American Airlines (AAL) chief Robert Isom is tired of waiting for Boeing (BA) to get its act together.
“I look forward to the day when they’re not just a distraction,” Isom told CNBC Thursday. “We’ve been struggling with them over the last five years.”
This year in particular, the aircraft manufacturer has been plagued with problems, starting with a door plug blowout an Alaska Airlines flight in January. Since then, it has faced scrutiny both from regulators and the court of public opinion over a growing pile of safety issues.
Most recently, it’s facing what’s shaping up to be a long and costly machinists strike. Late Wednesday, members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the union representing the striking employees, rejected Boeing’s latest contract offer.
Newly minted CEO Kelly Ortberg, an aerospace industry veteran who has promised to implement serious cultural and performance improvements at the company.
Boeing lost $6 billion on $17 billion in revenue in the third quarter, the company reported Wednesday, bogged down by the ongoing strike and charges in its commercial and defense businesses. For the quarter, Boeing’s commercial division received 49 orders and delivered 116 airplanes, with backlog of over 5,400 airplanes valued at $428 billion, the company said.
“It will take time to return Boeing to its former legacy, but with the right focus and culture, we can be an iconic company and aerospace leader once again,” Ortberg said.
Isom is waiting for that day to come.
“We need them to deliver quality aircraft on time,” he said. “I look forward to the phone call when Boeing says we’re able to do so.”
“We need Boeing to be strong, and that’s what I’ve told Kelly,” he added. “At the end of the day though, we need them to deliver quality aircraft on time. And I’ll be welcoming that phone call when Boeing says, ‘We’re going to do that.’”
American, on the other hand, beat expectations when it reported earnings Thursday. It brought in a record $13.6 billion in revenue, but posted a quarterly loss of $149 million. Shares of the company rose about 1% on the report.
The airline underscored its relatively strong performance in spite of a number of challenges in the quarter, including the CrowdStrike outage and Hurricanes Debby and Helene.
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