Boeing on Wednesday said the costs associated with the grounding of the 737 Max were likely to surpass $18 billion (€16.36 billion), a significant increase over earlier forecasts as the company posted its first annual loss since 1997. The company took a pre-tax charge of $2.6 billion to cover more concessions to airlines that have cancelled thousands of flights without their Max jets. Boeing said that the costs associated with shutting down and restarting the factory would amount to some $4 billion. In total, the anticipated costs now equal more than $18.6 billion, or nearly 20 per cent of Boeing’s annual sales before the Max was grounded. If regulators do not find any additional problems with the Max, it could return to service before then.

Source: The Irish Times January 29, 2020 13:18 UTC