The US aerospace giant lost US$11.8 billion in 2024, taking its total losses since 2019 to more than US$35 billion. It also delivered just 348 passenger aircraft – down from 528 a year earlier and significantly less than the 765 delivered by Airbus.
However, Boeing’s new CEO, Kelly Ortberg, argued that the company had made progress on key areas to stabilise its operations and “continued to strengthen important aspects of our safety and quality plan”.
“My team and I are focused on making the fundamental changes needed to fully recover our company’s performance and restore trust with our customers, employees, suppliers, investors, regulators and all others who are counting on us,” he said.
==
==
The results follow a year to forget for Boeing, which began with the mid-air blowout of a door plug on board an Alaska Airlines MAX 9.
That incident significantly came after two MAXs crashed in Indonesia in 2018 and Ethiopia in 2019, killing 346 people and leading to claims there was a poor safety culture at the planemaker.
In response to the door plug incident, the Federal Aviation Administration capped 737 MAX production at just 38 planes per month – a decision the Trump administration has hinted will remain for the foreseeable future.
Later, in September, it emerged Boeing’s Starliner space capsule would return to Earth from the International Space Station without its astronauts following a problem with its thrusters.
PROMOTED CONTENT
The decision meant Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore will now not come home until “no earlier than late March 2025” and will do so on a rival SpaceX Dragon capsule.
Previously, Boeing and NASA strongly denied any suggestion the pair would not return on Starliner, despite the potential to send it back home autonomously without crew.
The accumulation of problems at Boeing led it to announce late last year that it would cut 10 per cent of the company’s overall workforce or around 17,000 roles within months.
“Our business is in a difficult position and it is hard to overstate the challenges we face together,” Ortberg told staff.
Other issues that plagued Boeing in 2024 included the delay in delivering its upcoming flagship 777x long-range passenger jet until 2026 and the removal of the head of its defence and space division, Ted Colbert III.
Adam Thorn
Adam is a journalist who has worked for more than 40 prestigious media brands in the UK and Australia. Since 2005, his varied career has included stints as a reporter, copy editor, feature writer and editor for publications as diverse as Fleet Street newspaper The Sunday Times, fashion bible Jones, media and marketing website Mumbrella as well as lifestyle magazines such as GQ, Woman’s Weekly, Men’s Health and Loaded. He joined Momentum Media in early 2020 and currently writes for Australian Aviation and World of Aviation.
Receive the latest developments and updates on Australia’s space industry direct to your inbox. Subscribe today to Space Connect here.
