Boeing posts annual loss of $11.8bn for 2024, its biggest in four years

Lower commercial jet deliveries and workers' strike weighed on full-year earnings

Boeing 737 Max planes in storage in Seattle. The troubled US company reported a year-on-year loss of $3.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024. AP

Boeing posted an annual loss of $11.8 billion for 2024, its biggest since 2020 and its sixth consecutive annual deficit, as lower commercial jet deliveries, problems at its defence unit and a strike by its US West Coast factory workers affected financial results.

The company's loss in 2023 amounted to $2.2 billion. Revenue for last year dropped 14 per cent year-on-year to $66.5 billion, Boeing said on Tuesday.

Boeing reported a loss of $3.8 billion in the fourth quarter, as revenue for the three months to December fell 31 per cent year-on-year to $15.2 billion.

“We made progress on key areas to stabilise our operations during the quarter and continued to strengthen important aspects of our safety and quality plan,” said Kelly Ortberg, Boeing's president and chief executive, who joined the company in August.

He said Boeing was taking steps to turn around the company and win the trust of its stakeholders. “My team and I are focused on making the fundamental changes needed to fully recover our company's performance and restore trust with our customers, employees, suppliers, investors, regulators and all others who are counting on us,” he added.

The results underscore the magnitude of challenges facing Mr Ortberg as he seeks to turn around the company that has lagged far behind its European rival Airbus, frustrated airline customers and came under the scrutiny of regulators after safety and quality issues.

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Boeing endured a turbulent 2024 as it navigated a lengthy strike by staff, safety issues on some of its commercial planes, overrunning costs of defence contracts and shake-ups to its senior management.

The company's woes last year started with a near-catastrophic incident in January when a 737 Max operated by Alaska Airlines made an emergency landing after a door panel blew off in mid-flight. Boeing then faced higher scrutiny by the US Federal Aviation Administration and slowed production of the model after the incident.

"Financials reflect previously announced impacts of the IAM [International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers] work stoppage and agreement, charges for certain defence programmes and costs associated with workforce reductions announced last year," the company said.

Boeing's commercial planes unit recorded fourth-quarter revenue of nearly $4.8 billion, a 55 per cent plunge from the same period in the previous year, reflecting the effects of the strike and subsequent agreement, including lower deliveries and pre-tax charges of $1.1 billion on the 777X and 767 programmes, it said.

The commercial planes unit booked 204 net orders in the last quarter, including 100 of the 737-10 planes for Turkish low-cost carrier Pegasus Airlines and 30 of the 787-9 planes for flydubai. It delivered 57 planes during the three months, down from 157 in the fourth quarter of 2023, and its backlog included more than 5,500 planes valued at $435 billion.

Last year, it delivered 348 commercial planes, down from 528 in 2023. Its main rival Airbus, meanwhile, delivered 766 commercial aircraft to 86 customers in 2024 and registered 878 gross new orders. As a result, Airbus's 2024 year-end backlog stood at 8,658 aircraft.

Boeing's defence, space and security business revenue fell 20 per cent year-on-year to $5.4 billion for the fourth quarter and took pre-tax charges of $1.7 billion on the KC-46A, T-7A, commercial crew, VC-25B and MQ-25 programmes, the manufacturer said.

The Global Services unit's fourth-quarter revenue rose 6 per cent year-on-year to $5.1 billion, reflecting "higher commercial volume and mix", Boeing said.

The company did not provide financial targets for this year in its statement on Tuesday.