new york faced with the calamitous fallout from the coronavirus on airline customers and the broader economy boeing found itself in an unfamiliar and uncomfortable position in marchthe company a longtime symbol of american industrial power was unable to raise the funds to finance its businesssince that low point as the coronavirus health crisis was mushrooming into an economic crisis private bond markets have improved considerably enabling boeing to fill its liquidity gap with 25 billion in bonds issued last monthbut that bitter reality at the outset of the covid19 pandemic underscores how deeply the 103yearold company has fallen in no small part due to its own misstepsboeing which alone accounts for about one percent of us gross domestic product has suffered numerous canceled orders for the 737 max the jet that has been grounded for more than a year following two crashes that killed 346 peopledemand has also diminished the 787 dreamliner amid the downturn in commercial air travel adding to its woesboeing has serious financial challenges said stan sorscher a former boeing engineer air travel is down aircraft are grounded airline customers dont need new airplanes and capacity in the supplier network is questionableboeing chief executive david calhoun has insisted boeing will weather the crisis though he acknowledged the company lost ground through its own actionsthere is no question that the max problems the accidents set us back and set us back for roughly two years calhoun said earlier this month on fox business networkeven throughout this rocky period boeing has continued to enjoy success in its defense businessbut the company will need to show evidence of a genuine turnaround in its civil aviation division following the max crisis which revealed problems with corporate culture that critics say showed the boeing cut corners on safety to meet profit goalscredit ratings agencies have punished the company downgrading its debt to just above junk statusbut boeings clout in washington has cushioned it from being seen as a likely candidate for bankruptcy even during the current slumpthe companys supply chain consists of some 17000 companies in the united states employing 25 million workersearly in the crisis boeing had sought 60 billion in federal support and won strong backing from key players in washington including us president donald trump who said in april we cant let anything happen to boeingbut calhoun expressed misgivings about how support from the us treasury would be structured and the conditions imposed in addition to barring the company from paying dividends the government could have demanded a stake in the companyinstead boeing benefited from a series of emergency steps by the federal reserve that boosted liquidity in the corporate debt market and opened the door to its 25 billion bond offering the sixth largest in historybut issuing debt means boeing will have to pay higher interest if its credit rating is downgraded furtherwith the latest infusion of funds boeing is pretty sound financially according to a banking source who has advised boeinginvestors believe in this story longer