Pegasus and Poseidon production stops as Boeing Temporarily Shuts Down Facilities

Production of the Air Force’s KC-46 refuelling tanker(Pegasus)  and the Navy’s P-8 maritime surveillance and anti-submarine warfare plane (Poseidon) will stop as Boeing shuts down all facilities due to coronavirus pandemic.

“Boeing plans to begin reducing production activity today and projects the suspension of such operations to begin on Wednesday, March 25, at sites across the Puget Sound area,” the company said in a statement on Monday.

The company is urging employees to telework if they can, but work on classified projects cannot be done on laptops, which could impact more sensitive elements of defence programs.

KC-46 is based on B-767 passenger aircraft while P-8 is based on B-737.

Pegasus Program experienced delays since aircraft delivery started.