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Boeing manufacturing in Charleston, USA
Photo: Randall Hill / REUTERS
The US aircraft manufacturer Boeing slipped deep into the red in the corona crisis in the third quarter - but not quite as deeply as previously feared.
Because of the significantly lower deliveries and the ongoing flight ban after the crashes of the medium-haul jet 737 Max, the bottom line was a loss of 466 million dollars (about 400 million euros).
In the same period a year ago, a profit of almost $ 1.2 billion had been posted, as the competitor of the European Airbus group announced in Chicago on Wednesday.
Analysts had expected a significantly higher minus.
In the second quarter, the loss had even totaled 2.4 billion dollars.
In the third quarter, Boeing's sales slumped 29 percent year-on-year to $ 14.1 billion after the group had not been allowed to deliver 737 Max series jets in the same period last year.
Is Boeing's most important model about to make a comeback?
After two fatal crashes, the machines have had to remain on the ground since March 2019.
The management around Boeing boss Dave Calhoun hopes that the aviation authorities will soon cancel the take-off ban.
In fact, there have been some signs of hope recently.
The flight ban for the 737 Max could actually be lifted in the foreseeable future.
After a control software has been repaired, which is considered to be the main cause of the accidents, the re-approval in the USA is imminent.
Europe's aviation authority has also already indicated its approval.
So the comeback of Boeing's most important model is getting closer and closer.
The corona pandemic, on the other hand, is likely to burden Boeing for much longer.
The group expects a long dry spell that will severely dampen demand for aircraft for years.
Boeing has already had to cope with numerous cancellations in view of the lower demand.
But here too the situation has at least eased somewhat recently - in September there were the fewest cancellations since the global spread of the coronavirus in February.
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beb / dpa
