Boeing loses $425m in Q1 but plans production boost for Max

Boeing lost $425m in Q1 — more than Wall Street expected — but said Wednesday that it plans to boost production of its best-selling plane, the 737 Max, later this year. Revenue rose 28% from a year earlier, as airlines scooped up new jets to meet rising travel demand, and the company stood by its forecast of producing $3b to $5b in cash flow this year. Shares of Boeing rose nearly 5% before settling to close up less than 1%. CEO David Calhoun called it a “solid first quarter.” “We continue to make real progress, steady progress, in our recovery,” he said on a call with analysts. “Challenges remain, there’s more to do, but overall we feel good about the operational and financial outlook.” Boeing’s passenger jets have been plagued by production problems, and the quarterly loss was due largely to the cost of reworking planes to fix production flaws. It also took a write-down for a military tanker. Calhoun said again that Boeing will delay deliveries of some planes that airlines were expecting for the busy summer travel season. The delays are due to unapproved fittings that a contractor, Spirit AeroSystems, installed where the tail meets the fuselage on most 737 Max jets built since 2019.<br/>