A Boeing plane in production earlier this year. (Jennifer Buchanan / AFP via Getty Images)

Boeing has lost $28 billion since 737 MAX crashes

For decades, Boeing was a profit machine. Two plane crashes triggered a string of problems the company has yet to recover from.

Nate Becker

7/31/24 11:37AM

Boeing announced a new CEO on Wednesday morning, marking the second time the jet maker has swapped out its top executive since two of its 737 MAXes crashed, killing hundreds of people on board. Since then, the company has been mired in problems, and its bottom line has been bathed in red ink.

Alongside the CEO announcement, Boeing said it posted a loss of $1.44 billion for the latest quarter. That brings the total amount of net losses the company has incurred since the second quarter of 2019 to a staggering $27.8 billion, according to FactSet data.

Boeing has been in dire straits for years following the two 737 MAX crashes, which happened in October 2018 and March 2019. Then in January 2024, a section of a Boeing Alaska Airlines jet blew out. Terrifying videos of the incident flooded the internet and intense scrutiny of the company’s manufacturing processes followed. The Justice Department opened an investigation into the issue.

The company also agreed earlier this month to plead guilty to misleading regulators in the run-up to the two 737 MAX crashes.

Kelly Ortberg will step in after Dennis Muilenburg and David Calhoun were unable to set the company back on course. It’s a job that was hard to hire for: The Wall Street Journal reported in June that “several high-profile candidates” had turned the company down.

Now Ortberg faces the enormous task of pulling Boeing out of the muck of all its mounting issues: a quality crisis, production slowdowns, labor negotiations, and a yearslong reputation problem.

Justice Department accuses telehealth Zealthy of fraud, says remedy may bankrupt it

The feds say they don’t think Zealthy has the liquidity to pay what it owes customers.

J. Edward Moreno2h

Hyunsoo Rim, J. Edward Moreno

bottling it

4/13/26

Americans aren’t drinking as much Mexican beer — that’s not been good for Constellation

The nation’s largest beer importer by sales just saw a 10-year growth streak come to an abrupt end.

Will investing in kids games finally make Netflix Games “the Netflix of games”?

Netflix is launching a game for preschoolers, its latest foray into stuff-you-play instead of stuff-you-watch.

Claire Yubin Oh4/10/26

Max Knoblauch4/9/26

American Airlines joins the flock, hiking bag fees amid higher jet fuel prices

American Airlines on Thursday announced that it, too, will be hiking the fees it charges customers to check luggage.

With the move, all four of the major US airlines, which together control about 80% of the US market, have now hiked their baggage fees in recent days amid surging jet fuel prices.

The change will go into effect on tickets bought on or after Thursday, the same day Southwest’s hike begins.

Since late March, JetBlue, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Canada’s WestJet, and Southwest have hiked their fees. Experts expect more major carriers to follow, and to potentially tweak the pricing of other ancillary revenue sources like seat assignments and carry-on luggage.

American Airlines updates bag fees and Basic Economy fares

The change will go into effect on tickets bought on or after Thursday, the same day Southwest’s hike begins.

Max Knoblauch4/9/26

Less than a year after implementing them, Southwest is also hiking its bag fees

Southwest Airlines has joined the growing list of airlines opting to hike their bag fees amid sustained higher jet fuel costs.

Starting today, the first checked bag at the carrier — which implemented bag fees less than a year ago — will jump from $35 to $45, and the second from $45 to $55. Southwest quietly disclosed the change Tuesday.

Southwest assigned the decision to “part of an ongoing analysis of the business and against the evolving global backdrop.”

As of Wednesday, jet fuel prices dropped to $4.16 a gallon, per the Argus US Jet Fuel Index, down from $4.81 on Tuesday following President Trump’s ceasefire announcement, which sent travel stocks soaring. Major airlines have shed some of those gains in premarket trading Thursday.

With the move to hike bag fees, Southwest joins JetBlue, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Canada’s WestJet, all of which also boosted fees this month. Experts expect more major carriers to follow, and to potentially tweak the pricing of other ancillary revenue sources like seat assignments and carry-on luggage.

Three US airlines have already hiked baggage fees. More are likely on the way.