Boeing confirmed that operations have restarted at the Renton factory month after strike ended.
Boeing restarted production of the 737 MAX aircraft last week, a month after the end of a seven-week strike by 33,000 factory workers, the planemaker confirmed.
Getting the 737 MAX production line moving again is essential to the heavily debt-burdened planemaker’s recovery.
“We used our Safety Management System to create program-specific plans to identify, evaluate, and mitigate potential risks at each stage of the restart,” a spokesperson said. “Over the last several weeks, we dedicated time toward training and certification, ensuring parts and tools are ready, and completing work on airplanes in inventory to prepare for the resumption of production at pre-work stoppage levels.”
The company’s plans to increase 737 MAX production to a targeted 56 airplanes a month have been stymied by a series of incidents including two fatal crashes, the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain problems, production safety concerns and increased regulatory scrutiny, along with the recent strike.
Boeing has about 4,200 orders for the jetliner from airlines eager to meet growing global demand for air travel.
