Boeing now expects worldwide demand for 43,600 additional commercial airplanes over the next 20 years, slightly lower than its earlier forecast

Even before today's incident, Boeing investors were in for a long journey. The aerospace company expanded its total debt by more than 400% during the pandemic and still faces government production restrictions on the 737 MAX that limits its cash flow and its ability to pay down that balance.

The crash happened just weeks after the company cut a deal with the U.S. government to avoid taking criminal responsibility for a pair of deadly crashes in 2018 and 2019.