Boeing to cut 17,000 workers amid strike

Boeing plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce, or about 17,000 workers, CEO Kelly Ortberg announced Friday. 

The airplane maker also said that deliveries of its 777X planes will be delayed until 2026 and that it will be discontinuing production of its 767 Freighters in 2027. 

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

“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,” he added. 

The major cuts to Boeing’s workforce come as the company appears to have hit an impasse in negotiations with its machinists, nearly four weeks into a costly strike.  

Some 33,000 workers walked off the job in mid-September. As of Sept. 27, the strike had cost the company, employees and suppliers a total of $1.4 billion, according to consulting firm Anderson Economic Group. 

Boeing and the International Association of Machinists (IAM) union returned to the bargaining table Monday. However, talks quickly broke down, with the company withdrawing its previous offer Tuesday. 

The airplane maker had offered workers a 30 percent raise and a $6,000 contract ratification bonus, a significant step up from the 25 percent raise and $3,000 bonus it originally proposed. 

The union described the offer as “progress.” However, it said Tuesday that its members were overwhelmingly opposed to it. 

Boeing argued that the union “did not seriously consider our proposals” and instead made “non-negotiable demands far in excess of what can be accepted if we are to remain competitive as a business.” 

The airplane maker has come under intense scrutiny this year, after the door plug of a Boeing 737 Max 9 blew out during an Alaska Airlines flight in January.