By Dan Catchpole and Allison Lampert
SEATTLE – Boeing (BA) restarted production of its best-selling 737 MAX jetliner last week, nearly a month after the end of a seven-week strike by 33,000 factory workers, according to three people familiar with the matter.
Getting the 737 MAX production line moving again is critical for the debt-ridden airliner, and Boeing has as many as 4,200 orders for the jetliner from airlines eager to meet the world’s growing demand for air travel.
Production resumed on Friday, said one of the sources, who both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters. Boeing declined to comment.
A resumption of production had not yet been suggested.
The head of the Federal Aviation Administration, Mike Whitaker, told Reuters on Thursday that Boeing had not yet restarted production of the 737 MAX but planned to do so later this month.
The company’s plans to increase 737 MAX production to a target of 56 aircraft per month have been hampered by a series of obstacles including two fatal accidents, the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain problems, production security concerns and increased regulatory scrutiny, as well as the latest. strike.
The FAA suspended production of 38 737 MAX planes for a month in January after a door missing four bolts flew off an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 during a flight that month, revealing serious safety issues for Boeing.
Whitaker last week declined to say when he thought the FAA would restore Boeing’s ability to produce more than 38 planes a month, but said he would be surprised if it wasn’t many months before the company got closer to the 38 maximum.
Jefferies analysts expect Boeing to produce an average of 29 737 MAX planes per month in 2025, they said in a note to clients on Sunday.
(Reporting by Dan Catchpole in Seattle and Allison Lampert in Montreal; Editing by Jamie Freed)