A strike would add to turbulent times at Boeing

A strike by the 33,000 factory workers who assemble some of Boeing’s best-selling planes would come as another blow to a company whose bottom line and reputation have taken plenty of hits this year. Once a symbol of American engineering and technological prowess, Boeing has seen its public image battered since a 737 Max 9 fuselage panel blew out during an Alaska Airlines flight in January, leaving a gaping hole in the plane’s side. In July, the company agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud for misleading federal regulators about certain features of the 737 Max 8 before a pair of crashes in 2018 and 2019 killed 346 people.