NEW YORK, Oct 3, 2025 (AFP) - Boeing expects the strike in its St. Louis-area defense factories to continue for "weeks or even months," but is nonetheless meeting "customer needs," according to an internal memo obtained Thursday by AFP.

The strike began August 4 and involves some 3,200 workers in the central US states of Missouri and Illinois who are represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) District 837.

Products produced at Boeing's St. Louis operation include the F-15 and F-18 combat aircraft, the T-7 Red Hawk Advanced Pilot Training System and the MQ-25 unmanned aircraft.

The site was originally part of the McDonnell Douglas company, which Boeing acquired in 1997.

"In light of the union leadership's actions over the past few weeks, this strike could continue for weeks or even months," said Dan Gillian, a senior Boeing executive in St. Louis, in a memo to employees.

As a result, the company has decided to activate a second phase of its crisis management plan, Gillian said, including hiring more replacement workers and identifying more tasks that can be outsourced to third parties.

"I remain committed to finding a path forward that ends the strike," Gillian said, noting that the striking workers had already lost an average of $18,000 in wages.

The strike comes on the heels of a much larger stoppage in Boeing's commercial aviation business involving some 33,000 workers.

In 2024, they halted production at Pacific Northwest factories for more than seven weeks.

The strike, along with several safety probes by regulators, hampered the US aviation giant's output over the past year.

The company could potentially be facing more production woes, after Bloomberg reported on Thursday that deliveries of its newest-generation 777X model have been postponed again until 2027, rather than 2026.

Bloomberg, citing sources close to the matter, reported that German airline Lufthansa -- which is set to receive the first of the twin-engine long-haul craft -- has begun preparations to remove the plane from its flight schedules until 2027.

It did not provide reasons for the delay.