SEATTLE – Boeing restarted production of its best-selling airliner, the 737 MAX, last week, about a month after the end of a seven-week strike that mobilized 33,000 workers, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
Tens of thousands of Boeing union workers accepted a contract proposal from the planemaker last month, ending a seven-week strike that halted much production and deepened the crisis. financial of the group.
This resumption of production is essential to the recovery of the aircraft manufacturer, which is heavily in debt.
Boeing has received about 4,200 orders for its 737 MAX, from airlines seeking to meet growing demand.
Production resumed Friday, said one of the sources, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Boeing declined to comment.
The production restart had not previously been reported.
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Director Mike Whitaker told Reuters on Thursday that Boeing had not yet resumed production of the 737 MAX, but planned to do so later this month.
Boeing, which planned to significantly increase production of its 737 MAX, faced a series of obstacles, including two fatal crashes, the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain issues, manufacturing concerns production safety and increased regulatory oversight, as well as by the recent strike.
The FAA, the American civil aviation authority, temporarily banned Boeing in January from increasing the production rate of its 737 MAX, after the loss of an escape door on a plane in mid-flight. Alaska Airlines.
Last week, Mike Whitaker declined to say when the FAA would restore Boeing’s ability to produce more than 38 planes per month, adding that he would be surprised if it took less than several months
Jefferies analysts forecast that Boeing will produce an average of 29 737 MAX planes per month in 2025, according to a note to customers on Sunday.
(Reporting Dan Catchpole in Seattle and Allison Lampert in Montreal; Elena Smirnova; editing by Augustin Turpin)
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