by Donald Wood
Last updated: 9:05 AM ET, Tue September 10, 2024
Officials from Boeing announced that key production
milestones for its 737 MAX airplanes would be delayed by around six months.
According to Reuters.com,
the plane manufacturer’s supplier master schedule indicates that Boeing’s MAX production
output would reach 42 a month in March 2025, compared to the previous target of
September 2024.
While the company’s master schedule is not an official
production target, the six-month delay is a troubling sign that Boeing is
struggling to boost production of its best-selling plane due to ongoing
government safety approval issues.
In response, Boeing said its official plane production
target has not changed and currently calls for 38 MAX planes a month by the end
of 2024, up from around 25 produced a month in July.
“On the master schedule, we continue to make adjustments as
needed and manage supplier by supplier based on inventory levels,” Boeing CFO
Brian West said. “Our objective remains to keep the supply chain paced ahead of
final assembly to support stability.”
Reuters is also reporting that Boeing Commercial Airplanes
is making an internal organizational change that would combine its operations
and contracts teams to “improve communication between suppliers and the
planemaker.”
Last week, it was revealed that Boeing was facing a possible
employee strike, as current machinists’ union contract with nearly 32,000
workers is up on September 12.
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