Facetime with Boeing's Jim McNerney

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Boeing stock went from 100 to 75 because of delays with the Dreamliner. How did you allow that to happen?

Well, I would characterize the 787 as a leading-edge innovation, all right? The good news is we're five years ahead of our competition with an innovation that they're having trouble duplicating, and we have market acceptance for this airplane that has been better than any airplane ever marketed. We have almost 1,000 orders for this airplane. Now on the supply-chain side, I think we ran into some issues. We overestimated the ability of our partners to get things done with the timing we'd all hoped for. Our oversight of that environment was not as good as it could have been. It's a big global enterprise, this 787, and we have some problems that we've got to learn from, and we've got to do better.

Do you have any regrets about the way you handled it? Some people say: "Look, he’s a high-profile manager and highly regarded. How come he was so low-profile during such an important time for the company?"

I don't think the guys in Seattle [where the Dreamliner is being built] would characterize me as low-profile regarding my involvement with the 787. Having said that, you can always look back on these situations and say if I’d moved two months earlier here or a month and a half earlier there…we probably could be in slightly better shape.

What kind of confidence do you have that the targets you've got now for the 787 will be met?

We have a high level of confidence. We regret the stumbles we've had, particularly the impact we've had on our customers. But I think we've got it down to an executable plan we and our partners can implement together. It's still the most successful introduction in aviation history. We'll get there.

I was talking with a money manager who has a position in Boeing stock, and he said: "The dollar has put enormous pressure on Airbus, and yet they're outselling Boeing in the smaller end of the market." How is that possible? Why haven't you been more successful there?

The fact is our sales levels are about the same in the narrow-body segment and our sales levels in the bigger airplanes are in excess of Airbus' over the last couple of years. So I wouldn't characterize us as losing out in the narrow-body side. But our competitor is doing a good job there.

What about the defense part of the business? You have had some losses to Europe. You've got business going to Lockheed (LMT), business going to Northrop.

Overall our defense business is doing very well. We won 9 out of 11 competitions last year that we were in, but we did, as you alluded to, lose a tanker competition, which we are protesting, that [went to] an airplane made by Airbus in France. And we are protesting that decision not on the basis of where the airplane is made and some of the political atmospherics, but on the basis of the decision process, which we think was flawed.

What's the timing on that protest?

The GAO [General Accountability Office] will render a decision on June 19.

You've got roughly $12 billion in cash right now. A lot of people might say: "That's about $16 a share. We would like a high dividend or more acquisitions." Are there any plans to use that cash differently?

We are mindful of our employees first—in terms of pension plans and health-care plans—and our investors. But you have to remember, [aerospace] is a lumpy industry. Things happen quickly. Billions of dollars move this way and that. I'm a pretty conservative manager who likes to keep probably more than enough cash around.

Can you categorically rule out a change in plans?

No, but we want to be ready. If an acquisition that makes sense comes along, we want to move quickly. We want to have that as an advantage.

Maria Bartiromo is the anchor of CNBC's Closing Bell .