Boeing CEO tells NBC that pandemic is ‘likely’ to put a major U.S. airline out of business
Boeing’s president and CEO, David Calhoun, acknowledged during an NBC News interview with “Today” host Savannah Guthrie that a major U.S. airline will “most likely” go out of business due to fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.
In reply to a question from Guthrie, Calhoun said, “Something will happen when September comes around. Traffic levels will not be back to 100%. They won’t even be back to 25.”
It might take until the end of the year for levels to approach 50%, “so there will definitely be adjustments that have to be made on the part of the airlines,” Calhoun said in an excerpt from the interview. (Update for 11:30 a.m. PT May 12: We’ve added the video of the full interview, aired by “Today.”)
The top 10 U.S. air carriers, including Seattle-based Alaska Air, are among airlines that have applied for federal assistance through a $25 billion payroll support program. Boeing has been hard-hit by the pandemic as well as the 737 MAX crisis, but last month it reported a positive response to a $25 billion bond offering and said it wouldn’t seek additional support from the federal government.
