RENTON, WASHINGTON — Boeing will begin building new 737 Max planes July 6 at a final assembly line opening north of Seattle, CEO Kelly Ortberg told CNBC on Friday.
“We’re adding another production line, it’s really a carbon copy of what you see here in Renton,” Ortberg said. “We are going to load our first plane on July 6, so in about a month we will bring it [fourth] living line.”
The new 737 Max final assembly line in Everett, Washington, will serve as a catalyst for increasing Max production to 52 planes per month – a pace expected to begin next year. Boeing is currently building 47 Maxs per month after increasing production by 42 a month earlier this year.
While Boeing wants to build and deliver more 737 Max planes, its production is capped by the Federal Aviation Administration, which imposed limits on its manufacturing after a door jam exploded on one plane. Alaska Airlines plane in January 2024.
The incident led to lengthy reviews of safety and quality issues in the manufacturing process at Boeing.
“We’re trying to reset that record, and I think we’ve done a good job since we’ve come back here over the last 18 months and increased the pace, and we’ve done it differently,” Ortberg said. “We’ve been careful not to move until the production system is stable. We’re not pushing work on the production line like we used to. So I think that gives us all optimism.”
Ortberg and Boeing executives have set a long-term goal of maximum production of 63 per month, if the supply chain can support the increase.
The new assembly line will begin with production of the 737 Max 10, a stretched version of the single-aisle aircraft that is expected to be certified by the FAA before the end of the year, paving the way for the first deliveries of the 737 Max 10.