Employees at the Boeing Renton Factory in Renton, Washington, worked on Boeing 737 MAX airplanes in 2019. Boeing delivered 60 airplanes last month, the highest number since December 2023, as the company aims to ramp up production of its popular 737 Max jets following manufacturing and safety issues. The recent delivery figure is the highest since the incident in which a door plug blew out midair on one of its new 737 Max 9 planes in January 2024, causing a crisis that led to production and delivery delays. Out of the 60 airplanes delivered, 42 were 737 Max models destined for customers like Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines, and United Airlines.
CEO Kelly Ortberg, who assumed the leadership role at Boeing in August last year, has highlighted the progress made in enhancing production rates and quality at the company’s manufacturing facilities. In the second quarter ending in June, Boeing delivered 150 airplanes, marking its best performance for that period since 2018. However, the company faced challenges following two Max plane crashes that resulted in the jets being grounded for an extended period, impacting Boeing’s financial performance and allowing rival Airbus to gain a stronger foothold in the market.
Boeing had been producing around 38 Max aircraft per month this spring and would need approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to increase production beyond that level, which was set after the door plug incident. Ortberg expressed confidence at an investor conference in late May that Boeing could raise production to 42 jets per month. In June, the company received 116 gross orders, resulting in 70 net orders after factoring in cancellations and accounting adjustments. Boeing’s backlog as of June 30 stood at 5,953 aircraft.
Boeing is scheduled to announce its second-quarter financial results on July 29, with investors keen on Ortberg’s strategy to boost production and aircraft deliveries.
