Boeing to cut 5% of commercial airplane workforce as production ramp-up slows

In brief

• Boeing plans to cut five percent of its commercial airplane division workforce.
• The cut follows persistent problems raising aircraft production.
• The company now expects to build 47 737 jets a month at the start of 2027, later than previously planned.

Job cuts in the commercial airplane division

Boeing plans to reduce its workforce in the commercial airplane division by five percent. The division's head, Stephanie Pope, told employees about the decision in an internal memo, according to Reuters (Boeing zruší v divízii komerčných lietadiel päť percent pracovných miest – HNonline.sk). The division had 50,494 employees at the end of 2025, according to company data (Boeing chce propustit pět procent zaměstnanců v divizi komerčních letadel – Novinky.cz).

Why the company is slowing production

Pope said the company needs to slow its planned production increase so that factories and suppliers have more time to stabilize output. She said the revised production plans mean the division currently employs more people than it needs.

Revised production targets

Chief executive Kelly Ortberg told analysts last month that Boeing will miss its 737 production and delivery targets this year (Boeing chce propustit pět procent zaměstnanců, vyrábí málo letadel – Seznam Zprávy). The company now expects to build 47 737 jets a month at the start of 2027. It had previously expected to reach that rate by this summer. Boeing is also struggling to raise output of the 787 widebody from eight to ten jets a month.

Background

Boeing has faced production problems since two crashes involving its 737 MAX jets in 2018 and 2019 killed a total of 346 people.