Strikes and walkouts have been plaguing East and Gulf Coast shipping for months now, with workers abandoning their posts rather than working without pay. You would expect these sorts of disruptions to impact the shipping business, but it turns out that it's impacting the airlines as well. Boeing has announced the cancellation of thousands of temporary furloughs that were scheduled to take place and will instead lay off more than 10,000 workers. The company's new CEO announced yesterday that ten percent of the company's workforce will be let go, with the layoffs impacting management and line employees. The cuts will be particularly hard in Washington and South Carolina. (NY Post)

Boeing plans to lay off about 10% of its workers in the coming months, about 17,000 people, as it continues to lose money and tries to deal with a strike that is crippling production of the company’s best-selling airline planes.

New CEO Kelly Ortberg told staff in a memo Friday that the job cuts will include executives, managers and employees.

The company has about 170,000 employees worldwide, many of them working in manufacturing facilities in the states of Washington and South Carolina.

This disruption is hitting more than simply existing orders. Boeing will delay the rollout of a new plane, the 777X, to 2026 instead of 2025. They will also cancel the cargo version of its 767 jet in 2027 after current orders have been filled. Boeing has also filed a restraining order against the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers claiming unfair labor practices.

This is sounding increasingly like a case of Boeing simply throwing in the towel. They have canceled more and more contracts with no resolution on the horizon. The problems that Boeing has encountered with it's 737 MAX series of aircraft have become legendary for all of the wrong reasons. Between door plugs blowing out and pieces of the aircraft falling off or catching fire in midflight, faith in the aircraft series has plunged. Combine that with the many troubles its Starliner has encountered and you have the picture of a major aerospace corporation in a lot of trouble.

Through it all, however, there was always one thing that seemed to keep Boeing's heart ticking. They provide a major volume of the commercial and cargo aircraft in use today. You can't simply stop making those planes, right? The entire industry would slowly grind to a halt as older planes were retired and no replacement models were available to pick up the slack. But now Boeing may be placing a long-shot bet that they can win this waiting game. The sad reality is that they may prove to be correct. After all, what other options are there available? The government has the ability to shut down the strikes in the interest of keeping commerce flowing, even if the politics involved in such a move are beyond ugly.

The practical impact on consumers would prove to be obvious. Fewer flights mean higher prices and longer delays. This leaves a lot of unhappy people stranded at airports and looking for someone to blame. Boeing may realize that they have everyone else over a barrel at the moment and they're willing to suffer a few short-term dents in exchange for a long-term win.