Boeing might have to cut production -- and shed Everett workers
SEATTLE The dramatic worldwide collapse in air travel accelerated over the weekend as the U.S. expanded a ban on passengers from Europe and other governments enacted their own barriers to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Airline CEOs are comparing the drop in traffic to the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001 when Boeing reduced production from 527 jets in 2001 to just 281 jets two years later. In less than three years following the attacks, Boeing cut 27,000 jobs in Washington.
Like then, Boeing now faces a stark near-term decision on whether it must slash jet production. That could again spell substantial local layoffs, which until now even with 737 MAX production already halted in Renton Boeing has avoided.
Boeing is the largest private employer in Washington, with about 72,000 employees here and more than 35,000 at the campus at Paine Field in Everett. Most of those work on commercial airplanes, and all those jobs are at risk of at least temporary suspension. Any cuts to that workforce would reverberate sharply throughout the local economy, and the impacts likewise would be felt on Boeings global supply chain.
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