Boeing will cut 17,000 jobs as losses mount during factory strike

Boeing will cut 10% of its workforce, or about 17,000 people, as the company's losses mount and a machinists' strike that has crippled its aircraft factories enters its fifth week.

Boeing expects to report a third-quarter loss of $9.97 per share, the company unexpectedly announced Friday. The company took on responsibility in both the commercial aircraft sector and the defense business.

Additionally, the manufacturer will not deliver its as-yet-uncertified 777X widebody aircraft until 2026, putting it six years behind schedule, and will stop producing commercial 767s in 2027, CEO Kelly Ortberg said in an employee note Friday afternoon.

“Our company is in a difficult situation and the challenges we face together can hardly be overstated,” said Ortberg. “Beyond managing our current environment, recovering our business requires difficult decisions and we must make structural changes to ensure we remain competitive and able to deliver to our customers over the long term.”

The job and cost cuts are the most dramatic moves yet by Ortberg, who has held the top job for just over two months.

He was tasked with restoring Boeing after safety and production crises, but the labor strike was Ortberg's biggest challenge yet. Ratings agencies have warned that the company is at risk of losing its investment-grade rating, and Boeing has wasted cash in a year that company executives hoped would bring a turnaround.

S&P Global Ratings said earlier this week that Boeing is losing more than $1 billion a month from the strike, which began Sept. 13, after machinists overwhelmingly voted against a tentative agreement the company reached with the union had formed. Tensions are rising between the manufacturer and the union, and Boeing withdrew a contract offer earlier this week.

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