CHICAGO - Boeing made a decision on Monday that the company had long resisted: to temporarily stop producing its most popular passenger jet, the 737 Max, which has been grounded for nine months in the wake of two crashes that killed 346 people, writes David Yaffe-Bellany for the New York Times. Continue reading original article
The Intelligent Aerospace take:
December 19, 2019-“People don’t know what staff to keep on — how many do I need to hire, do I need to think about firing people, how do I think about retention,” Carter Copeland, an aerospace expert at Melius Research told the New York Times. “It’s a series of equations that each individual company is trying to manage."
With Boeing halting production of its 737 Max line, its suppliers, from giants like GE to lesser-known firms who make smaller components, much is up in the air. In all, some 600 companies contribute parts to the Max. Boeing said that it would halt production of its best-selling jet in January, 2020. This past spring, Boeing slowed production of its Max and caused some suppliers to adjust its workforce plans. With a stoppage of production, experts cited in Yaffe-Bellany's piece note it could have a devastating impact for manufacturers of parts if it lasts more than a month.
“If it goes two or three (months), this is going to hurt like hell,” Paul Weisbrich, an investment banker at D.A. Davidson & Co. who specializes in the aerospace industry told Yaffe-Bellany. “There will be layoffs, there will be people put on the street.”
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Jamie Whitney, Associate Editor
Intelligent Aerospace
