NEW YORK, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- Boeing said on Monday that it would freeze hiring and delay pay increases for its salaried workforce as the jet maker grapples with financial fallout from a strike launched on Friday by its largest union.

The company announced the cost-saving measures in a memo to staff and said it would also cut back orders from suppliers for its 737, 767 and 777 jets. The memo said that Boeing was also considering temporary furloughs for employees and executives.

"A strike could cost the manufacturer some 500 million U.S. dollars a week, according to one analyst estimate. The company's operations had been burning about 1 billion dollars a month before the strike and credit-ratings firms warned they may downgrade Boeing," said The Wall Street Journal in its report about the development.

"This strike jeopardizes our recovery in a significant way and we must take necessary actions to preserve cash and safeguard our shared future," Boeing Finance Chief Brian West said in Monday's memo.

The jet maker's 33,000-member machinists union went on strike on Friday after rejecting a labor deal struck between the union's leaders and Boeing executives. Enditem

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