Boeing expects to fall shy of its 500-strong 2026 delivery target for the 737 MAX, and now sees “the back half of 2027” as a realistic timeframe for achieving a production rate of 52 MAXs per month, management said during the U.S. airframer’s Q3 earnings conference call.
“Everybody wants us to go faster. I get that, but we’re going to stay disciplined as we ramp up here,” president and CEO Kelly Ortberg said of Boeing’s work to stabilize MAX production at a rate of 47 twinjets per month, after moving to increase it from 42/mo.
While Boeing’s factory key performance indicators (KPIs) “are performing well, particularly in the final assembly, where we’ve seen a 40% improvement in rework since the start of last year,” Ortberg said, “it is taking us longer than we had expected to demonstrate performance at rate 47.”
“We’re making progress, but we still have more work to do, and I’m expecting it’ll take us into next year to get fully stable at this rate,” he admitted on the call, reiterating comments first shared last month at the Morgan Stanley 14th Annual Laguna Conference.
Boeing has faced particular constraints in its MAX wing production. All wings for the MAX line are produced in Renton, Washington, and Boeing has been working to achieve flow improvements.
“We are improving, but we’re not yet to where I can say we’re stably producing wings to support the 47/month rate,” Ortberg said. “So, we’re going to want to dwell on that for a little while to make sure we’re stable and don’t end up in an unstable situation with production.”
Boeing needs its back shops, including wings “stable and ready, and fuselages in Wichita stable at the higher rates,” he noted.
By the end of the third quarter, Boeing had delivered 367 MAX twinjets to customers. As it closes out the year, the delay in stabilizing at a production rate of 47 MAXs per month “is expected to translate to lower delivery output, and come in shy of the 500-delivery target,” company vice president and CFO Jay Malave said.
A new North Line in Everett, Washington, which still requires U.S. FAA production certification, is a key part of Boeing’s ramp up, and will protect the stability of production and provide greater space for long-flow airplanes that require work beyond the standard 10-day flow.
This, in turn, will give customers options for more complex interiors, according to the OEM. An initial MAX 10 rolled off the North Line on October 26, representing the first 737 ever produced outside of Renton.
Having received FAA certification for the 737-7 in July, and the 737-10 last week, Boeing will start delivering these variants early next year, Malave said.
