We supplement the reporting of our financial information determined under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the United States of America (GAAP) with certain non-GAAP financial information. The non-GAAP financial information presented excludes certain significant items that may not be indicative of, or are unrelated to, results from our ongoing business operations. We believe that these non-GAAP measures provide investors with additional insight into the company's ongoing business performance. These non-GAAP measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the related GAAP measures, and other companies may define such measures differently. We encourage investors to review our financial statements and publicly-filed reports in their entirety and not to rely on any single financial measure. The following definitions are provided:

Core Operating Earnings, Core Operating Margin and Core Earnings Per Share

Core operating earnings is defined as GAAP earnings from operations excluding the FAS/CAS service cost adjustment. The FAS/CAS service cost adjustment represents the difference between the FAS pension and postretirement service costs calculated under GAAP and costs allocated to the business segments. Core operating margin is defined as core operating earnings expressed as a percentage of revenue. Core earnings per share is defined as GAAP diluted earnings per share excluding the net earnings per share impact of the FAS/CAS service cost adjustment and Non-operating pension and postretirement expenses. Non-operating pension and postretirement expenses represent the components of net periodic benefit costs other than service cost. Pension costs, comprising service and prior service costs computed in accordance with GAAP are allocated to Commercial Airplanes and BGS businesses supporting commercial customers. Pension costs allocated to BDS and BGS businesses supporting government customers are computed in accordance with U.S. Government Cost Accounting Standards (CAS), which employ different actuarial assumptions and accounting conventions than GAAP. CAS costs are allocable to government contracts. Other postretirement benefit costs are allocated to all business segments based on CAS, which is generally based on benefits paid. Management uses core operating earnings, core operating margin and core earnings/per share for purposes of evaluating and forecasting underlying business performance. Management believes these core earnings measures provide investors additional insights into operational performance as they exclude non-service pension and post-retirement costs, which primarily represent costs driven by market factors and costs not allocable to government contracts. A reconciliation between the GAAP and non-GAAP measures is provided on pages 13-14.

Free Cash Flow

Free cash flow is defined as GAAP operating cash flow without capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment additions. Management believes free cash flow provides investors with an important perspective on the cash available for shareholders, debt repayment, and acquisitions after making the capital investments required to support ongoing business operations and long term value creation. Free cash flow does not represent the residual cash flow available for discretionary expenditures as it excludes certain mandatory expenditures such as repayment of maturing debt. Management uses free cash flow as a measure to assess both business performance and overall liquidity. Table 2 provides a reconciliation between GAAP operating cash flow and free cash flow.

Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "may," "should," "expects," "intends," "projects," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "targets," "anticipates," and similar expressions generally identify these forward-looking statements. Examples of forward-looking statements include statements relating to our future financial condition and operating results, as well as any other statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Forward-looking statements are based on expectations and assumptions that we believe to be reasonable when made, but that may not prove to be accurate. These statements are not guarantees and are subject to risks, uncertainties, and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. Many factors could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from these forward-looking statements. Among these factors are risks related to: (1) general conditions in the economy and our industry, including those due to regulatory changes; (2) our reliance on our commercial airline customers; (3) the overall health of our aircraft production system, planned commercial aircraft production rate changes, our commercial development and derivative aircraft programs, and our aircraft being subject to stringent performance and reliability standards; (4) changing budget and appropriation levels and acquisition priorities of the U.S. government; (5) our dependence on U.S. government contracts; (6) our reliance on fixed-price contracts; (7) our reliance on cost-type contracts; (8) uncertainties concerning contracts that include in-orbit incentive payments; (9) our dependence on our subcontractors and suppliers, as well as the availability of raw materials; (10) changes in accounting estimates; (11) changes in the competitive landscape in our markets; (12) our non-U.S. operations, including sales to non-U.S. customers; (13) threats to the security of our or our customers' information; (14) potential adverse developments in new or pending litigation and/or government investigations; (15) customer and aircraft concentration in our customer financing portfolio; (16) changes in our ability to obtain debt on commercially reasonable terms and at competitive rates; (17) realizing the anticipated benefits of mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures/strategic alliances or divestitures; (18) the adequacy of our insurance coverage to cover significant risk exposures; (19) potential business disruptions, including those related to physical security threats, information technology or cyber-attacks, epidemics, sanctions or natural disasters; (20) work stoppages or other labor disruptions; (21) substantial pension and other postretirement benefit obligations; (22) potential environmental liabilities.

Additional information concerning these and other factors can be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and we assume no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.