New York/Washington
In just six weeks, Boeing Co (BA.N) went from seeking government aid to announcing it no longer needed it. The upsized deal, this year’s largest investment-grade bond issue and the sixth largest on record, surpassed Boeing’s expectations. It underscores how the Chicago-based company capitalized on U.S. government support, even without having to accept taxpayer money as aid. On March 24, Boeing’s Chief Financial Officer Greg Smith told Reuters in an interview that the credit markets were “essentially closed” to the largest U.S. plane maker, and that the entire U.S. aerospace industry urgently needed capital to cope with the fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.
A $2.3 trillion U.S. stimulus package, enacted into law at the end of March to provide relief to the U.S. economy which was hit hard by the pandemic, subsequently carved out $17 billion in aid for Boeing and other companies critical to national security. Boeing itself had lobbied extensively for aid and had called for at least $60 billion in government loans for the entire aerospace manufacturing sector. “We can’t let anything happen to Boeing,” U.S. President Donald Trump said last month, in one of the many instances he expressed support for the company.—Reuters
