Boeing's plane sales plunged in '08

Boeing Co. took orders for 662 commercial planes last year, a 53 percent drop from 2007, handing the title of biggest-selling plane maker to archrival Airbus and signaling the end of an unprecedented three-year boom in jetliner sales.

Plane deliveries - which have a greater impact on the company's immediate financial performance - also fell 15 percent to 375, chiefly due to a strike by...