Nonunion employees will experience one-week furloughs every four weeks as the troubled planemaker struggles to conserve cash.

KEY TAKEAWAYS Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg told staffers that the airplane maker is temporarily furloughing employees based in the U.S.The furlough is aimed at preserving Boeing's cash, as the strike by machinists continues.

Boeing is furloughing tens of thousands of white-collar employees in an effort to cut costs and avoid a credit-rating cut in the midst of a strike by its largest union.The jet maker will furlough affected employees for one week out of every four weeks for the duration of the walkout,

As the Boeing machinists strike goes into its sixth day, the company is announcing temporary furloughs, blaming the strike.

Boeing operates its defense business, which is in a separate unit from the company’s commercial plane segment, in the St. Louis area. There are about 15,000 Boeing workers here.

In a memo to employees on Monday, Boeing CFO Brian West outlined the steps that the company is taking to cut costs during a worker strike.

Boeing will temporarily furlough thousands of U.S. executives, citing the ongoing machinist strike as the company races to preserve cash.

Boeing will furlough tens of thousands of its executives, managers and others as more than 30,000 machinists intend to go on strike Friday in Seattle and Oregon.

Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said Wednesday the planemaker will temporarily furlough numerous U.S. executives and other employees after about 30,000 machinists went on strike Friday, halting production of its 737 MAX and other airplanes.

Boeing’s CEO said Wednesday that the company will begin furloughing “a large number" of employees to conserve cash during the strike by union machinists that began last week.