Boeing chief executive Dave Calhoun told reporters Wednesday the U.S. planemaker expects to resume 737 Max production months before its forecasted mid-year return to service, adding that it did not plan to suspend or cut its dividend.
The company announced a production halt in December, when the global grounding of the fast-selling 737 Max following two deadly crashes in five months looked set to last into mid-2020.
Calhoun said the company isn’t considering scrapping the Max and expects it will continue to fly for a generation. He also said it won’t launch a marketing campaign to get customers to get back on 737 Max planes.
He disclosed that Boeing is starting with a “clean sheet of paper” on a new midsize airplane but it is not clear if the company is scrapping the existing design.
The company said on Tuesday it now expects regulators to approve the plane’s return to service in the middle of the year. Calhoun said he did not see recent issues raised about wiring or software as “serious problems.”
Boeing shares fell about 1.4 per cent on Wednesday, rebounding from earlier lows during the day.
David Calhoun, centre, then CEO of Nielsen Company, is seen on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange Jan. 26, 2011. Now the new chief executive at Boeing, Calhoun said repeatedly revising the return-to-service date for the 737 Max made it ‘hard for anybody to trust us.’ (Richard Drew/The Associated Press)
Calhoun said Boeing isn’t planning to cut or suspend its dividend, because the company has the “financial capacity and capability to do the things we need to do.” The CEO said he “will stay on that path unless something dramatic changes.”
Calhoun declined to provide a specific date for resumption of production, but said it “will be reinvigorated months before that moment in June, because we have to get that line started up again.” He also said the company would make some changes to the 737 Max production line to make it more efficient.
No layoffs planned
Calhoun said the company “will slowly, steadily bring our production rate up a few months before that date in the middle of the year.” He said the company was not planning to lay off any employees because of the latest delay in the Max.
The latest push back in the forecasted return to service is due to the company’s decision to endorse simulator training for pilots before they resume flights, he said. “We can get this thing back on its horse and we will,” he added.
Calhoun was a director at Boeing for a decade before taking over as chief executive earlier this month. The board ousted Dennis Muilenburg in December amid rising anger among regulators, politicians and customers.
He said the company should have not have repeatedly revised the plane’s forecasted return. “It was hard for anybody to trust us,” Calhoun said.
Calhoun said before certification there will be “a few more things somewhere along the way that the FAA and us will determine need a little extra work and we’ll do it. They won’t be big emergencies things, they won’t be things that take the airplane down.”
TORONTO – Restaurant Brands International Inc. reported net income of US$357 million for its third quarter, down from US$364 million in the same quarter last year.
The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says its profit amounted to 79 cents US per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with 79 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue for the parent company of Tim Hortons, Burger King, Popeyes and Firehouse Subs, totalled US$2.29 billion, up from US$1.84 billion in the same quarter last year.
Consolidated comparable sales were up 0.3 per cent.
On an adjusted basis, Restaurant Brands says it earned 93 cents US per diluted share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 90 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents US per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Fortis Inc. reported a third-quarter profit of $420 million, up from $394 million in the same quarter last year.
The electric and gas utility says the profit amounted to 85 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from 81 cents per share a year earlier.
Fortis says the increase was driven by rate base growth across its utilities, and strong earnings in Arizona largely reflecting new customer rates at Tucson Electric Power.
Revenue in the quarter totalled $2.77 billion, up from $2.72 billion in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Fortis says it earned 85 cents per share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 84 cents per share in the third quarter of 2023.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 82 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
TORONTO – Thomson Reuters reported its third-quarter profit fell compared with a year ago as its revenue rose eight per cent.
The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says it earned US$301 million or 67 cents US per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30. The result compared with a profit of US$367 million or 80 cents US per diluted share in the same quarter a year earlier.
Revenue for the quarter totalled US$1.72 billion, up from US$1.59 billion a year earlier.
In its outlook, Thomson Reuters says it now expects organic revenue growth of 7.0 per cent for its full year, up from earlier expectations for growth of 6.5 per cent.
On an adjusted basis, Thomson Reuters says it earned 80 cents US per share in its latest quarter, down from an adjusted profit of 82 cents US per share in the same quarter last year.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 76 cents US per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
