Boeing posts loss as it grapples with delays on commercial and defense programs

Boeing reported a wider adjusted quarterly loss and lower revenue than analysts expected as the company faced higher costs on both commercial and defense aircraft and charges tied to the war in Ukraine. The manufacturer said it will pause production of its 777X plane, which has not yet been certified by US regulators, through 2023, a plan the company says will create $1.5b in abnormal costs starting in Q2. Boeing also doesn’t expect deliveries of the plane to start until 2025, more than a year later than it previously forecast. Its shares shed 7.5% Wednesday to $154.46, a more than 16-month low. Boeing has enjoyed a resurgence in demand for its 737 Max plane, which returned to service in late 2020 after two fatal crashes. But production problems and certification delays have hampered other aircraft programs. “Through our first-quarter results, you’ll see we still have more work to do; but I remain encouraged with our trajectory, and we are on track to generate positive cash flow for 2022,” Boeing CEO David Calhoun said in a note to employees Wednesday. “We are a long-cycle business, and the success of our efforts will be measured over years and decades; not quarters.” Boeing said it submitted its Dreamliner certification plan to the Federal Aviation Administration, a step toward getting regulators to sign off on resuming deliveries of the wide-body jets. Those handovers to customers have been suspended for most of the last 18 months, and buyers like American Airlines said they scaled back some international flying in response. The company posted a net loss of $1.2b in Q1, wider than the $561m loss it posted a year earlier. Revenue of $13.99b fell 8% from the first quarter of 2021 and short of analysts’ estimates.<br/>