Boeing to End 767 Production, Reduce Workforce Amid Ongoing Union Strike

October 18, 2024

By Woodrow Bellamy III

Boeing plans to end commercial production of the 767 Freighter in 2027. (Image: Boeing)

Boeing will end commercial production of the 767 Freighter in 2027, and plans on reducing its workforce by 10 percent amid an ongoing labor union strike involving 33,000 employees. In an Oct. 11 statement, Boeing President and CEO Kelly Ortberg outlined a new series of changes the airplane manufacturer is undergoing in the coming months.

The changes announced by Ortberg came several weeks after the Sept. 13 start of Boeing workers who are members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 751 (IAM 751) going on strike while the union negotiates changes in salaries and benefits. In his statement, Ortberg said the company is considering additional changes within its defense division and is also delaying the first delivery of its 777X aircraft.

"These reductions will include executives, managers and employees," Ortberg said in the statement . "Next week, your leadership team will share more tailored information about what this means for your organization. Based on this decision, we will not proceed with the next cycle of furloughs."

Boeing will continue delivering the remaining backlog of outstanding 767 Freighters it has on order, before ending production of the commercial program in 2027. Production of the KC-46A Tanker, the military refueling variant of the 767, will continue.

The ongoing work stoppage and previous program delays related to the 777X has led to another delay for the newest version of the 777. Boeing now expects the first delivery of the 777X to occur in 2026.

There will also be additional changes coming to the Defense, Space and Security (BDS) division of Boeing, following the exit of Ted Colbert, former CEO of BDS, who left the company in September.

"As we move through this process, we will maintain our steadfast focus on safety, quality and delivering for our customers," Ortberg writes in the statement. "We know these decisions will cause difficulty for you, your families and our team, and I sincerely wish we could avoid taking them. However, the state of our business and our future recovery require tough actions."

IAM751 has been documenting the strike of its members that include more than 33,000 Boeing employees daily on its website . In a statement released in response to Boeing’s latest actions, the union notes that the 767 is typically manufactured at a rate of two airplanes per month, and the decision to end it just one month into the strike is "very troubling."

"Today, the company seeded a story to a national media outlet in which they publicly threatened to discontinue their 767 cargo plane, the long-term, multi-year future production of which in no way would be logistically impacted by the four-week current work stoppage," the union notes in the statement.

The latest series of production changes and workforce reduction announced by Boeing comes following increased regulatory scrutiny over the company's quality control and manufacturing practices , mainly stemming from an in-flight Alaska Airlines incident in January .

Last week, the Department of Transportation Office of the Inspector General — which performs government oversight audits of the FAA and other federal transportation agencies — published a 42-page report detailing its findings that the FAA's process for identifying and resolving production issues at Boeing is not effective. That report followed an urgent safety recommendation issued by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Sept. 26 regarding potential issues with some 737 rudder control systems .