Boeing will cut about 5% of the workforce in its Commercial Airplanes division, according to a memo from the unit’s head that CNBC reported on 9 November 2026. Stephanie Pope, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, told employees that adjusting production schedules and reducing aircraft output has left the division overstaffed. Lens did not see the memo; the details below follow CNBC and Aerospace Global News, which says FOX 13 Seattle obtained the email from Boeing communications officials.

What the memo reportedly says

CNBC reports that the reductions will come through a mix of attrition and involuntary layoffs, with notifications beginning in December. It quotes Pope as writing: “Adjusting our production schedules and reducing aircraft output puts us in an overstaffed position.” CNBC adds that staffing will be aligned with a revised business plan. Aerospace Global News, citing Axios, reports that the IAM District 751 union said it had been notified but did not know who or how many employees would be affected.

How many jobs

Neither report gives a headcount from Boeing. Aerospace Global News cites Boeing’s published employment figures putting the division at 50,494 employees at the end of December 2025 and says the cut could mean more than 2,500 employees laid off around the holidays. That figure is the outlet’s own arithmetic on 5%, not a number Boeing has stated, and because the reductions are described as a mix of attrition and layoffs, the split between the two is not given.

737 production

CNBC reports that Boeing is still working to stabilize 737 MAX production near Seattle, with CEO Kelly Ortberg saying the company has been trying to hold output at about 47 aircraft a month. Ortberg told investors in October that Boeing would not significantly increase MAX output until the second half of 2027, when the target is 52 a month, and attributed the slowdown partly to wing production running behind expectations.

Aerospace Global News describes the current rate more cautiously. It says Boeing began moving from 42 to 47 a month in the second quarter of 2026 with FAA approval but cannot yet sustain 47, and that the 27 October earnings call put sustaining 47 at 2027. It names wing-shop changes that delivered smaller gains than expected and slower fuselage output at Wichita as bottlenecks, and says reaching 52 a month depends on certifying and ramping the Everett North Line.

Deliveries and other programs

Aerospace Global News reports that Boeing delivered 161 commercial aircraft in the third quarter, including 124 737s and 22 787s. Citing transcripts of the 27 October earnings call, it says CFO Jay Malave said the slower ramp will leave Boeing short of its 2026 goal of 500 737 deliveries, and that deliveries of MAX 7 and MAX 10 aircraft built before certification are expected to begin in early 2027. It reports 787 production steady at eight a month, with a move to 10 a month still expected by the end of 2026 and the next rate increase planned for December.

Sources and notes

Sources: CNBC (Leslie Josephs, published 9 November 2026 and updated the same day) and Aerospace Global News, which cites FOX 13 Seattle, Axios, Boeing’s published employment figures, transcripts of the 27 October 2026 earnings call, Reuters and Boeing’s third-quarter results and quarterly filing. Lens did not read the memo, the FOX 13 Seattle or Axios reports, the earnings-call transcripts or Boeing’s filings, and found no Boeing statement beyond the memo as quoted. The 5% applies to the Commercial Airplanes division, not to Boeing as a whole. The two outlets differ on whether Boeing can currently hold 47 a month, and both descriptions are shown above.

Image: A Boeing 737 MAX 8 in primer (line number 9720, registration N233BE) at Boeing Field, Seattle, 29 July 2026. Photo: Duncan Kirk, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Stand-in file photograph; it is not connected to the staffing announcement.