Boeing to cut 17,000 jobs and delay first 777X delivery as strike hits finances

Company exploring options to raise billions of dollars

A strike sign outside a Boeing factory on September 13, 2024 in Renton, Washington. Getty / AFP

US plane maker Boeing will cut 17,000 jobs, or 10 per cent of its global workforce, delay first delivery of its 777X jet by a year and expects substantial new losses in its defence business as a month-long strike batters company finances, CEO Kelly Ortberg said on Friday.

Mr Ortberg said in a message to employees that the company must reset its workforce levels “to align with our financial reality” after a strike by around 30,000 US West Coast workers shuttered production of its 737 MAX, 767 and 777 jets.

“We 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 per cent. These reductions will include executives, managers and employees,” Mr Ortberg's message said.

He also said Boeing has notified customers that the company now expects first delivery of its 777X in 2026 due to the challenges Boeing has faced in development, as well as from the flight-test pause and continuing work stoppage.

Even before the strike began on Sept. 13, the company had been burning cash as it struggled to recover from a January mid-air panel blowout on a new plane that exposed weak safety protocols and spurred US regulators to curb its production. Reuters reported this week Boeing is examining options to raise billions of dollars through a sale of stock and equity-like securities.