U. S- based aircraft manufacturer, Boeing is talking with some financial institutions about borrowing $10billlion loan facility as the aircraft manufacturer continues to battle with a surging cost after two deadly crashes to its 737 Max Jetliner.
The company announced Monday that its assembly line in Renton has stopped building Boeing’s bestselling plane. The company had said in December it would halt production at some point this month.
“MAX production has now been temporarily suspended inside the 737 factory. The Renton site remains open as our teams focus their work on several quality initiatives,” Boeing said, referring to its facility in Renton, Washington.
Read also: 737 MAX to remain grounded for longer than Boeing envisaged
Boeing has also lost the title of the world’s biggest plane manufacturer to its rival Airbus after its aircraft deliveries slumped to a record 11-year-low.
In a recently announced program deliveries for its commercial products for the fourth quarter and 2019, the fourth quarter and full-year figures show a 66.8percent and 52.9percent slump, respectively, in commercial shipments. While its close rival, Airbus delivered a record 863 commercial aircraft to 99 customers in 2019, up 8percent from 2018 deliveries.
The ten-month grounding of the 737 Max has hurt Boeing’s deliveries as it had to shut down production of the jet at the beginning of this month.
The order backlog for its long- and short-distance commercial jets at the end of December stood at 5,400.
Aircraft manufacturers receive most of their revenue when jets are delivered – minus accumulated progress payments – making final delivery crucial for their finances. Reports said Boeing has lost around $1 billion (Dh3.67bn) a month on the back of the grounding.
