The Impact of Boeing's Retirement wave on the Aviation Industry
Boeing's loses nearly 700 technical staff
Boeing's ($BA) white-collar union announced that 560 of its most experienced engineers and 135 technical staff chose to retire in November. The large-scale retirements came on the realization that a pending annual interest rate adjustment after November could reduce their lump-sum pension payouts by up to a year's salary.
In an effort to retain critical individuals within this group, Boeing offered 26 key engineers approximately $400,000 in Boeing stock in exchange for staying an additional two years, but only nine individuals accepted.
Boeing's Commercial Airplane division employs about 17,000 engineers and has been able to hire more new talent throughout the last year than it has lost. Still, there appears to be a growing experience gap that may come into play as Boeing plans to launch an all-new airplane close to 2030, the first since the first delivery of the 787 in 2011.
Boeing stock is down from yesterday's close at $178.42, opening this morning at $176.28.
Airbus will miss 2022 production target
Airbus announced it will not meet its target of delivering 700 new planes in 2022. Rather, the European aircraft manufacturer will fall short of its target by around 70 aircraft. The company cited supply chain issues and a "complex operating environment." The manufacturer remains confident it will reach a production of rate of 75 monthly by 2025, which will help to reduce the order backlog.
Southwest Airlines to reinstate dividends
It has been nearly three years since Southwest Airlines (LUV) suspended dividends towards the beginning of the pandemic, but the company announced a new 18-cent dividend will be paid on January 31. Dividend suspension was largely related to the $54 billion in federal aid US airlines received in pandemic relief, which stipulated that companies could not buy back shares or provide dividends. These stipulations were lifted this fall.
Southwest stock opened this morning at $39.36, down from yesterday's close at $39.68.
United Airlines CEO claims no evidence of recession in travel data
United Airlines (UA) CEO Scott Kirby said Tuesday his airline expects a "mild recession induced by the Fed," but points to ongoing growth and third-quarter revenues above those from Q3 2019, pre-pandemic. Kirby said business travel has plateaued, but expects leisure travel to continue growing, given still-low unemployment and resilient consumer spending figures.
Embraer's Four Jets Soar with Hybrid and Hydrogen Power
The new Embraer (ERJ) jets are expected to begin service in the early 2030s. Embraer's new jets are part of the company's Energia aircraft program, announced last year as part of an effort towards net-zero emissions by 2050.