MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Boeing confirms elimination of 12,000 US jobs, and more in “coming months”

Boeing is slashing costs as a sharp drop in airplane demand during the pandemic worsened a crisis for the company whose 737 MAX jet was grounded last year

Boeing confirmed it was eliminating more than 12,000 US jobs, including 6,770 involuntary layoffs, as the largest US planemaker restructures in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. Boeing also disclosed it plans “several thousand remaining layoffs” in the coming months but did not say where those would take place.

Boeing is slashing costs as a sharp drop in airplane demand during the pandemic worsened a crisis for the company whose 737 MAX jet was grounded last year after a second fatal crash.

Boeing said it resumed 737 MAX production at a “low rate” at its Renton, Washington factory.

The company announced in April it would cut 10% of its worldwide workforce of 160,000 by the end of 2020. Boeing said 5,520 US employees will take voluntary layoffs, and also disclosed it was notifying 6,770 workers of involuntary layoffs.

CEO Dave Calhoun told employees in an email the “pandemic's devastating impact on the airline industry means a deep cut in the number of commercial jets and services our customers will need over the next few years, which in turn means fewer jobs on our lines and in our offices ... I wish there were some other way.”

In April, Boeing recorded zero orders for the second time this year and customers canceled another 108 orders for the 737 MAX, compounding its worst start to a year since 1962. Last month, Boeing raised US$25 billion in a bond offering that allowed it to avoid taking government aid.

The job cuts include more than 9,800 employees in Washington State. Boeing said the “several thousand remaining layoffs will come in additional tranches over the next few months.”