Is It Time For Boeing To Throw In The Towel?

Is it time for the Boeing Company to throw in the towel?

To cut its losses? To get out while it’s ahead? To stop the bleeding? You can toss every cliché you want out there, but it must have crossed the minds of management at some point. It does make you wonder how much more is to come and how much more the venerable company can take?

Ever since a door panel blew off a Boeing-manufactured plane in mid-flight earlier this year, the company has been under heavy scrutiny. Its safety protocols have been called into question. There is currently a crippling strike in which Boeing is said to have lost $500 million a week.

Now comes word of a disastrous financial third quarter that will likely lead to layoffs.

And one key aspect of all of this is the company’s struggle to get its reputation back. To win in the court of public opinion.

Nobody would blame Boeing for gracefully backing out.

Hemorrhaging Money

Now, Boeing does have a lot going for it. It has a lot of sweat equity invested in the American public and in the industry for its past successes. And remember that it is only one of two major companies that produces commercial jets.

That’s a lot of goodwill.

But at some point, everything that has gone on can be overwhelming. This is a business, after all. You can’t continue to lose money like Boeing has done. And "losing" is probably being kind; hemorrhaging is more like it.

Only Sean 'Diddy' Combs might be having a worse public relations nightmare than Boeing right now.

Yes, there is a sense of being defeated but Boeing has to consider all options right now. This is a critical time for the company and new CEO Kelly Ortberg. Nobody wants to admit defeat, so perhaps Boeing can just step back and regroup.

In other words, the company has to get its s**t together.

Otherwise, throwing in the towel feels inevitable.

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