Boeing on Wednesday said the costs associated with the grounding of the 737 Max were likely to surpass $18 billion, a significant increase over earlier forecasts. Boeing continues to grapple with the fallout from the crashes of two Max jets in 2018 and 2019, which killed 346 people, leading to the worldwide grounding of the plane in March. In addition to the rising costs, the company is contending with a new chief executive, the temporary shutdown of the 737 factory and a range of challenges in other parts of the business. Boeing on Wednesday said that the costs associated with shutting down and restarting the factory would amount to some $4 billion. The decision to temporarily halt production of the Max was only made last month, and Boeing had not previously given guidance on what the move would cost.

Source: New York Times January 29, 2020 12:41 UTC