Post-Strike, Boeing Shifts Focus To Production Output

New fuselages moving into the first Boeing 737 MAX final assembly line positions Dec. 6 signaled day-to-day work on the company’s most important product was back underway following the end of the machinists strike in early November. Boeing’s new priority is ramping up production and factory capacity across its commercial programs while staying true to its pledge to maintain quality.

Like the post-strike restart, the ramp-ups will be slow. The official 737 production restart, signified by Spirit AeroSystems-built fuselages moving into Flow Day 1, the first 737 final assembly station, on the three active 737 MAX lines at Boeing’s production facility in Renton, Washington, came exactly one month after International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) members began returning to work following a 53-day strike (AW&ST Nov. 11-24, 2024). The walkout also halted Boeing 767 and 777 lines in Everett, Washington, as well as other facilities in the Puget Sound region. Production since has resumed in Everett.

“Our team has worked methodically to restart factory operations in the Pacific Northwest,” the company says.

Boeing’s restart processes included using its safety management system to develop risk-based plans for each aircraft program to ensure the correct parts and tooling were in place and ready for the workforce, the company says. Workers also received training designed to support a trouble-free ramp-up.

Boeing is offering little information about the pace of its planned production ramp-up. Just before the strike, its 737 lines were combining to roll out 25-30 aircraft per month—a figure that was climbing slowly after a dip into the low 20s in the aftermath of the Alaska Airlines 737-9 door-plug blowout on Jan. 5, 2024.

The 737 program remains under an FAA-imposed production limit of 38 per month—a ramification of the Alaska incident. A recent RBC Capital Markets survey showed most 737 MAX suppliers do not expect the monthly production rate to reach 38 until 2026.

The latest projection of the Aviation Week Network Fleet Discovery database shows a similar ramp-up pace. This monthly 737 MAX rollout rate —is opposed to Boeing’s definition, which is the supply chain’s shipping pace.  Fleet Discovery projects the rate will reach the mid-20s pace around the end of the first quarter of 2025, climb to 30 in the third quarter and end the year at 32. The figures exclude a handful of military variants that will be produced on a dedicated production line.

Boeing’s past post-strike ramp-ups have taken time. Following a 58-day strike in 2008, factories needed nearly a year to reach pre-walkout levels. The current ramp-up will be more complicated, coming hand-in-hand with implementation of an FAA-approved plan to address systemic quality control issues spotlighted by the Alaska incident and related audits of its production processes.

“As expected, Boeing has made progress executing its comprehensive plan in these areas, and we will continue to closely monitor the results as they begin to ramp up production following the strike,” FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker said following a daylong visit to the Renton factory on Dec. 3.

Whitaker sees Boeing’s deliberate approach as a positive departure from past post-strike plans. “In previous strikes, they’ve just come right back and started production,” he told NBC News. “This time, following safety management principles, they’ve been very systematic.”

Whitaker’s opinion will not factor into whether Boeing is ready to produce more than 38 737s per month, as he is stepping down Jan. 20.

While the 737 ramp-up is a key watch item linked to improving Boeing’s ailing financial health, the company’s to-do list extends beyond Renton (AW&ST Oct. 28-Nov. 10, 2024). Work on a fourth 737 line, which slowed in the aftermath of the Alaska incident, is progressing in Everett.

Boeing unveiled a $1 billion investment plan on Dec. 12 to bolster its 787 production operation in North Charleston, South Carolina. The investment supports previously announced plans to boost production capacity to 10 787s per month by 2026 and potentially higher volumes in coming years.

Boeing has confirmed that the expansion includes an additional final assembly building and new flight line stalls. Other projects are to expand the interiors center and general infrastructure work such as parking and roadway improvements at different facilities.

At its previous peak, the Charleston plant  produced a maximum of seven aircraft per month. Combined with the now-terminated line in Everett, the two sites generated a total of 14 aircraft per month before the COVID-19 pandemic and related production downturn.

Charleston is also the dedicated manufacturing site for the 787’s aft Sections 47 and 48, so parts of the facility already have demonstrated the ability to run at 14 shipsets per month—a figure Boeing is expected to target under the new round of investment.

The current 787 final assembly line can accommodate growth to 10 per month through lean manufacturing. Boeing’s aspirations to exceed that figure again necessitate new production space.

Another watch item for Boeing’s 787 production expansion plan is the overstretched supply chain—particularly the performance improvement campaign at Spirit AeroSystems, which produces the aircraft’s Section 41 forward fuselage. Boeing’s acquisition of Spirit, part of its broader effort to gain more control over its supply chain, is expected to close around mid-2025.

The airframer says delivery quantity and quality of Spirit-built fuselages have improved in recent months, and it no longer sees these core components restricting its 737 or 787 production ramp-ups. Further streamlining of the Spirit operation is expected throughout 2025 in preparation for more rate increases.

While production affected by the strike is just now resuming, deliveries have been underway out of already-built inventory. Boeing handed over 13 aircraft in November, including nine 737 MAXs and two 777Fs produced in the strike-affected factories.

Boeing also delivered two 787s built at its South Carolina site, which was not affected by the strike. November’s activity raised year-to-date 787 deliveries to 42—well below 2023’s 73.

Supply chain issues, notably for heat exchangers and interiors, have slowed 787 deliveries for months. While new production was not affected by the IAM walkout, pre-delivery rework in Everett of 787s stopped, holding up some deliveries.

Boeing has about 30 787s left from its pre-2023 production line inventory of 120 that required targeted inspections and repairs. Before the strike, Boeing was averaging four 787 deliveries per month in 2024, including one or two from the pre-2023 inventory, Aviation Week Network data shows. Since August, the company has handed over 10—or a little more than three per month.