Boeing has reported a loss of $641 million for the first quarter of 2020 because of the aviation industry being hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
It was reported that the manufacturing giant earned a profit of $2.1 billion for the same three-month period last year.
Boeing reported first-quarter revenue of $16.9 billion was down 26 per cent from the near £23 billion seen last year.
There were financial woes due to the grounding of the 737 Max.
David Calhoun said that the Covid-19 pandemic is affecting every aspect of their business, including airline customer demand, production continuity and supply chain stability.
Their primary focus is the health and safety of the people and communities while they take tough but necessary action to navigate this unprecedented health crisis and adapt to a changing marketplace.
Boeing will cut its workforce by around ten percent, through voluntary measures and “involuntary layoffs as necessary” considering the current crisis.
While the company had about 160,000 employees at the end of last year.
Boeing saw a significant impact on the demand for new commercial airplanes and services, with airlines delaying purchases for new jets, slowing delivery schedules and deferring elective maintenance as the pandemic reduced the airline passenger traffic.
Also, the production levels will be cut and Boeing mentioned that the 787 production rate will be reduced from 14 per month to ten per month in 2020, and gradually reduced to seven per month by 2022.
The 777/777X combined production rate will be reduced to three per month in 2021.
But the production rate assumptions have not changed on the 767 and 747 programs.
Around 50 commercial aircraft were delivered in the first three months of the year, down by two thirds from the 149 handed over to airlines in the same period of 2019.
Tags: Boeing
