RENTON, Wash. – Aerospace giant Boeing is set to inaugurate a pivotal new final assembly line for its 737 Max airplanes on July 6, significantly boosting its manufacturing capacity. CEO Kelly Ortberg confirmed on Friday that the new facility, located north of Seattle in Everett, Washington, will replicate existing production lines to enhance efficiency and output.
“We’re adding another production line, it’s really a carbon copy of what you see here in Renton,” Ortberg stated in an interview. “We’ll be loading our first airplane on July 6, so just about a month from now, we’ll be bringing that [fourth] line alive.” This strategic expansion is designed to be a key catalyst in raising Max production to a targeted 52 jets per month, a pace anticipated to be achieved next year. Boeing is currently producing 47 Maxes monthly, having recently increased from 42 earlier this year.
The move comes as Boeing operates under a production cap imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This restriction was put in place following a critical incident in January 2024, when a door plug detached from an Alaska Airlines plane mid-flight, triggering extensive reviews of Boeing’s manufacturing safety and quality processes.
Ortberg addressed these challenges, emphasizing the company's commitment to improvement. “We’re trying to reset that track record, and I think we’ve done a good job as we’ve come back up here in the last 18 months and increased rate, and we’ve done it differently,” he explained. “We’ve made sure that we’re not moving until the production system is stable. We’re not pushing work down the production line like we were before. So I think that gives us all optimism.”
Looking ahead, Boeing leadership has outlined an ambitious long-term goal of producing 63 Max planes per month, contingent on robust supply chain support. The new Everett assembly line will initially focus on the 737 Max 10, a stretched variant of the popular single-aisle aircraft. The FAA is expected to certify the Max 10 before the end of the year, paving the way for its first customer deliveries.
(Video footage and full interview with Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg are available on CNBC's original report.)
