane orders to dip this year and next from its industry record in 2007, as volatile oil prices and the softening economy catches up with airlines.

"We have reached the orders peak," Boeing's commercial plane unit chief executive Scott Carson said on Wednesday, predicting declining orders for his company in 2008 and 2009.

The drop-off is not a great surprise, as airlines have recently scaled back growth plans in the face of record oil prices and signs that travel demand is slowing.

That comes after three years of unprecedented growth in sales for Boeing and rival Airbus.

The US plane maker booked a record 1,413 net firm orders last year, but has only 640 so far in 2008, with only six weeks left in the year.

Orders coming down further would be a reversion to more traditional levels. In the four years 2001 to 2004, Boeing took in a total of 1,076 orders.

Boeing is still assessing the delays on its new 787 and other planes, after the strike by its assembly workers that stopped production at its Seattle-area plants for 58 days.

"We today are very focused on restarting our production systems," said Carson, as the company works to recover from the strike, which ended on November 2.

Boeing has previously said that each day of the strike would add a day to its delivery schedules, plus some extra time as it brings production lines up to full speed.

That would indicate at least an eight week delay on all Boeing planes. The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that all planes would be delayed by up to 10 weeks, citing people familiar with the situation.

The company declined comment on that, and Carson did not address the exact delay in his presentation. Boeing is expected to announce new production schedules and update its financial outlook -- taking into account the strike and other issues -- in the next few weeks.

On top of the strike, Boeing has problems on several programs. The new 787 Dreamliner is being held up by problems with fasteners holding the plane together, some of which were incorrectly installed. Carson said on Wednesday Boeing was still assessing the status of the 787, which is now almost two years behind schedule, and reiterated that it will not make its first test flight until next year.

Boeing has already pushed back deliveries of the newest version of the jumbo, the 747-8, and the new freighter version of the 777. It also faces disruptions on its 737 production line because of problems with nutplates -- small structural joining parts -- which were not correctly coated.

"It's been a long four-five months for us," said Carson, reflecting on production delays and the machinists' strike.

Boeing' shares fell 4.7 percent to USD$37.70 on the New York Stock Exchange, not far above the almost five-year low of USD$38.05 hit on Tuesday.