SEATTLE, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Boeing's announcement this week that it is selling Wisk Aero is less a signal of a broader breakup than an effort to shed a struggling, non-core air taxi business that had become a distraction from the aerospace giant's turnaround efforts, analysts said.

Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg previously said he would sell off non-essential parts of the company and its subsidiaries to stabilize its balance sheet and sharpen its focus on its core businesses - commercial aerospace, defense and space. However, since completing a portfolio review in 2024, there have only been two major sales - digital aviation services provider Jeppesen for $10.6 billion in 2025 and Monday's sale of Wisk, drone maker Insitu and airspace-services provider SkyGrid for a nearly 20% stake in Archer Aviation.

While Boeing does not get its equity stake until the deal closes, the Archer stake is worth just over $1 billion based on its share price on Thursday evening.  

Selling Jeppesen gave the company a desperately needed cash infusion to help stabilize its balance sheet, while selling Wisk for equity simply offloaded risk and a distraction, said Richard Aboulafia, a managing director with AeroDynamic Advisory.

Developing and certifying air taxis and similar aircraft has taken longer and cost more than their advocates had expected. They still have to prove they are commercially viable and clear substantial regulatory hurdles.

Wisk was costing Boeing money and time from management, with no clear payoff coming, Aboulafia said. 

Boeing shopped Wisk Aero around to other major electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) developers, which passed on the sale, according to people familiar with the discussions.

'THIS DEAL IS A WIN-WIN'

Under the deal, Boeing and ‌Archer ⁠will establish a collaboration and technology-sharing agreement that lets Boeing use Wisk's core autonomous-flight technology in its own current and future commercial and defense aircraft programs.

"This deal is a win-win," Brian Yutko, Boeing vice president, Commercial Airplanes Product Development, said in an email to Reuters.

Yutko was CEO of Wisk until May 2025, when he took his current role at Boeing. 

"For Archer, it brings together complementary autonomy and electric aviation capabilities developed over decades. For Boeing, the equity stake in Archer enables us to retain market exposure with strategic upside, continue to apply these technologies to our products, and further sharpen our focus on our core commercial, defense and services businesses," he said.

As of Thursday, Archer's share price was up nearly 24% since Friday, before the news of the deal came out.

While critics of the deal saw Boeing's equity stake as a signal that it wanted to offload risk, Archer Aviation CEO Adam Goldstein said on X that what "the deal structure makes clear is that Boeing truly understands the long-term value of this combination..."

Boeing's focus now is on increasing jetliner production, not pruning its portfolio, Aboulafia and other industry analysts said.