Boeing announces coming job cuts, third-quarter loss
Boeing machinists maintain their picket line outside the company’s Moses Lake facility Friday. The company announced Friday that it would cut its workforce by 10% across the board.
JOEL MARTIN/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
MOSES LAKE — Boeing plans to cut its workforce by about 10%, according to an announcement Friday from CEO Kelly Ortberg.
Ortberg did not give a timeline for the job cuts, saying only that they would be instituted “over the coming months.”
“Our business is in a difficult position, and it is hard to overstate the challenges we face together,” Ortberg wrote in the announcement. “Beyond navigating our current environment, restoring our company requires tough decisions and we will have to make structural changes to ensure we can stay competitive and deliver for our customers over the long term.”
How the cuts will affect the company’s operation in Moses Lake, which employs about 800 people, isn’t yet clear, said Boeing spokesperson Bobbie Egan.
The 10% (cut) will be across the board,” Egan said. “There’s no one group that’s being targeted or exempt.”
A press release issued at the same time as Ortberg’s statement said the company expects to report a loss of $9.97 per share for the third quarter. The company projects a third-quarter operating cash flow loss of $1.3 billion.
Third-quarter revenue was projected to be $17.8 billion. Cash and investments in marketable securities totaled $10.5 billion at the end of the quarter.
On the picket line outside Boeing’s Moses Lake facility, the striking members of the machinists’ union said they weren’t especially concerned.
“They can’t touch us until we go back to work,” said Ryan McTaggart.
“Even then it would have to go off seniority,” said Krystal Keefe. “A lot of us have high seniority here.”
The company also will delay delivery of its 777 aircraft and stop production of its 767 freight aircraft after current orders are filled, according to Ortberg’s letter. He cited problems with the design and that 777 test flights have been put on hold. Delivery of the 777 has been delayed until at least 2026.
Ortberg said the commercial 767 freighter program will end in 2027.
Ortberg cited the strike by IAM District 751, the union representing machinists, as one of the reasons for the delay in 777 production. Union members on the picket line in Moses Lake were unconvinced.
“They can stop being such a crybaby,” Keefe said.