Boeing’s six-year sequence of financial strife continued in 2024 with an $11.8 billion loss, bringing the airframer’s total losses since 2019 and the grounding of the 737 Max to $36 billion
The company disclosed its full-year 2024 loss on 28 January, confirming preliminary figures released last week.
“We are also preparing for the path ahead by continuing to make investments in our core businesses while streamlining our portfolio in areas that are not core to our future,” Boeing chief executive Kelly Ortberg says in a message to employees.
“I’ve heard from many of you that we need to be less bureaucratic and more agile – and that we are truly making progress.”
Analysts say the company is searching for assets to sell. “Management is currently looking at the whole portfolio of assets to determine if anything is not core to Boeing’s business,” according to a 28 January report from RBC Capital Markets.
Boeing’s $36 billion loss over the six years since 2019 reflects a company hammered not only by the 737 Max grounding but also by the Covid-19 pandemic and a string of follow-on problems.
Those included manufacturing quality issues, labour shortages, supply chain snags, a machinists’ strike last year, and ongoing delays to its 737 Max 7, Max 10 and 777-9 certification programmes.
In the fourth quarter, Boeing lost $3.9 billion, compared to a $30 million loss in the same period of 2023. Fourth-quarter revenue stood at $15.2 billion, a 31% year-on-year decline.
Boeing’s full-year 2024 loss of $11.8 billion compares with a $2.2 billion loss in 2023, while revenue came in at $66.5 billion, down 14% year on year, reflecting a significant decline in deliveries of new commercial aircraft.
“We made progress on key areas to stabilise our operations during the quarter and continued to strengthen important aspects of our safety and quality plan,” says Ortberg.
“My team and I are focused on making the fundamental changes needed to fully recover our company’s performance and restore trust with our customers, employees, suppliers, investors, regulators and all others who are counting on us.”
The company handed over just 348 commercial jets in 2024, down from 528 in 2023. Boeing Commercial Airplanes’ (BCA) 2024 revenue came in at $22.9 billion, down 33% year on year.
“In BCA, we continue to focus on getting the 737-7, 737-10 and 777-9 through certification,” says Ortberg. “The 777-9 resumed flight tests earlier this month and we have a good handle on fixing the thrust-link issue we uncovered.”
Boeing had halted 777-9 flying in August 2023 after discovering fractured thrust links – a component that connects the engine to the airframe.
The company says it is sticking by its previously disclosed intention to deliver the first 777-9 in 2026 – a goal that had already been pushed back several years.
“On 737-7 and -10, we are still working through the testing phase focusing on finalisation of the anti-icing design solution, which we plan to include in the certification programme,” Ortberg adds.
The Max 7 and Max 10 certification programmes have been held up by several issues, including a requirement disclosed one year ago to redesign the jets’ engine anti-ice system to address the risk of overheating. Boeing is also now seeking regulatory exemptions related to a stall-management yaw damper system.
Production of 787s rose to five monthly by the end of the year. Output had been slower in recent years as Boeing worked to address design and quality concerns.
Much of Boeing’s $11.8 billion 2024 loss reflects $7.8 billion in charges it recognised during the third and fourth quarters. Those charges include $4.1 billion against its 777X and 767 programmes and $3.7 billion against several programmes under Boeing Defense, Space & Security, including the T-7A fighter-trainer, KC-46A tanker and MQ-25 refuelling drone programmes.
The charges partly reflect the financial impact of a 53-day strike by machinists that forced Boeing to halt Seattle-area production last year. The strike ended in November.
Despite heavy losses, Boeing ended 2024 with cash and marketable securities valued at $26 billion, up from $10.3 billion three months prior. The bump reflects $24 billion raised by Boeing during the fourth quarter.
