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Behold the majestic Boeing 737 fuselages, taking a leisurely train ride through Wichita, Kansas, as they frolic on railcars, blissfully unaware of the corporate drama unfolding around them.

Nick Oxford | Bloomberg | Getty Images

In a classic plot twist worthy of a corporate soap opera, Spirit AeroSystems is contemplating the very real possibility of furloughing hundreds of employees! Yes, you heard it right, folks—count those layoffs as the cherry on top of the corporate chaos sundae, thanks to the stunningly prolonged Boeing machinists’ strike stretching out like a bad Netflix series that refuses to conclude. We’re at week six and counting, folks!

In a shocking display of unity, Boeing‘s machinists decisively voted 64% against a labor contract that could’ve ended this riveting strike. Who knew a bunch of folks in hard hats could be such drama queens? With most of Boeing’s planes grounded (not due to weather, but rather workers exercising their right to protest), the company is likely wishing for the fast-forward button to get to the happy ending.

Meanwhile, our hapless friends over at Spirit AeroSystems are already packing up for a temporary slumber of about 700 workers in Wichita. The furloughs are expected to begin as soon as next week, because who needs job security when you can fetch a latte in peace instead?

Spirit’s little “maybe we’ll cut more jobs” dance just goes to show how deeply the strike is impacting an already shaky aerospace supply chain. Boeing‘s suppliers are doing the corporate equivalent of cautious tightrope walking, hesitant to make any sudden movements post-COVID recovery—because who wants to face the wrath of a workforce you’ve painstakingly rebuilt over the last few years? (Spoiler: No one.)

Over 32,000 Boeing machinists decided to strut their stuff and walk off the job starting September 13. It’s been a dramatic exit reminiscent of a high school play, with cast members reluctant to return after rejecting an earlier tentative agreement.

In an unexpected plot twist, Boeing is in the midst of acquiring Spirit, a merger that the corporate world describes as “absolutely necessary” while Spirit is busy burning through cash like it’s late-stage capitalism’s version of lighting a bonfire. Last week, they revealed a stunning third-quarter net loss of $477 million—more than doubling their previous artistic rendition of doom and gloom!

Our new CEO at Boeing, Kelly Ortberg, has chess pieces to move and a top priority: getting those Seattle-area machinists back to work and ending this soap opera of a strike. The workers’ union, meanwhile, is itching to negotiate again, but let’s be honest—only if the drama gets deeper!

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