ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — The Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) has begun to distribute furlough notices to white-collar employees in the St. Louis area as the aerospace and defense giant faces a cash squeeze that could jeopardize its investment-grade rating.
A spokesperson for Boeing Defense, Space & Security on Thursday didn’t provide information about the number of employees affected and when the furloughs would begin. Nationwide, tens of thousands of Boeing executives, managers and other staff are expected to take one week of furlough for every four weeks during the machinists strike.
The strike by about 33,000 Boeing factory workers in the Pacific Northwest began Sept. 13 and is the latest in a string of setbacks this year that began in January with a near catastrophe. A door plug of a Boeing 737 Max 9 flew off minutes after take-off from Portland International Airport in Oregon.
