Wednesday is shaping up to be one of the most important days in a volatile year for Boeing. Boeing reported huge losses in the third quarter, will introduce a new CEO in its first earnings conference and learn whether its machinists will call off their strike. The company's aircraft production was paralyzed for more than a month.
The strike marks an early test for Kelly Ortberg, a Boeing outsider who took over as CEO in August.
Mr. Ortberg has already announced major layoffs and plans to raise enough cash to avoid filing for bankruptcy.
He needs to convince federal regulators that Boeing is ready to fix its safety culture and ramp up production of the 737 Max. This is an important step in bringing in much-needed cash.
But Boeing will not be able to produce the new 737 until the end of a five-week strike by 33,000 machinists that has shut down Seattle-area assembly plants.
“There's a lot of work to do, but we're probably focused on getting this negotiation done,” Ortberg said.
That's the closest alligator to a boat,” said Tony Bancroft, portfolio manager at Boeing investor Gabelli Funds.
Boeing hasn't had a profitable year since 2018, and things are about to get worse before they get better.
Analysts expect Boeing on Wednesday to announce a third-quarter loss of about $6 billion, with $3 billion in jet-related costs and $2 billion in losses on defense and space programs. It has become.
Investors expected calm, determination and a sense of urgency as Mr. Ortberg presided over his first earnings call since running Rockwell Collins, a maker of avionics and flight controls for aircraft and military aircraft, over the past decade. I'm sure you have high expectations for the person who will show you this.
But the biggest news of the day will be Wednesday evening when the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers will reveal whether striking workers are ready to return to work.
They will vote in union halls in the Seattle area and elsewhere on Boeing's proposal, which includes a 35% raise over four years, a $7,000 recognition bonus and retention of performance bonuses that Boeing had wanted to eliminate.
Boeing has staunchly resisted union demands to reinstate its traditional pension plan, which has been frozen for a decade.
However, older workers will see a slight increase in their monthly pension payments.
On a picket line outside the Boeing Co. plant in Everett, Washington, some machinists are encouraging their colleagues to vote against the proposal.
“Pensions should have been the number one priority. Everybody said that was the number one priority, along with wages,” said Larry Best, Boeing's customer quality coordinator for 38 years.
“This is a great time to get our pensions back and we all need to stay home and work hard.”
Best also believes that raises should be 40% over three years to offset the long period of wage stagnation that is currently coinciding with high inflation.
“You can see we had a very large turnout today. I'm sure they don't like this contract, because that's why I'm here,” he said, starting at Boeing in 1978. said Bartley Stokes Sr., another picketer.
“We are here in full force and we are going to show solidarity and stand with our union brothers and sisters and vote this down because they can do better.”
