Boeing Sales and Profits Plummet as 737 Max

Crisis Continues
By David Gelles (New York Times)
Oct. 29, 2019

Boeing 737 Max8 airplanes on the ground

at the Boeing facility in Moses Lake,

Boeing reported sharp quarterly drops in

sales, earnings and airplane deliveries on
Wednesday as it continued to struggle
with the fallout from the deadly crashes of
two 737 Max jets.

With the Max still grounded, Boeing has

ceased deliveries of its most popular product, throwing the company into turmoil.

The company said sales fell 21 percent from the same period last year to $20 billion.
Earnings fell 43 percent to $1.26 billion.

The commercial airlines division lost $40 million from July to September after
earning more than $2 billion in the same period a year ago. And commercial airline
deliveries plummeted 67 percent in the quarter, with Boeing delivering just 62
planes.

The company said costs related to Max production increased by $900 million in the
quarter but did not provide an update on the total amount it expected the Max crisis
to cost the company.

Boeing’s chief executive, Dennis A. Muilenburg, told analysts on a conference call

that he still expected the Federal Aviation Administration to clear the Max to fly in
the next three months. The company recently conducted a dry run of the certification
test flight that would set in motion the process of bringing the plane back to service,
he said.

Boeing also announced setbacks to some of its other commercial airline programs. It
will temporarily reduce the production rate for the 787 Dreamliner because of soft
demand as a result of the global trade environment. And Boeing said it expected the
first deliveries of the 777x, another long-haul plane, to take place in 2021 rather than
2020.

“Our top priority remains the safe return to service of the 737 Max,and we’re making
steady progress,” Mr. Muilenburg said in a statement. “We’ve also taken action to
further sharpen our company’s focus on product and services safety, and we continue
to deliver on customer commitments and capture new opportunities with our values
of safety, quality and integrity always at the forefront.”