There is an unsinkable side to Boeing. This is what stock traders believed until February. And too bad for the misfortunes of the 737 MAX jet, which dragged on! The action of the American aeronautical giant continued to price more than 340 dollars (307 euros), not so far from its historic high of 400 dollars. Finally, the truth of the prices fell, with an action with 100 dollars, Tuesday March 17. So, unsinkable? Yes, because the strategic business will be bailed out if necessary, as Donald Trump explained a few hours later at the White House, bouncing the action back to $ 124.
"We have to protect Boeing. We are going to help Boeing "said the President of the United States. The Chicago company had secured at the beginning of winter a line of credit of 13.8 billion dollars, but it does not stop consuming liquidity: to produce its 737 MAX unsold, to compensate the penalized airlines by immobilizing their devices on the ground, a phenomenon to which is added the non-payment of deposits for future orders, which are becoming scarce. The debt of the firm has a BBB classification and is close to that of junk bonds, these "rotten bonds" at risk. The modalities of support have not been specified, but this military-industrial flagship will undoubtedly be saved.
Donald Trump also plans to support the airlines, which are claiming $ 50 billion in aid: "We are going to help companies 100%", he assured. These companies claimed, just a week ago, to be able to overcome the crisis, but will quickly run out of cash. "We cannot afford to wait for help for too long", said Airlines for America, their trade association.
Such a rescue, in the form of cash and loan guarantees, had already taken place in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks for sums reaching $ 15 billion. The amount requested today is less than the US auto industry bailout plan of 2009, which had raised $ 80 billion to save General Motors. This is debated.
Counterparties required
"Airline shareholders don't need to be bailed out", slice economist Thomas Philippon, professor at New York University. At the end of the XXe century, they worked very well for years under bankruptcy protection law. They would only have to blame themselves, read the democratic representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who deplores that the top five airlines have used for ten years 96% of their cash flow to buy their own actions.
