by Donald Wood
Last updated: 10:10 AM ET, Tue October 3, 2023
Boeing reportedly plans to expand the production of the
airplane manufacturer’s bestselling 737 narrowbody jet to record numbers by
2025.
According to documents obtained by Reuters.com, Boeing’s production plans were outlined in a
master schedule shared with suppliers, which targets production of the 737 to
reach 42 planes a month by December 2023.
Boeing would then increase monthly build rates to 47.2 jets by
June 2024, 52.5 by December 2024 and 57.7 by July 2025. The company’s official
737 production target is 50 per month by 2025-2026.
The manufacturer initially set a goal of reaching 57 planes
built per month before two deadly crashes in 2019 grounded the 737 MAX fleet
worldwide. At the time of the grounding, Boeing was producing 52 aircraft a
month.
While Boeing refused to comment on the report, Boeing CEO
Dave Calhoun previously mentioned the potential goal of 60 airplanes
manufactured a month as orders
continue to increase, including Air India booking nearly 200 MAXs earlier this
year.
Calhoun said the second half of 2024 would be crucial to
meeting or exceeding production goals, depending on whether supply chains
steady and demand increases.
“I would love to get to 60 deliveries and the market is
there for it,” Calhoun said in July. “There's no doubt about it. If we get
through that well and we execute well, then we'll be talking to all of you
about 60 deliveries, but I don't want to get ahead of myself.”
Earlier this summer, Boeing announced the launch of a new SAF
Dashboard tool that tracks expected sustainable aviation fuel (SAF)
capacity over the next decade. Based on data from BloombergNEF, the dashboard
aggregates total SAF capacity announcements by suppliers globally and can
filter anticipated supply by production pathway, location and other metrics.
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