Boeing axes more than 12,000 U.S. jobs

• Boeing Co said Wednesday it was eliminating more than 12,000 U. S. jobs, including involuntary layoffs of 6,770 U. S. workers as the largest American planemaker restructures in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

Boeing also disclosed it plans “several thousand remaining layoffs” in the next few months but did not say where those would take place.

The company announced in April it would cut 10 per cent of its worldwide workforce of 160,000 by the end of 2020. Boeing said Wednesday it had approved 5,520 U. S. employees to take voluntary layoffs and they will leave Boeing in the coming weeks. Boeing also disclosed it is notifying 6,770 workers this week of involuntary layoffs.

Boeing is moving to cut costs as it faces a drop in airplane demand from the coronavirus pandemic.

Boeing Chief Executive Dave Calhoun told employees in an email the “pandemic’s devastating impact on the airline industry means a deep cut in the number of commercial jets and services our customers will need over the next few years, which in turn means fewer jobs on our lines and in our offices. ... I wish there were some other way.”

Boeing shares rose 0.8 per cent in mid- day trading to US$145.99.

In April, Boeing recorded zero orders for the second time this year and customers cancelled another 108 orders for its grounded 737 MAX plane, compounding its worst start to a year since 1962.

The pandemic worsened a crisis for the company in which the 737 MAX was grounded last year after the second of two fatal crashes.

Last month, Boeing raised US$ 25 billion in a bond offering that allowed the company avoid taking government aid.