737 Max is followed by “Dreamliner”: Boeing suffers from the next series of breakdowns

737 Max is followed by “Dreamliner”
Boeing suffers from the next series of breakdowns

US aviation giant Boeing is slipping into the red again. This time it is not the fault of the 737 Max, but a breakdown series of the 787 “Dreamliner” model. In addition, the crisis-ridden “Starliner” spaceship has a negative impact on the balance sheet.

Boeing is not getting out of the crisis: Persistent problems with the long-haul jets of the type 787 “Dreamliner” cost the US aircraft manufacturer dearly. The necessary rework and the reduced production are likely to have a negative impact of around one billion US dollars (862 million euros), said the Airbus arch-rival in Chicago.

This is one of the reasons why Boeing slipped back into the red in the third quarter: the bottom line was a loss of 132 million dollars in the third quarter (2020: minus 466 million dollars), while operationally there was a profit for the second time in a row. Adjusted operating income for July through September was $ 59 million.

In the second quarter, Boeing had made a profit for the first time since 2019. Analysts had expected black numbers on average this time as well. But while Boeing is slowly recovering from the debacle surrounding the 737 Max aircraft, another important model is now causing difficulties with the 787 “Dreamliner”.

The space business remains a building site

Due to various production defects, the group had to stop deliveries this year and reduce production. The misery could drag on – most recently major suppliers such as Raytheon complained about the continuing burden of the problems with the 787. At Boeing itself, the “Dreamliner” series of breakdowns caused special costs of $ 183 million in the most recent quarter. The group continues to speak to the US aviation authority FAA to clarify the conditions for resuming deliveries.

Boeing currently only builds two machines of the type per month. As soon as deliveries are possible again, production should increase to five machines again. The 737-Max production is also still at a relatively low level with 19 machines per month. The medium-haul jet is Boeing’s bestseller, but was banned from flights for around 20 months from March 2019 due to two crashes with a total of 346 deaths. The model is now allowed to take off again in large parts of the world, but the re-registration in the important Chinese market is dragging on, which could become increasingly a problem for Boeing. Nevertheless, production is set to climb to 31 copies per month as planned in early 2022.

Another construction site of the US aviation group remains the crisis-ridden “Starliner” spaceship, whose next test flight to the ISS space station, which was actually planned for this summer, had to be postponed to the coming year due to valve problems. The annual report now shows that Boeing had to post special charges of 185 million dollars in the past quarter because of the “Starliner” program on behalf of NASA.

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