Boeing CEO sees slow airline rebound, no dividend for 'years'

Boeing's head said Monday that restoring the dividend could take three to five years as the company girds for a slow air travel recovery in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. The comment from CE David Calhoun was a signal that paying back debt and keeping up Boeing's manufacturing supply chain were bigger priorities than paying dividends for the foreseeable future. Speaking at the company's annual meeting, Calhoun offered a sober outlook on the near-term prospects for commercial air travel. "Based on what we know now, we expect it will take two to three years for travel to return to 2019 levels and an additional few years beyond that for the industry's long-term trend growth to return," Calhoun said. Even before COVID-19 broke out, Boeing was already under pressure after two crashes of its 737 MAX killed 346 people, leading to a global grounding since March 2019. Boeing is expected to soon initiate talks with the US Treasury on potential federal support for the aviation giant. Boeing has not said definitively whether it will take federal aid.<br/>