Boeing to cut 16,000 jobs after posting massive loss

WASHINGTON, April 29 (MENA) – Boeing said it will slash staff and production after posting a massive first-quarter loss, CNN reported Wednesday.

Demand for air travel has evaporated during the coronavirus outbreak, and the aerospace company continues to reel from the 737 Max grounding.

The company announced it would cut 10% of its jobs, about 16,000 positions, through a combination of buyouts, natural attrition and involuntary layoffs.

The cuts will be deepest in Boeing's commercial airplane unit - which will lose about 15% of jobs. And Boeing said it would drastically scale back production of the two widebody passenger jets, the 787 Dreamliner and the 777.

"The demand for commercial airline travel has fallen off a cliff," said Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun. "The pandemic is also delivering a body blow to our business."

The company lost $1.7 billion from its core operations, a bit worse than Wall Street had expected.

Boeing was hit by both by the 737 Max crisis as well as airlines canceling and delaying orders for new planes because of the pandemic.

A temporary shutdown of its factories in Washington state because of health concerns cost the company $137 million. But it didn't shut production until the final week of the quarter.