...WASHINGTON D.C. (S&P Global Ratings) March 11, 2019--S&P Global Ratings said today that the crash of a Boeing 737-8 operated by Ethiopian Airlines, the second accident involving the popular new model in the past five months, does not affect its rating or outlook on the Boeing Co. (A/Stable/A-1) at this time. If this accident, which follows the crash of a Lion Air 737-8 in October 2018 (where a new feature of the flight control system is part of the ongoing investigation), causes a prolonged grounding of the model by the U.S. or other regulatory authorities or causes airlines to question the safety of the model and cancel a significant number of orders, earnings and cash flow would likely be affected. However, the company has ample liquidity to deal with any impact, with approximately $8.6 billion of cash and short-term investments and $5.1 billion of revolving credit facilities (which back $1.9 billion of commercial paper) as of Dec. 31, 2018. If the costs and cash drain are significant,...
