Aviation giant Boeing to cut 10 pc of its workforce amid rough path ahead

SAN FRANCISCO: Aviation giant Boeing is laying off nearly 10 per cent of its workforce, around 17,000 jobs, as it makes structural changes to stay competitive.

Boeing President and CEO, Kelly Ortberg, sent an email to staff, announcing the decision. The layoffs will take place “over the coming months” and will include “executives, managers and employees”.

“Our business is in a difficult position, and it is hard to overstate the challenges we face together. 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,” said the company.

The announcement came as the company faces a tough year. More than 30,000 Boeing factory workers have been on strike since mid-September.

The company’s CEO said they must “reset our workforce levels to align with our financial reality and to a more focused set of priorities”.

“Over the coming months, we are planning to reduce the size of our total workforce by roughly 10 percent. These reductions will include executives, managers and employees. Next week, your leadership team will share more tailored information about what this means for your organisation. Based on this decision, we will not proceed with the next cycle of furloughs,” the CEO explained.

In addition to the layoffs, Ortberg said they are pushing back the delivery of the first 777X airplane to 2026.

He stated that on the 777X programme, “the challenges we have faced in development, as well as from the flight test pause and ongoing work stoppage, will delay our program timeline. We have notified customers that we now expect first delivery in 2026”.

“We plan to build and deliver the remaining 767 Freighters ordered by our customers and then conclude production of the commercial program in 2027. Production for the KC-46A Tanker will continue,” the Boeing CEO said.