Another dead loss for Boeing. The American aircraft manufacturer announced, on the occasion of the publication of its quarterly results, Wednesday, April 27, a hole of 1.2 billion dollars (about 1.13 billion euros). A new setback hardly appreciated by the financial markets, which sanctioned the manufacturer whose action lost 8.8% during the session.
It must be said that the results of the commercial aviation activity are in constant decline. In the first quarter, revenue was $4.2 billion. Down slightly from the same period a year earlier. But in free fall compared to 2018, the last good year for Boeing. This year, “Boeing Commercial Aviation reached its peak with annual revenue of $57 billion”, remembers Stéphane Albernhe, president of the consulting firm Archery Strategy Consulting. Since then, the fall has been spectacular. In 2020, commercial aircraft revenue did not exceed $16 billion. He had recovered a little last year to flirt with 20 billion.
Delays and negligence
The great hours of Boeing seem a distant memory. Since the launch of its long-haul Dreamliner 787 in 2011, the American aircraft manufacturer has had a series of setbacks with all its commercial aircraft programs developed subsequently. Just over a year after it hit the market, the 787 was grounded for three months by aviation authorities over battery issues that caught fire in flight. Eleven years after its flight, the plane has still not found its profitability. Marketed in 2017, the medium-haul 737 Max was immobilized for twenty-two months after two air disasters, in 2018 and 2019, which caused the death of 346 passengers and crew members. Authorized again in Europe in January 2021, it only received the green light from the Chinese authorities a year later.
Finally, Boeing’s all-new 777X long-haul widebody is in trouble. While the first deliveries were scheduled for 2020, delays are piling up. And customers will have to be patient, because Boeing has just announced a further postponement of the first deliveries, now scheduled for 2025. A deadline intended to meet the requirements of the American Federal Aviation Agency (FAA). She could have a lot to do. Launched in a race for profitability and dividends, Boeing accumulates negligence. Thus, on the occasion of the production of the KC-46 tanker aircraft, “tools have been ‘forgotten’ in inaccessible parts of the device”, laments Mr. Albernhe. Worse, “metal shavings were even discovered on electrical harnesses, which could have started fires”he adds.
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