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 Multiple commercial orders were being delayed by recent failures of
launch vehicles and uncertainties about the future availability of
financing from the U.S. Export-Import Bank, whose government charter
lapsed on June 30, the company told key managers in an internal
communication.
Boeing spokesman Tim Neale confirmed the reductions and said the
total number of people affected would be finalized in coming months.
Some could find work in other parts of Boeing, he said.
He said the reductions were "necessary to remain competitive for
ongoing and future business."
The Boeing announcement marks the latest fallout from the ongoing
debate about the future of EXIM, the U.S. government's export credit
agency, which can no longer write new loans and trade guarantees.
U.S. government officials have said they are growing more concerned
about the impact of the bank's forced shutdown on a wide range of
U.S. companies, including many small businesses.
Tea Party conservatives in the U.S. Congress did not vote to renew
the agency's charter, arguing the trade bank provides "corporate
welfare" for big companies like Boeing and General Electric Co <GE.N>.
Business executives said it was unclear if the bank will be
reopened.
EXIM backers say the bank generates revenue for the U.S. government,
and helps level the playing field for U.S. companies whose rivals in
other countries receive similar trade credits.
Boeing does not break down workforce numbers for separate business
units, but the company has about 16,800 workers in California, where
Boeing builds satellites and does some commercial airplane work.
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Monday's announcement comes a little over a month after commercial
satellite provider ABS canceled a large satellite contract with
Boeing due to uncertainty about the future of the EXIM bank.
Neale said Boeing officials were still working with ABS, based in
Bermuda and Hong Kong, to find an alternate financing solution, but
ABS was in active discussions with other satellite makers that had
access to government trade credits.
He said many of Boeing's international customers relied on EXIM
financing to buy commercial satellites and airplanes, and
uncertainty about EXIM's future was making those buyers "very
nervous."
"In the absence of Ex-Im, Boeing may need to serve as the lender of
last resort but there are real limits to how much of this the
company can do," he said.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Chris Reese and David
Gregorio)
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