by Valerie Insinna
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Boeing plans to increase production of the 737 plane to a record level of at least 57 planes per month by July 2025, a sign of rising orders and the American aerospace group’s recovery from the crisis crossed by this model, two sources informed of the matter reported to Reuters.
Such a production rate would allow Boeing to achieve the objective it set several years ago and which was abandoned in 2019 after the grounding of all 737 MAXs around the world at following two deadly accidents in Ethiopia and Indonesia.
Boeing, like Airbus, has set ambitious ramp-up targets as air travel and aircraft sales recover, with the European aerospace group already producing in-demand single-aisle planes at a higher rate than its American rival. .
Airbus thus confirmed in July its production target for the A320neo family of aircraft, the group’s best-selling aircraft, at 75 aircraft per month in 2026.
Boeing’s new targets were presented in an updated document for suppliers, the sources said on condition of anonymity as the document is not public.
When asked, Boeing declined to comment.
The new schedule calls for 737 production to reach 42 aircraft per month by December 2023, confirming comments made by Stan Deal, the head of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, during an interview on Bloomberg TV in June.
From this date, monthly production of the 737 should increase to an average of 47.2 aircraft in June 2024, then 52.5 in December 2024 before a regular rate of 57.7 units per month in July 2025.
In its previous forecasts, Boeing predicted, according to sources, production of 52 aircraft per month by January 2025.
Before the grounding of the 737 MAX in 2019, the group produced an average of 52,737 aircraft per month and was aiming for a target of 57.
Boeing’s official target, revealed last November during an investor day, is 50 aircraft per month for the period 2025-2026.
The group’s general manager, Dave Calhoun, however, suggested that an increase in the rate to 60 aircraft per month could be considered as the aircraft manufacturer increases its stock of orders, like the contract signed this year with Air India for nearly 200 737 MAXs.
(Report by Valerie Insinna, by Claude Chendjou, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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