Boeing stock slides as company posts sharp decline in October deliveries due to strike

11/13/2024 01:33
Boeing stock slides as company posts sharp decline in October deliveries due to strike

Boeing delivered just 14 planes in October as a worker strike by its biggest union hampered the aerospace giant's production.

Boeing (BA) stock sank as much as 3% Tuesday as the company said it handed over just 14 commercial planes in October, marking a sharp decline from the 34 aircraft it delivered during the same month last year as a seven-week strike by its biggest union crippled much of its production.

The drop in deliveries underscores production setbacks during the strike, which ended last week but cost Boeing billions and stalled its turnaround efforts.

The plane maker recently raised more than $21 billion to repair its debt-heavy balance sheet and announced a 10% workforce reduction following production and safety challenges that began in early January when a door plug blew out from an Alaska Airlines (ALK) Boeing jet.

Boeing said it booked 63 gross orders in October and had zero cancellations. The company's official backlog went from 5,410 as of Sept. 30 to 5,462 as of Oct. 31.

A Boeing sign is pictured outside the Renton Production Facility one day before striking union members will vote on a new contract offer in Renton, Washington on November 3, 2024. US aviation giant Boeing has once again improved the conditions in its contract offer to thousands of striking workers, hoping to put an end to a painful strike that has paralyzed its two main factories for seven weeks. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 751, the union which represents more than 33,000 workers who went on strike on September 13 in the Seattle area, on October 31, 2024 endorsed the new offer and set a vote for November 4, 2024. (Photo by Jason Redmond / AFP) (Photo by JASON REDMOND/AFP via Getty Images)

A Boeing sign is pictured outside the Renton Production Facility one day before striking union members voted on a new contract offer. Nov. 3, 2024. (JASON REDMOND/AFP via Getty Images) · JASON REDMOND via Getty Images

The plane maker noted that during the strike, which impacted workers mostly in Washington and Oregon, production and delivery activities continued at the company's location in South Carolina.

"All deliveries during the strike were handled by employees certified to perform this work," said Boeing.

The strike, which began on Sept. 13, was estimated to have cost Boeing, its workers, and suppliers nearly $10 billion in lost wages, earnings, and supplier losses, according to an Anderson Economic Group report in late October.

Earlier this month, members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) voted in favor of Boeing's revised contract offer, and employees were told to go back to work by Tuesday, Nov. 12, at the latest.

Wall Street has been keeping a close eye on Boeing's production ramp-up heading into the end of the year, a process that is expected to take time amid the company's ongoing recovery plan.

It will be several weeks before factories can fully restart airplane production, as there are multiple steps involved in the process, said the manufacturer on Tuesday.

Ines Ferre is a senior business reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X at @ines_ferre.

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