Boeing to Halt All Seattle Production as Coronavirus Spreads--Update
March 23 2020 - 2:28PM
Dow Jones News
By Andrew Tangel and Doug Cameron
Boeing Co. said it would suspend production in the Seattle area
this week to help curb the spread of the coronavirus among its
factory workers.
The halt is expected to last 14 days and begin Wednesday, Boeing
said on Monday. The plane maker said it would begin with a
reduction of operations on Monday.
"This necessary step protects our employees and the communities
where they work and live," said Boeing Chief Executive David
Calhoun.
As of Wednesday, 10 workers at the Everett, Wash., plant north
of Seattle, had been tested positive for coronavirus. Companywide,
15 employees and one contractor had tested positive, Boeing has
said. Several hundred employees have been in quarantine.
Some 36,000 Boeing employees work at the Everett plant,
including engineers and other white-collar employees. The workforce
is split among three shifts in what is billed as the world's
largest building. Boeing said workers who can't work remotely
during the suspension will receive paid leave for the initial 10
working days of the halt.
The Seattle Times reported Sunday that an Everett-based employee
had died from Covid-19. Boeing didn't immediately respond to a
request for comment about the reported death. A spokeswoman for a
union representing Boeing workers didn't respond to requests for
comment.
The production halt in Everett will affect wide-body jets such
as the 787 Dreamliner. Boeing also makes the 787 at its plant in
North Charleston, S.C., which remains open. Meanwhile, production
of Boeing's narrow-body 737 MAX at the manufacturer's Renton,
Wash., factory, also near Seattle, has been suspended since January
amid a yearlong grounding following t wo crashes involving that
aircraft.
Boeing currently produces around 20 wide-body jets a month at
Everett and North Charleston, though had already planned to cut
this by at least a fifth because of weak demand.
Plane maker's shares were recently up around 7%, building on
their early gain after being briefly suspended pending the
announcement.
Boeing's move follows similar actions this week by companies
including motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson Inc. and auto makers
with U.S. plants.
The production halts come as government officials and business
leaders argue over what companies' operations should continue as
the outbreak worsens. Aerospace and defense companies have been
designated as essential sectors by state and federal officials,
allowing companies to continue production despite local travel and
assembly restrictions.
Boeing is leading an effort to secure at least $60 billion in
government and private-sector aid for the aerospace industry, with
an unspecified portion for the company itself. Lawmakers on Monday
continued talks about a broader bailout package for industry and
the broader economy.
Some manufacturers have signaled their production halts would be
brief. Boeing's rival Airbus SE, for instance, said Monday that it
planned to restart production at facilities in France and Spain
that had been temporarily shuttered because of local travel
restrictions and factory-cleaning efforts.
Write to Andrew Tangel at Andrew.Tangel@wsj.com and Doug Cameron
at doug.cameron@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 23, 2020 14:13 ET (18:13 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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