Boeing restarting airplane production next week

Boeing restarting airplane production next week

Boeing will resume commercial airplane production next week, sending around 27,000 employees back to work in Washington state after having suspended operations last month.

Gloria Tso reports.

Boeing will restart commercial airplane production next week, sending around 27,000 employees back to work in Washington state.

The company suspended operations there last month.

Boeing says it will start staggering employee shifts, creating physical distance in the workplace and requiring face masks for all workers.

Boeing is also asking employees to perform self-health checks before coming to work and performing wellness and temperature checks before every shift.

In a letter viewed by Reuters, Chief Executive Dave Calhoun told employees the aerospace industry will need financial support from the government to get back on its feet again in the wake of this global crisis.

However, he acknowledged that Congress' $25 billion aid package for U.S. airlines would allow Boeing to weather the storm ahead and plan production around its long-term impact on air travel.

A Boeing spokesman declined to say whether the company would seek government assistance itself.

The crisis has been an additional blow for Boeing.

Back in January it halted production of its 737 Max planes after two fatal crashes in the span of five months.

Boeing's 50 planes delivered so far this year were its lowest numbers for the first quarter since 1984.