Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Boeing job losses hit 10,000

Ap
Wednesday 28 January 2009 14:14 EST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Plane maker Boeing announced 10,000 job losses today, hit by a fourth quarter loss and a hard-hitting strike.

The news came on top of waning demand for the company's commercial jets.

Airlines are cutting spending and air travel has declined amid the global economic slowdown.

Boeing recently said it would cut about 4,500 positions from its commercial aircraft business as a result of the worsening market conditions.

Today Boeing executives said an additional 5,500 jobs in other parts of the company, including its defence division, were to be eliminated through attrition and redundancies throughout the year.

The Chicago-based company reported a fourth-quarter loss of 56 million, dollars compared with profit of 1.03 billion dollars a year earlier.

Boeing delivered just 50 planes in the last three months of 2008, compared with 112 planes during the same period a year earlier.

Boeing's 27,000 machinists went on strike on September 6 in a dispute over new contracts, causing delays in production and deliveries. The action ended on November 2 but cost the firm billions.

In November, Boeing further delayed the first test flight and delivery of its much-anticipated 787 jetliner, the world's first large commercial aeroplane made mostly from carbon-fibre composites, blaming the strike and lingering production problems.

It also delayed deliveries of 747-8 cargo and passenger jets, partly due to the strike, and deliveries of 737s, 747s, 767s and 777s as it replaces defective fasteners used to attach wiring and other components inside the planes' fuselages.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in