SAN FRANCISCO, April 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. top aircraft manufacturer Boeing Company said Wednesday that its revenues slipped by a slight 2 percent to 22.9 billion U.S. dollars in the first quarter of 2019 from 23.38 billion dollars in the same period of 2018.
In a report on its first-quarter financial results in 2019, Boeing said the profit fall was partially a result of lower deliveries of 737 aircraft after two 737 MAX jets were involved in separate air crashes of Indonesian Lion Air in October 2018 and Ethiopian Airlines in March this year. The two incidents killed a total of 346 people aboard.
Net profits in the first quarter dropped 13 percent from 2.48 billion dollars in 2018 to 2.15 billion dollars in 2019, while costs rose 1 billion dollars in this quarter due to the global grounding of its 737 Max planes, it said.
Boeing's operating cash flow slid nearly 10 percent to 2.8 billion dollars this quarter from 3.1 billion dollars of the same period last year.
Boeing pulled its full-year 2019 earnings forecast, saying it didn't reflect the financial impacts of the 737 MAX problems and it would issue a new guidance "at a future date".
The world's largest planemaker is working hard to minimize the damage from a temporary suspension in the deliveries of 737 MAX airplanes, which was announced after similar factors possibly attributed to the two fatal crashes were found in the flight control system of the passenger jets.
Boeing said it has been working on a software update to fix an error in the anti-stall flight control system in the 737 MAX, known as the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS).
"Across the company, we are focused on safety, returning the 737 MAX to service, and earning and re-earning the trust and confidence of customers, regulators and the flying public," said Boeing's Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg.
