Boeing posts $109 million Q3 loss amid jet production issues

Boeing is reporting a loss of $109 million for the third quarter as it struggles to resume deliveries of the 787, a large plane that is popular on international airline routes

Boeing Co. lost $109 million in the third quarter as it struggled with production problems that have held up deliveries of the 787, a large plane popular on long international airline routes.

Boeing said Wednesday it is building about two 787s a months and expects to stay at that low rate until deliveries resume. Problems including fuselage flaws are expected to cause $1 billion in “abnormal costs,” the company said, including a $183 million charge recorded in the third quarter.

CEO David Calhoun said on CNBC that the company will resume 787 deliveries by following the same process of working with regulators that it used to bring back the 737 Max after two deadly crashes and a worldwide grounding. It took 18 months for Boeing to win regulatory approval of fixes to the Max, including changes to a flight-control system that played a role in the crashes.

Calhoun declined to predict when airlines will resume receiving new 787s. As long as those deliveries are stopped, Boeing is losing a key source of cash.