I've been listening to the conference call today between Starbucks and analysts, and one thing CEO Howard Schultz mentioned struck a chord.

He said he'd been spending time at Town Hall meetings with customers. He talked about "the meaning we have in peoples' lives across America."

OK, it's your turn. Is Starbucks simply a place to buy coffee (or tea, a cookie, a sandwich) or is it somewhere that actually has meaning in the lives of Americans?

Does Starbucks have meaning in your life? What is that meaning?

Please comment.

You've probably already heard about employee layoffs and store closures at Starbucks. For a look at the letter CEO Howard Schultz sent out to partners today, click here.

I've just signed off from the conference call with analysts, and you could hear the frustration in Schultz's voice as he spoke of "the worst holiday shopping season since 1969" and how "I believe we are navigating this storm effectively."

About how there will be renegotiations with landlords over the rents paid at Starbucks locations, about maintaining the "value continuum" and how "we’re dealing with something we’ve never dealt with before."

Concerning which South Sound stores will close, I've received this reply from a Starbucks spokesman:

"Though we do know our Seattle-Tacoma area stores will be impacted, we do not at this time have specific details about numbers of partners or stores that will be impacted by these announcements.

"Partners affected will be personally notified of any change to their job status during the first half of February 2009. Store partners working in stores that are scheduled to close will be notified once a full assessment has been completed, which is expected to occur by fiscal year end. While this waiting period creates uncertainty for all partners, out of respect we felt it was important to be as transparent as we could with partners and announce our intentions as soon as we were able."

The layoffs at Boeing's Puget Sound-based Commercial Airplanes division won't be increasing beyond the 4,500 the company announced earlier this year, Boeing CEO Jim McNerney said today in an earning conference call.

McNerney set off a rush of anxiety among Boeing workers and area business people already traumatized by numerous layoffs when he said the company would reduce its payroll by about 10,000 workers this year.

That remark came early in the earnings conference call and immediate touched off new headlines around the country.

The new figure caught the company's public relations and human resources people flat-footed.

"We don't know anything about that. It was news to us," said one Boeing public relations employee.

In a media question-and-answer period later in the call, McNerney said the 5,500 additional job cuts would come from attrition, retirements and possible job cuts in operations outside the commercial airplane division.

That doesn't mean that only 4,500 workers in the Puget Sound area will lose their Boeing jobs this year. The company has other divisions here including significant operations by the defense and shared services divisions, but the commercial airplanes operation employs the great majority of Boeing's workers in this area.

Earnings report: Strike, 747 delays push Boeing into the red

Gov. Christine Gregoire in a statement commenting on upcoming layoffs Tuesday at Tacoma's Russell Investments said the state is working hard to find new jobs for the thousands laid off around the state including those at Russell.

Here is her statement:

“My thoughts are with those employees affected by the layoffs announced at Frank Russell in Tacoma. Frank Russell has been an important corporate citizen and an invaluable member of the Tacoma community.

“It is frustrating that the world financial crisis continues to take a toll on Washington business, resulting in job losses for these skilled professionals. Our state’s Employment Security Department is working around the clock to help affected workers file for unemployment benefits, and more importantly, find new, well-paying jobs.

“I want all Washingtonians to know that I am committed to helping our state pull out of this national recession. I continue to work with state and federal leaders to pass economic recovery packages that will put people to work, and make our state stronger when this national recession ends

.”

A 58-day Machinists Union strike, delays in the 747-8 development program and a reserve for litigation losses moved Boeing into the red for the fourth quarter, the company said today.

The Chicago-based company reported losses of $56 million or 8 cents a share in the fourth quarter of 2008 compared with earnings of $1.03 billion for the fourth quarter of 2007.

For the full year, Boeing said, its earnings totaled $2.7 billion compared with $4.07 billion for 2007.

Revenues declined 27 percent to $12.7 billion due in large part to the strike and its aftermath. Boeing delivered 70 fewer airliners than projected because of the strike which shut down production.

"The progress wemade in many areas of Boeing during 2008 was outweighed by the impact of the strike and our performance on some key development programs," said Jim McNerney, Boeing's chief executive officer.

The company also took losses because of delays in the development of its 747-8, the successor to the 747-400. Many engineers that had been assigned to the 747 were diverted to work on the oft-delayed 787 Dreamliner, thus pushing out delivery of the first 747-8 into the third quarter of 2010. The 747 delay was estimated to cost the company 61 cents a share in earnings.

Boeing reported that one customer with deliveries of its 787s scheduled for late in the next decade had cancelled its orders, reducing the 787 order book backlog to 895 planes.

The company's defense side was solidly profitable with operating margins of 11 percent in the fourth quarter.

The company predicted earnings of $5.05 to $5.35 a share for 2009, below some of Wall Street's expectations. Boeing said it will deliver between 480 and 485 commercial airplanes this year, somewhat below an earlier forecast.

Almost 200 Boeing maintenance workers have already received layoff notices that they will lose their jobs in the next 60 days, the Herald in Everett reported today.

Those 190 workers are in addition to the 4,500 workers Boeing has said it will begin warning of layoffs on Feb. 20.

The workers already notified work for the company's Shared Services Division that supplies services to the company's production divisions.

The company's largest union, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers has told its members it will fight the layoffs.

Some of the workers scheduled for layoffs could find work in other portions of the company. Boeing is still hiring production workers but at a slowed pace.

Boeing rival Airbus has opted out of the competition to build a new presidential aircraft for the United States.

Airbus' parent company, European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. (EADS), said late Tuesday the company won't compete for the contract for three presidential aircraft.

"After careful review, we've determined that participation in the Air Force One program will not meet our business objectives," EADS spokesman Guy Hicks told Aviation Week.

The Air Force had requested preliminary proposals from aircraft manufacturers for the new aircraft. Boeing has said it may propose either or both the new 747-8 four-engine aircraft or the composite 787 Dreamliner, a two-engine plane.

If Airbus had proposed a version of its super jumbo A380 jetliner, the proposal was almost sure to cause a stir in Congress already concerned that the U.S. is purchasing too many aircraft from foreign manufacturers.

Airbus and Boeing are already tangled in a fight over which company will furnish the Air Force with its new generation airborne tanker.

The Obama administration plans what will be a third competition for that contract in a short while.

Boeing won the first competition with a version of its 767 aircraft, but that deal was torpedoed because of Boeing's admission that it cheated in the procurement process.

Airbus and its U.S. partner, Northrop Grumman won the second, but that competition was anulled after the Government Accounting Office found irregularities in how the contest was conducted.

The Air Force wants replacements for the two Boeing 747-200-based presidential planes that entered service in 1990.

A ship carrying four container cranes -- two of them destined for the Port of Tacoma's Washington United Terminal -- pulled up anchor and left Commencement Bay early Tuesday evening.

The move out of the bay prompted some concern from Northeast Tacoma and Browns Point residents who called The News Tribune that something had gone awry with plans to install the cranes at the terminal.

Port spokeswoman Tara Mattina said the ship left the bay because it was dragging its anchor and couldn't hold its position with the huge sail-like surfaces of the cranes being pushed by the wind.

The ship moved around Browns Point and anchored in a more sheltered spot to await daybreak.

The ship will then re-enter the bay and proceed up the Blair Waterway where the unloading process will begin at the terminal.

The two smaller, blue cranes on the ship are bound for a port in Chile.