The temporary suspension of Boeings 737 max aircrafts have negatively impacted the company’s financial performance, as results for the first full quarter released Wednesday shows a loss of $2.94 billion.
The results has begun impacting negatively on the American bourse which opened lower on Wednesday.
The planemaker is struggling with the prolonged grounding of its best-selling 737 MAX jet. This caused the recorded loss, the company’s largest in a decade. It has also sent its shares down slightly in premarket trading.
Boeing has been unable to deliver any 737 MAX aircraft since the single-aisle plane was grounded worldwide in March after two fatal crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia killed 346 people in a span of five months.
The total cost so far of the 737 MAX crisis now exceeds $8 billion after Boeing disclosed a $4.9 billion charge last week that includes compensation the planemaker will have to pay airlines for the delayed deliveries.
Meanwhile, Boeing has embarked on a campaign to restore faith in its most popular jet and has pledged to remove any risk by reprogramming the software pinpointed as a common factor in both crashes as it faces pressure to convince MAX operators and global regulators that the aircraft is safe to fly again.
“This is a defining moment for Boeing and we remain focused on our enduring values of safety, quality, and integrity in all that we do, as we work to safely return the 737 MAX to service,” Boeing Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg said on Wednesday.
Investors on a conference call later on Wednesday morning will be eager for information on how Boeing plans to increase production, repair its image with the flying public and stem its loses.
Boeing said its first flight of the 777X is now delayed until early 2020 due to the engine problems announced last month, while its current plan for a first delivery to customers in late 2020 faced significant risk.
