Boeing's Woes

The last few years have been very tough on the world’s largest aircraft manufacturer, with their production numbers and stock price following the lead of their planes, by crashing and burning. The problems truly started in 2018 and 2019, with many high-profile crashes of their 737 Max 

Boeing plane taking over the news, particularly with Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, resulting in 189 and 157 fatalities respectively, with no survivors in either flight. This series of events had severe consequences for the company, but the stock price only fell from roughly $400 a share to $340, so it was not necessarily the straw that broke the camel’s back. That occurred in 2020 though, as the pandemic naturally led to decline in travel due to restrictions, and thus a reduction in the demand for Boeing planes. 

Boeing.

Their stock price reached its lowest point in years, with a price of 95$ on March 20th, 2020, but soon rebounded to the 150-250$ range, but not without new issues for the company. The company reported a loss of 4 billion between April and July 2024, which led to CEO David L. Calhoun being replaced by new CEO Kelly Ortberg a mere week after the report. The new CEO now plans to lay off almost 10% of the company’s workforce, while simultaneously having a large portion of their unionized workers in the United States on strike since September 13th, though an agreement is expected to be reached soon. The combination of an implosion in demand and plane orders following the pandemic and mechanical errors has led to the media scrutinizing the company more than others in the space, with small unrelated problems like a mis-installed door falling off in January causing a near 10% decrease in stock price in the days following. As Boeing’s profitability is faltering and their debt increasing, it remains to be seen if the Fed’s recent interest rate cuts will be able to rescue the manufacturer, or if the company will face bankruptcy or a government bailout in the future. Unlike the structural integrity of the company’s aircrafts, the new CEO will have to hold firm, and not let the pressure rip him apart.

On a sourer note, many of the whistleblowers who reported the company’s problems have died in mysterious circumstances, so you heard it here, I did not accidentally fall out of a window.

Here's a Boeing meme that I wanted to share:

Thunder Dungeon Memes

Sources:

Josephs, Leslie. “Boeing’s New Outsider CEO Ortberg Takes the Helm, This Time from the

Factory Floor.” CNBC, CNBC, 8 Aug. 2024,

www.cnbc.com/2024/08/08/new-boeing-ceo-kelly-ortberg.html.

“Check out Boeing’s Stock Price (BA) in Real Time.” CNBC, www.cnbc.com/quotes/BA.

ASSOCIATED PRESS. “Key Events in the Troubled History of the Boeing 737 Max.” AP

News, 8 July 2024,

apnews.com/article/boeing-plea-737-max-crashes-b34daa014406657e720bec4a990dccf6.

Isidore, Chris. “Tentative Deal Announced to End Boeing Strike.” CNN, 19 Oct. 2024,

www.cnn.com/2024/10/19/business/boeing-deal-to-end-strike/index.html.