press releqse
Boeing has made significant progress over the past several months in support of safely returning the 737 MAX to service as the company continues to work with the FAA and other global regulators on the process laid out for certifying the 737 MAX software and related training updates. The company has also made significant governance and operational changes to further sharpen its focus.
What we are doing
In addition to providing assistance to those affected by these accidents, teams from across Boeing and our supplier partners have been working around the clock to develop software updates and conduct related flight testing, enhance future pilot training materials, engage and inform global regulators, airline customers and our suppliers, and support the existing fleet of 737 MAX airplanes.
- Support for Victim Families: These two tragic accidents continue to weigh heavily on everyone at Boeing. Boeing has established a $100 million relief fund to meet family and community needs of those affected by these accidents. Fifty million dollars has been set aside for the Boeing Financial Assistance Fund, which is designed to provide immediate financial assistance to the families of the victims of the accidents. Kenneth Feinberg and Camille Biros, renowned experts in establishing and overseeing victim’s compensation funds, have been hired to design and independently administer the Boeing Financial Assistance Fund, which has already begun providing relief to impacted families.
- Software Updates & Flight Testing: We updated the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) on the MAX by adding three additional layers of protection that will prevent accidents like these from ever happening again. To date, we have conducted more than 800 test and production flights with the updated software, totaling more than 1,500 hours. The company is making steady progress on the second software update announced in June for additional flight control computer redundancy. Some 545 participants from more than 140 customers and regulators around the globe, including the FAA, have participated in simulator sessions to experience the proposed MCAS software update. Just last week the company successfully conducted a dry-run of a certification flight test.
- Customer & Stakeholder Engagement: Boeing has conducted 20 conferences across the globe with more than 1,100 participants from more than 250 organizations to help operators and financiers prepare for return to service. The company is also conducting weekly technical calls with customers worldwide to deliver the highest quality support and fully prepare the fleet to safely return to service when the grounding is lifted. This also includes a developing a comprehensive package of training and educational resources. The company is also closely engaging with more than 900 suppliers to ensure supply chain stability.
- 24/7 Fleet Support: Boeing is providing around-the-clock customer support through its global operations center while simultaneously delivering the highest-quality fleet support to airlines. Teams are leveraging advanced analytics, production flights, and on-site demonstrations to ready the fleet for entry-into-service once regulators lift the grounding.
What we have changed
We’re also taking steps to implement previously announced actions that will sharpen our focus on product and services safety. Since announcing changes on Sept. 30, we’ve already made changes in response to our Board of Directors’ recommendations.
- Governance and Oversight: A specially-appointed Board Committee conducted a rigorous, five-month independent review of the company's policies and processes and made a series of recommendations that have been adopted. Earlier this month, the company also announced that its Board of Directors has separated the roles of chairman and chief executive officer to enable Boeing President and CEO Dennis Muilenburg to sharpen his focus full time on running the company, delivering on our customer commitments, and strengthening our focus on product and services safety.
- Safety Management & Engineering Focus: On Sept. 30, Boeing announced the formation of a Product and Services Safety organization that will review all aspects of product safety and maintain oversight of our Accident Investigation Team and the company’s safety review boards. The organization’s leader has been named and the team has already begun operating under its new format. Other changes made include realigning the engineering function, establishing a formal Design Requirements Program, enhancing our Continued Operation Safety Program, partnering with our airline customers on flight deck designs that continue to anticipate the needs of future pilot populations, and expanding the reach of our Boeing Safety Promotion Center.
- Additional steps taken: Boeing has taken additional measures to increase its focus on operational excellence and strengthen how it manages safety across the company, its supply chain, and the broader aerospace community in an effort to advance global aviation safety. We have broadened the use of a comprehensive safety management system and safety review boards to standardize safety policy and share best practices, led by senior company leadership for enhanced visibility. We are expanding the use of our anonymous reporting system to encourage employees to keep bringing forward potential safety issues. Boeing is also taking additional measures to address the growing need for talent, especially pilots and maintenance technicians, by further investing in STEM education. And we are investing heavily in areas such as product design, future flight decks, infrastructure, regulation and new technologies.
“We continue to make steady progress in safely returning the 737 MAX to service. Our Boeing teams are unwavering in their commitment to our customers and our values, and the changes we’re implementing now will further strengthen our approach to safety across our company and the aerospace community,” said Muilenburg.
For the latest updates and an infographic summarizing 737 MAX return to service progress, please visit
www.boeing.com/737MAXupdates.
Boeing Statement On Lion Air Flight 610 Investigation Final Report
Boeing (NYSE: BA) issued the following statement regarding the release today of the final investigation report of Lion Air Flight 610 by Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT):
"On behalf of everyone at Boeing, I want to convey our heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives in these accidents. We mourn with Lion Air, and we would like to express our deepest sympathies to the Lion Air family," said Boeing President & CEO Dennis Muilenburg. "These tragic events have deeply affected us all and we will always remember what happened."
"We commend Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee for its extensive efforts to determine the facts of this accident, the contributing factors to its cause and recommendations aimed toward our common goal that this never happens again."
"We are addressing the KNKT's safety recommendations, and taking actions to enhance the safety of the 737 MAX to prevent the flight control conditions that occurred in this accident from ever happening again. Safety is an enduring value for everyone at Boeing and the safety of the flying public, our customers, and the crews aboard our airplanes is always our top priority. We value our long-standing partnership with Lion Air and we look forward to continuing to work together in the future."
Boeing experts, working as technical advisors to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, have supported the KNKT over the course of the investigation. The company's engineers have been working with the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other global regulators to make software updates and other changes, taking into account the information from the KNKT's investigation.
Since this accident, the 737 MAX and its software are undergoing an unprecedented level of global regulatory oversight, testing and analysis. This includes hundreds of simulator sessions and test flights, regulatory analysis of thousands of documents, reviews by regulators and independent experts and extensive certification requirements.
Over the past several months Boeing has been making changes to the 737 MAX. Most significantly, Boeing has redesigned the way Angle of Attack (AoA) sensors work with a feature of the flight control software known as Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS). Going forward, MCAS will compare information from both AoA sensors before activating, adding a new layer of protection.
In addition, MCAS will now only turn on if both AoA sensors agree, will only activate once in response to erroneous AOA, and will always be subject to a maximum limit that can be overridden with the control column.
These software changes will prevent the flight control conditions that occurred in this accident from ever happening again.
In addition, Boeing is updating crew manuals and pilot training, designed to ensure every pilot has all of the information they need to fly the 737 MAX safely.
Boeing continues to work with the FAA and other regulatory agencies worldwide on the certification of the software update and training program to safely return the 737 MAX to service.
Boeing Reports Third-Quarter Results
- Continue to engage global regulators and customers on safe return to service of the 737 MAX
- Revenue of $20.0 billion reflecting lower 737 deliveries and higher defense and services volume
- GAAP EPS of $2.05 and core EPS (non-GAAP)* of $1.45 per share
- Operating cash flow of ($2.4) billion; paid $1.2 billion of dividends
- Total backlog of $470 billion, including nearly 5,500 commercial airplanes
- Cash and marketable securities of $10.9 billion provide strong liquidity
Table 1. Summary Financial Results
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Third Quarter
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Nine Months
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(Dollars in Millions, except per share data)
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2019
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2018
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Change
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2019
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2018
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Change
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Revenues
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$19,980
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$25,146
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(21)%
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$58,648
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$72,786
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(19)%
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|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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GAAP
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|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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Earnings From Operations
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$1,259
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$2,227
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(43)%
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$229
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$7,812
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(97)%
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Operating Margin
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6.3%
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8.9%
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(2.6) Pts
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0.4%
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10.7%
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(10.3) Pts
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Net Earnings
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$1,167
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$2,363
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(51)%
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$374
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$7,036
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(95)%
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Earnings Per Share
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$2.05
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$4.07
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(50)%
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$0.66
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$11.95
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(94)%
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Operating Cash Flow
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($2,424)
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$4,559
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NM
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($226)
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$12,375
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NM
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Non-GAAP*
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Core Operating Earnings/(Loss)
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$895
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$1,890
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(53)%
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($864)
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$6,793
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NM
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Core Operating Margin
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4.5%
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|
7.5%
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(3.0) Pts
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(1.5)%
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9.3%
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(10.8) Pts
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Core Earnings/(Loss) Per Share
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$1.45
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$3.58
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(59)%
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($1.13)
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$10.55
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NM
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full report
