In a message to employees, Boeing President and CEO Kelly Ortberg announced a 10 percent reduction in the company’s total workforce, resulting in approximately 17,000 job cuts, including executives and managers, in the coming months. Ortberg emphasized the need for structural changes to ensure competitiveness and long-term delivery to customers. This announcement comes amidst a machinist strike involving around 33,000 union workers, affecting production in Boeing’s plants, including those manufacturing the 737 Max planes. Due to challenges faced in development and the work stoppage, Boeing will delay the delivery of its 777X planes to 2026 instead of 2025. The company’s setbacks also include grounding some 737 Max 9 planes and pleading guilty to defrauding the US government after fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019. Boeing has incurred significant financial losses due to issues with its Starliner spacecraft, causing delays in the return from the International Space Station. The crew of the Starliner will now return to Earth via a SpaceX Dragon capsule in February next year.
