Bad newsBoeing Will Cut About 5% of Commercial Airplanes Staff as Output Is Slowed
Boeing's commercial airplanes chief told staff it is overstaffed after slowing production ramps. Layoff notices start in December, and the company has not said how many people will go.
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Boeing will cut about 5% of its commercial airplanes workforce and reduce the number of jets it builds, according to an email from division chief Stephanie Pope that was reported on 9 November. FOX 13 Seattle says layoff notifications are expected to start in December. MyNorthwest reports that the reduction will come through layoffs and attrition. Neither outlet gives a headcount.
What the email says
Pope told employees that Boeing wants to reset the pace of its production rate ramps, giving its factories and suppliers time to stabilise. She wrote that slower schedules and lower output leave the division overstaffed, and that staffing therefore has to match the revised business plan. FOX 13 says company leaders also wrote that the business has not yet fully recovered.
The cut falls on Commercial Airplanes, the division that builds the 737 MAX and the 787. Boeing had about 182,000 employees at the end of December 2025, according to MyNorthwest, which does not say how many commercial positions a 5% cut covers.
The production picture
MyNorthwest recounts the October earnings call. Boeing said it will miss its 2026 target for 737 MAX deliveries, citing problems at its Renton wing shop. Monthly MAX output will not rise until mid-2027. The 787 ramp will slow too. The company still works toward a steady 47 aircraft a month on the 737, which Reuters, cited by MyNorthwest, says is now expected in early 2027.
MyNorthwest reports a third-quarter net loss of $116 million, or 26 cents a share, against revenue of $24.19 billion, up 4%. Boeing delivered 161 commercial airplanes in the quarter. A supplier dispute has also halted 777 freighter production at Everett for nearly two months, according to court filings reported by Reuters, at a cost Boeing estimates at about $6.5 million a day.
What is not known
Neither report says how many people will lose their jobs, which sites are hit, or when the cuts will take effect. FOX 13 reports no union reaction. The next signposts are the December notices and whether Boeing keeps its mid-2027 plan for higher 737 output.
