Boeing Resumes 737 MAX Production

By Dan Catchpole and Allison Lampert

SEATTLE – Boeing (NYSE:BA) restarted production of its best-selling 737 MAX jetliner last week, about a month after the end of a seven-week strike by 33,000 factory workers.

Getting the 737 MAX production line moving again is essential to the heavily debt-burdened planemaker's recovery, with about 4,200 orders from airlines eager to meet growing global air travel demand.

Production resumed on Friday, according to anonymous sources. Boeing declined to comment. This production restart had not previously been reported.

Mike Whitaker, head of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), told Reuters that Boeing had not yet resumed 737 MAX production but planned to do so later this month.

Boeing's plans to increase 737 MAX production to 56 airplanes a month have faced setbacks, including two fatal crashes, the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain issues, production safety concerns, increased regulatory scrutiny, and the recent strike.

The FAA capped production at 38 737 MAX planes per month in January after a safety incident involving an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9. Whitaker said he was surprised that it would be less than several months before Boeing could approach the 38-plane limit again.

Jefferies analysts expect Boeing will produce an average of 29 737 MAX planes per month in 2025, according to a note to clients on Sunday.