Boeing to cut 5% of commercial airplane workforce due to slower production ramp-up
Boeing said on Monday that it plans to cut about 5% of its commercial airplane workforce, because its production ramp-up is moving more slowly than the company had expected. Stephanie Pope, head of the commercial aircraft unit, announced the reduction in a memo to staff.
Pope said the reductions will come through a combination of attrition and involuntary layoffs, with notifications beginning in December. In the memo she explained the reasoning directly: "Adjusting our production schedules and reducing aircraft output puts us in an overstaffed position." She added that the company therefore needs to align its staffing levels with its revised business plan. Pope also reiterated that Boeing is still working to stabilize production rates of its popular 737 Max planes.
The move follows comments from CEO Kelly Ortberg late last month. He said Boeing does not expect to significantly ramp up output of the 737 Max, its best-selling aircraft, until the second half of 2027. That is later than the company had previously anticipated. Boeing is targeting a production rate of 52 planes a month in that period, up from the roughly 47 of the jets it has been building each month.
Taken together, the slower timeline for higher output and the resulting staffing cut show how the delayed production recovery is now affecting Boeing's workforce planning in its commercial airplane business.
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