RENTON, Wash. (Reuters) – Boeing (NYSE: BA) Co. has, for the time being, avoided a supply chain issue that slowed 737 MAX production and deliveries last month. An executive said on Wednesday that the company is working to stabilise production at the monthly rate it wants.
During a tour of Boeing’s single-aisle factory south of Seattle, Dennis Eng, who is in charge of the 737 program, told reporters, “We’ve been building up to 31 a month.” “I think we should get there by the end of the year, if all goes well.”
Eng said, “It really depends on making sure we have the right number of trained people and the right parts at the right time.” “We have all the parts we need for what we have in the factory right now.”
Eng’s comments came during the first large-scale, on-the-record tour of its 737 factory south of Seattle for journalists since the jet was grounded in 2019 after two crashes that killed 346 people.
Eng said that Boeing is looking deep into the supply chain to find problems and is also trying to hire more mechanics and engineers to prevent shortages like the ones that happened during the pandemic.
Boeing said last month that it was having trouble getting a certain wiring connector, which is a sign of a larger shortage of parts and workers caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
Boeing said last month that the factory was ready to make 31 jets each month as planned. It has been said many times that by the end of June, it wants to be making 31 plans per month.
In addition to the pandemic and the 737 MAX safety crisis, the U.S. planemaker has had a lot of certification and industrial problems that have affected all of its jets. This makes it harder for the company to get back on its feet.
Boeing also said on Wednesday that it had named Mark Fava, a company attorney and former naval flight officer, to the role of ombudsman to give Boeing employees who work on certification a way to voice concerns. A 2021 legal settlement over the deaths of people in 737 MAX crashes made Fava’s job necessary.
During the factory tour on Wednesday, workers were seen pulling mini trains full of parts in front of three rows of unfinished jetliners that needed to be painted.
Because of delays in production and delivery, Boeing hasn’t been able to take advantage of the rise in demand for jets after the pandemic.
“I’ve never seen so much demand for planes as I do now. I believe it will get stronger, “This week, at a different event, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said.” He also said that the need for planes is “more than a bubble.”
