by Donald Wood
Last updated: 8:20 AM ET, Tue December 10, 2024
Almost a month after the conclusion of a strike by over
30,000 factory workers, airplane manufacturer Boeing
relaunched the production of its best-selling 737 MAX jetliner last week.
According to Reuters.com,
Boeing has a backlog of around 4,200 orders for the 737 MAX planes, so restarting
production last Friday was essential to the heavily debt-burdened company’s
efforts to return to profitability.
The manufacturer initially unveiled plans to produce 56
airplanes a month, but the recent strike, supply chain problems, production
safety concerns, and increased regulatory scrutiny stymied that course of
action.
As a result, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) capped
production at 38 MAX planes per month, with the agency’s head, Mike Whitaker,
saying that Boeing could reach the production cap sooner rather than later.
Whitaker did not mention when the cap would be lifted.
Reuters shared that analysts at Jefferies expect Boeing to “produce
an average of 29 737 MAX planes per month in 2025.”
Earlier this week, a district judge in Texas rejected
the plea deal between Boeing and the United States Department of Justice
regarding two deadly 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019 due to requirements that
the government's diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies be considered
when the government selected an independent compliance monitor for Boeing.
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