WASHINGTON: Boeing plans to announce significant rollbacks in the production of the 787 Dreamliner along with a number of job cuts next week. This news comes as the global airline industry is in freefall and demand for new aircraft is at an all-time low. These production cuts will bring down monthly production to just a handful of aircraft.
Boeing will cut the production of the 787 by roughly 50% percent, bringing down its 14 aircraft a month to figures in the single digits. This reduction is even lower than Boeing’s earlier planned production cuts to 10 aircraft a month.
Boeing was also forced to temporarily close many of its facilities over virus concerns. The move comes in response to the coronavirus, which had forced companies to defer aircraft deliveries and cancel orders outright, heavily impacting Boeing.
In an open letter to employees, Boeing CEO David Calhoun speaks about how “it’s important we start adjusting to our new reality now”. The letter also mentions that Boeing will likely take years to recover from this pandemic as the aviation market continues to shrink.
The aircraft manufacturer has previously considered axing 10% of the entire workforce. All of this points to a significant overhaul at Boeing, which will likely see thousands of jobs lost and production cut across the board.
The 787 is one of Boeing’s most popular widebody aircraft and has racked up over 1500 orders since 2004. However, with the airline industry expected to lose nearly $314bn in revenues this year, there is little appetite for big aircraft orders. Boeing, and competitor Airbus, have burnt through record levels of cash and are now looking for government support.
