Shrinking Will Be a Painful Business for Boeing

Shrinking Will Be a Painful Business for Boeing

The worst crisis in aviation history is forcing aerospace manufacturers to downsize rapidly. Investors might still be underestimating how painful this will be for

Boeing.



BA -3.09%







On Wednesday, the Chicago-based plane maker released second-quarter results that were even worse than Wall Street analysts had feared. Unlike other military contractors, even Boeing's defense arm posted disappointing results, in part because lower production volumes on the commercial side imply higher costs to make the KC-46A tanker, which is based on the 767 passenger airliner.



Investors have been obsessed with cash-burn figures, which were a bit better than expected, leading Boeing's shares to rise in premarket trading. But the stock ended up tumbling almost 3% after the market opened as concerns about production cuts took over. This change in focus is probably wise.























The Boeing 777X won't arrive until 2022.





Photo:



David Ryder/Getty Images

























































In addition to the 10% reduction in the 160,000-strong army of staffers already announced,