US plane maker Boeing reportedly started production of its best-selling 737 MAX jetliner last week, about a month after the end of a seven-week strike by 33,000 factory workers.
Getting the 737 MAX production line moving again is essential to the heavily debt-burdened plane maker’s recovery.
Boeing has about 4,200 orders for the jetliner from airlines eager to meet growing global demand for air travel.
Production resumed on Friday, Reuters reported, citing unnamed sources.
The wire agency, however, said the aerospace company declined to comment on the issue.
The head of the Federal Aviation Administration, Mike Whitaker, told Reuters on Thursday that Boeing had not yet resumed 737 MAX production, but planned to do so later this month.
The company’s plans to increase 737 MAX production to a targeted 56 airplanes a month have been stymied by a series of setbacks including two fatal crashes, the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain problems, production safety concerns and increased regulatory scrutiny, along with the recent strike.
The FAA capped production at 38 737 MAX planes per month in January after a door panel missing four key bolts flew off an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 during a flight that month, exposing serious safety issues at Boeing.
Whitaker last week declined to say when he thought the FAA would restore Boeing’s ability to produce more than 38 planes per month, but said he would be surprised if it was less than multiple months before the company gets close to the 38 maximum.
Jefferies analysts expect Boeing will produce an average of 29 737 MAX planes per month in 2025, they said in a note to clients on Sunday.
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