Southwest and American Airlines CEOs have a message for Boeing

Executives at Southwest Airlines and American Airlines want Boeing to deliver planes on time.
Both CEOs said last week that their companies had been hurt by Boeing’s delivery delays.
Boeing faces a number of challenges and last week reported a third-quarter net loss of $6.1 billion.

The CEOs of two major airlines have a message for… Boeing: Do better.

Last week, Southwest CEO Bob Jordan and American Airlines CEO Robert Isom spoke about the problems their airlines are facing with Boeing.

“Boeing has been a great partner throughout Southwest Airlines’ 53 years, but we need Boeing to be strong. We need Boeing to be better,” Jordan said in an interview. Yahoo Finance on Monday.

Jordan said Southwest originally expected delivery of more than 80 planes from Boeing in 2024, but will now only receive 20. He added that while 2024 was a particularly tough year, it has been years since Boeing deliveries have gone as expected for airlines.

“As the strike continues, you know it looks like 2025 could be affected as well,” he said.

“The heart of an airline is its flight schedule, and your flight schedule depends on your aircraft being delivered on time,” he added.

Jordan also said Southwest, which flies Boeing aircraft exclusively, is “constantly evaluating” the market but is not actively considering collaborations with other aircraft makers.

Southwest’s fleet consists of 228 Boeing 737 Max 8s, 381 Boeing 737-800s and 207 Boeing 737-700s, according to the aviation website. ReisRadar24.

Jordan’s comments echoed Isom’s comments last week.

“As far as Boeing is concerned, I’m just looking forward to the day when they’re not just a distraction,” Isom said during Thursday’s meeting. interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

“We’ve been fighting them for the last five years,” Isom added.

Isom told CNBC that his company needs Boeing to “be strong” — and that he conveyed that message to the plane maker’s new CEO, Kelly Ortberg.

“At the end of the day, though, we need them to deliver quality airplanes on time, and I’ll welcome that phone call when Boeing says, ‘We’re going to do this,’” he added.

When contacted for comment, a Boeing spokesman said the company had previously acknowledged delivery delays and that future deliveries were contingent on the resolution of the strike.

Southwest Earlier this year, it was reported that about 20 Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft were expected to take delivery. The announcement followed Boeing’s production slowdown after door plug exploded on Boeing plane during an Alaska Airlines flight in January.

Adding to problems at BoeingEmployees have been on strike since mid-September, and analysts estimate the work stoppage is costing the company $50 million a day. The company reported Net loss in the third quarter was $6.1 billion last week..

The crisis caused Boeing to lose money. Manufacturer announced on Monday that it is offering for sale 90 million shares of common stock and depositary shares valued at approximately $5 billion. Based on Friday’s closing share price of $155.01, the new offering will cost about $18.95 billion.

Since the beginning of the year, its shares have fallen by 40%.

This month Boeing made a statement to the SECsaying it could sell up to $25 billion in securities, including bonds, new shares and stock options.

This is in addition to $10 billion loan agreement it entered into agreements with Bank of America, Citibank, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase, described in Regulatory filing October 14.

Southwest did not respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.

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