Beginning in January, Boeing plans to lay off 141 workers at several Florida locations, including some at Kennedy Space Center, the site of the troubled Starliner spacecraft’s manufacturing.
According to the staff reduction statement, 18 offices throughout the state will see permanent layoffs starting on January 17.
Among them are twenty in Titusville and twenty-six in KSC offices. Four positions will be lost at an Orlando location, and more employment will be lost in Miami, Daytona Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, and Fort Walton Beach around the state.
Boeing stated last month that it will be cutting 50 positions in Oregon.
During the most recent quarterly results call in October, Kelly Ortberg, the company’s new CEO, stated that the company needed to concentrate on its core operations, which are defense and commercial aircraft.
It’s unclear where that leaves its space efforts.
Boeing’s involvement in space includes the CST-100 Starliner, which supports the International Space Station and builds core stages for NASA’s Space Launch System. Additionally, it owns 50% of Lockheed Martin’s United Launch Alliance.
Although Starliner’s maiden crewed voyage to the ISS this year did not go as planned, the layoffs at KSC may have an impact on the project’s advancement.
The propulsion module of Starliner experienced helium leaks and some failed thrusters, which ultimately led NASA to decide to send it home without astronauts. However, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams launched in Starliner on the Crew Flight Test from Cape Canaveral atop a ULA Atlas V rocket and successfully docked at the ISS.
With a possible first regular voyage to the ISS delayed to no early than the end of 2025, that decision has put Starliner’s certification in jeopardy.
There have been rumors that Boeing would terminate the Starliner program rather than complete its NASA contract.
In October, Ortberg stated, “I believe that we’re better off doing less and doing it well than doing more and not doing it well.” We are now conducting an assessment of the portfolio.
The business has seen years of ongoing losses and serious problems with its reputation. In addition to dealing with a protracted machinist strike that disrupted its aircraft operations, the firm had previously announced layoffs around the country as it attempted to raise money and avert bankruptcy.
Since 2018, the business has not experienced a profitable quarter.
Since it and SpaceX were awarded the NASA contract to provide commercial ferry service to the ISS in 2016, Starliner has been a financial thorn in Boeing’s side.
Boeing has reported more than $1.8 billion in losses while only receiving a share of the $4.6 billion NASA contract for spacecraft development, despite the fact that the deal is worth that much to send six operational missions to the ISS.
According to the quarterly report, timetable delays and increased testing and certification expenses accounted for a further $250 million in losses over the last three months. This is in addition to the $125 million that was disclosed during the second quarter.
The Defense, Space & Security segment as a whole experienced operational losses of around $2.4 billion in the third quarter.
According to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, Ortberg told him the corporation had every intention of carrying out the contract when he met with him following Starliner’s crewless landing in September.
“Do these things add value to the company or distract us?” Ortberg asked, not particularly mentioning its space endeavors but also not discounting them as non-core operations. I am currently undergoing that procedure.
He reaffirmed that the company’s primary focus will continue to be on military equipment and commercial aircraft.
However, there are likely some peripheral activities that we could do more effectively or that just divert our attention from our primary objective, he said.
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