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Jet maker outlines moves taken to address concerns about production problems, a year after Alaska Airlines incident
Boeing is conducting more surprise inspections at its factories as part of a broader plan to prevent manufacturing snafus like the one that led to a jet-panel blowout on an Alaska Air flight a year ago.
The jet maker outlined on Friday more than a dozen steps it has taken in recent months to tackle a manufacturing quality crisis that has forced Boeing to slow production and has put it under the microscope of federal regulators. Some of the steps have been previously reported.
Boeing restarted production at its 737 factory in December after a machinists strike stopped work for several months. The company is still producing far fewer 737 MAXs per month than it was in the months before the Alaska Airlines accident.
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Some 33,000 machinists returned to work in November after securing new labor deal
Boeing has resumed production across its 737, 767, 777/777X airplane programs.
The jet maker’s factories in the Pacific Northwest have come back online using a safety-management system to identify and address potential issues and ensure an orderly restart, Chief Operating Officer Stephanie Pope said on LinkedIn.
“In particular, we have taken time to ensure all manufacturing teammates are current on training and certifications, while positioning inventory at the optimal levels for smooth production,” said Pope, who also serves as executive vice president, president and chief executive of Boeing commercial airplanes.
Boeing earlier in the month said it had restarted production of its bestselling 737 MAX jets, nearly three months after the company’s machinists union began a debilitating strike. Some 33,000 machinists returned to work in November after securing a new four-year labor deal.
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It plans to boost production of the plane to 10 a month by 2026
Boeing will invest $1 billion in its South Carolina operations to boost production of its 787 Dreamliner jets, seeking to address a growing backlog caused by problems ranging from manufacturing snafus and safety issues to a lack of parts.
The Virginia-based company said late Thursday that the outlay will go toward expansion and infrastructure upgrades to help meet higher production targets of the wide-body jet.
Boeing reiterated plans to boost production of the plane to 10 a month by 2026, up from a rate of about five a month late last year.
The plan will also create 500 new jobs over the next five years, it said.
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European plane maker Airbus plans to deliver more aircraft this year while its U.S. rival Boeing faces delays.
Airbus posted higher revenue and profit for the first quarter, backed its goal to deliver more planes this year than in 2023 and decided to increase production of its A350 wide-body jets, extending its lead over beleaguered rival Boeing.
The European plane maker confirmed its target to deliver about 800 commercial aircraft to customers this year, more than the 735 planes it dispatched in 2023.
Airbus’s optimism that deliveries will keep growing comes as Boeing grapples with the fallout from an Alaska Airlines emergency landing in January after a door plug ripped away in midair, prompting a temporary grounding and immediate inspections of Boeing 737 MAX jets.
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Boeing deliveries are expected to slow substantially as a machinist strike continues.
Boeing managed to deliver a small number of 737 MAX jets after a strike by machinists shut down the Renton, Wash., factory that builds the planes.
But deliveries are expected to slow substantially as the walkout stretches into its second month. The jet maker delivered 33 planes last month, including 28 737s. That's down from 40 jets overall in August and 32 of the 737s. The company says it was able to slip out some delivery-ready planes after the strike started Sept. 13. Analysts estimate Boeing built 10 737s in September, well off the company's goal of 38 per month.
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Boeing said it has reminded operators of the actions that flight crews should take if they encounter rudder restriction.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued a safety alert to airlines regarding Boeing 737 airplanes equipped with certain rudder components.
The air-safety regulator said Tuesday the operators of Boeing 737 NG and 737 MAX airplanes with SVO-730 rudder rollout guidance actuators should instruct flight crews that the rudder control system could potentially become jammed or restricted in flight or during landing.
Boeing said in a statement it has reminded operators of the proper actions that flight crews should take if they encounter rudder restriction, and has also shared technical guidance from its supplier.
“We continue to work under the oversight of regulators regarding the actuator on an optional autoland system on a subset of 737s,” Boeing said.
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Manufacturer to book $5 billion in charges on troubled programs and warns of deeper quarterly loss amid machinists strike
Boeing will delay the launch of the 777X to 2026. Boeing will cut 10% of its global workforce, or roughly 17,000 jobs, and warned of deeper losses in its operations as a machinist strike compounds problems brewing at the jet maker for years.
Along with the job cuts, the manufacturing giant said it would further delay the launch of a new airplane, the 777X, that is already years behind schedule. It will also discontinue the 767 cargo plane.
Boeing will book $3 billion of pretax charges tied to the two jet programs and another $2 billion in write-offs tied to several troubled programs in its defense unit. The charges will result in a quarterly net loss of roughly $6 billion.
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The European plane maker said that it will book charges of about €900 million in the first half of 2024
Airbus said it will miss annual aircraft targets, and will book charges of about €900 million in the first half of 2024. Airbus AIR said it won’t be meeting its annual targets for the year, including the number of commercial aircraft it planned to deliver, after its space-systems management team identified further commercial and technical challenges.
The European plane maker on Monday said that it will also book charges of about €900 million ($962.5 million) in the first half of 2024 following an extensive review of its space-systems programs.
Airbus expects to end the year delivering 770 commercial aircraft, down from a prior outlook of 800 commercial aircraft deliveries a couple of months ago.
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