A Boeing 737 MAX airliner is photographed Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, at the company’s facility in Renton, Washington.
Stephen Brashear | Associated Press
boeing company The company will cut 10% of its workforce, or about 17,000 jobs, as losses mount and a machinists’ strike that has idled aircraft plants enters its fifth week.
Boeing unexpectedly announced on Friday that it expected a loss of $9.97 per share in the third quarter. It oversees its commercial aircraft division and defense business.
The manufacturer will not deliver the yet-to-be-certified 777X wide-body aircraft until 2026, later than originally planned, CEO Kelly Ortberg said in a staff memo Friday afternoon. Six years later, production of the commercial 767 will cease in 2027.
“Our business is in a tough position, and the challenges we collectively face cannot be overstated,” Ortberg said. “In addition to adapting to the current environment, restoring our company will require making difficult decisions that we must make. Make structural changes to ensure we remain competitive and serve our customers in the long term.”
The layoffs and cost cuts are the most high-profile moves yet by Ortberg, who has been in the top job for just over two months.
He is tasked with restoring Boeing’s operations after the safety and manufacturing crises, but the strike is Ortberg’s biggest challenge yet. Credit ratings agencies have warned that the company is at risk of losing its investment grade, and Boeing has been burning through cash in what company leaders hope will be a turnaround year.
S&P Global Ratings said earlier this week that Boeing is losing more than $1 billion a month as a result of the strike that began on September 13 after machinists overwhelmingly rejected a tentative agreement between the company and unions. Boeing withdrew its contract offer earlier this week amid growing tensions between manufacturers and unions.
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