Boeing and Airbus:
Some financial realities — April 2019

Fall-out from the 737 MAX crashes has intensified over the past month, with Boeing being subjected to a wide range of criticism, plus speculation about the financial implications, both for Boeing and Airbus.

Some of the financial damage suffered by Boeing was revealed with the first quarter results which saw a 13% fall in net earnings compared to the same period of 2018, though revenues were only down 2%. A relatively modest $1bn was attributed to the 737 MAX grounding but this number relates principally to the cost of reducing the output of the type from 52 to 42 a month while maintaining the previous level of resources at the Renton plant. It did not include compensation claims nor the retraining programmes at the 50 airlines that operate the MAX.