Boeing Co has "much to prove" to regain the confidence of regulators and customers after a mid-air cabin-panel blowout on a 737 MAX aircraft, CEO Dave Calhoun said on Wednesday, adding that the planemaker will "go slow" as it faces a "serious challenge."

As expected, Calhoun did not offer a financial or delivery forecast for 2024, stating that the company must focus on delivering quality airplanes. The planemaker, however, reported a smaller quarterly loss and better-than-expected revenue and free cash flow, though investors are more likely to focus on the company's expectations as it navigates the current crisis.

"We will not rush the system and we will take our time to do it right," Calhoun said in a letter to employees, voicing confidence in Boeing's recovery.

The accident involving an Alaska Airlines-operated MAX 9 jet this month has turned into a full-blown safety and reputational crisis for the iconic planemaker, potentially leading to slower jet production and a loss of more narrowbody market share to Airbus. Boeing shares rose 1.4% in premarket trading.

"The full ramifications of the latest MAX safety issues have yet to be felt, and we see it as telling that Boeing has not provided any update on its outlook," Robert Stallard of Vertical Research Partners said in a Wednesday note to investors.

Boeing said Wednesday that 737 aircraft were being produced at a rate of 38 per month, a level it plans to maintain after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) barred the company from lifting production, while increasing its oversight.

The 787 production rate was at five per month, Boeing said, adding that it had also resumed 777X production during the fourth quarter.

Jefferies projects the company could amass $5.5 billion in free cash flow in 2024 if it delivers 545 737s and 84 787s during the year, but that projection assumes Boeing is able to ramp 737 production to 42 jets per month in the second half.

Increasing production of 737 MAX jets is crucial to Boeing's recovery from a separate safety crisis arising from two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 and the subsequent aerospace slump that followed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"More work to do"

"We've taken significant steps over the last several years to strengthen our safety and quality processes, but this (Alaska Air) accident makes it absolutely clear that we have more work to do," Calhoun said.

He also pointed to an announcement this month that Boeing would add quality inspections for the 737 MAX and deploy a team to supplier Spirit AeroSystems, which makes and installs the plug door involved in the incident.

For the fourth quarter, Boeing reported an adjusted per-share loss of 47 cents, narrower than analysts' estimates of a loss of 78 cents, as per LSEG data.

The company's ailing defense business logged $139 million in losses on fixed-price development programs.

Revenue rose 10% to $22.02 billion, above expectations of about $21.1 billion.

Boeing did not provide an update to its 2025-26 cash flow and MAX production forecast amid lingering industry doubts on whether the planemaker will be able to achieve those targets after the FAA's unprecedented decision.

During its investor day in November 2022, Boeing projected free cash flow of about $10 billion by 2025-2026 and 737 production of 50 per month.

But it reported 2023 free cash flow of $4.43 billion, achieving its target of $3 billion to $5 billion for the year.

(Reuters - Jan 31 - Reporting by Abhijith Ganapavaram in Bengaluru and Valerie Insinna in Washington, DC; Editing by Anil D'Silva, David Ljunggren and Nick Zieminski)