(Reuters) – Boeing Co posted an annual loss of $ 12 billion higher on Wednesday as it delayed the all – new 777X pier again and saved a $ 6.5 billion cost for the program.
The coronavirus crisis has reduced demand for the largest jetliners in the industry, with airline customers delivering airline deliveries due to international travel restrictions, hurting the cash flow of a U.S. airline.
Boeing said it expects the 777X, a larger version of the 777 mini-jumbo, to enter service by the end of 2023, delaying the launch of the jet for the third time and sets a pre-tax cost of $ 6.5 billion.
The company has been developing the wide pier with the goal of releasing it in 2022, already two years longer than expected.
A historic decline in air travel has also injured shipments of 787 Boeing Dreamliners to airlines, causing the planes to gather in dozens, putting additional pressure on a company with an inventory of about 450 737 jets MAX already.
Boeing said it plans to resume loading its 787 Dreamliners wide body in 2021 while air travel recovers.
Delivery of the 787s fell nearly 70% to 53 planes in 2020 and is not expected to return to 2019 levels until at least 2024, according to analysts.
Boeing also said it has delivered an additional 13 737 MAX planes in January so far from its depot, adding to the 27 planes it flew in December after the U.S. cleared the jet to make flights -again after a 20-month ban.
The company’s net loss rose to $ 8.44 billion in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, from $ 1.01 billion a year earlier, bringing its full-year loss to $ 11.94 billion higher.
Revenue fell 15% to $ 15.30 billion in the quarter.
Reporting with Eric M. Johnson in Seattle and Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Edited by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty