Chicago ? Boeing Co. remained tight-lipped Monday as its board of directors made the company’s most critical decision on a new airplane program in years, with all signs continuing to point toward an initial go-ahead for the 7E7 Dreamliner.

While the board was wrapping up a two-day meeting in Chicago, company spokesmen reiterated that a formal announcement of the verdict wouldn’t come before today and was planned for Seattle — the region that a team of Boeing executives reportedly has recommended as the 7E7 assembly site.

The fuel-efficient jet still wouldn’t be formally launched until mid-2004, or enter the market before 2008. But offering it for sale would be an important landmark for a company that has been overtaken by Europe’s Airbus in the airplane-manufacturing business it has long ruled.

Boeing spokesman Ken Mercer said the 11-member board convened Sunday at the company’s downtown headquarters building and was meeting again Monday, but he declined Monday afternoon to say whether the meeting had ended.

“If we do have news to share, it will be done out of Seattle,” he said. “But there will be nothing sooner than Tuesday.”

Boeing has not approved an all-new airplane program since the 777 in 1990. Pressure to commit to the 7E7 has grown since the aerospace giant pulled away from launching the 747X and the Sonic Cruiser in the past three years, while Airbus was pulling even in the commercial airplane market.

Analysts say Boeing can ill afford to turn its back on yet another new plane — especially one that seems to have solid market potential. New CEO Harry Stonecipher, a veteran board member, seemed to signal similar thinking when he strongly endorsed the building of the 7E7 on his first day in the top post this month.

Details about the plane and the assembly process are expected on today, when Stonecipher is expected to appear along with commercial airplanes chief Alan Mulally, a graduate of Kansas University and Lawrence High School.