EVERETT, Wash. — Boeing said it will launch a new phase of 737 Max production this summer, with a fourth assembly line going live in Everett.
Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg told CNBC the company plans to start bringing 737 Max planes onto the new Everett assembly line on July 6.
“We’re adding another production line, it’s really a carbon copy of what you see here in Renton,” Ortberg told CNBC on Friday. “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.”
Boeing 737 Max production ramps up after FAA limits
The Everett expansion comes as Boeing continues to ramp up 737 Max output following FAA production limits put in place after the January 2024 door-plug blowout — an incident that raised questions about the company’s safety and quality.
“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,” Ortberg told CNBC. “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.”
How many 737 Max jets is Boeing building per month?
Boeing is currently producing about 47 Max jets per month. Ortberg said the new Everett line should help the company reach a rate of 52 jets per month, with a longer-term goal of 63 per month.
Boeing CFO: 2025 was a ‘good year’ for the company
After a tumultuous 2024, Boeing had a much better 2025, according to the company’s chief financial officer.
Jay Malave, Boeing’s CFO and executive vice president, said 2025 was a “good year for the Boeing Company.”
“The business, I think, is doing quite well,” Malave said in March. “It was foundational, while at the same time, a year of pretty significant progress in the company’s recovery.”
In 2025, Boeing Commercial Airplanes delivered 600 aircraft — the most since 2018.
Recovery from the 2024 machinist strike and door plug blowout
Boeing continues to recover from a machinist strike that halted production for weeks in 2024, as well as the door plug blowout on an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 in January of that year. Since that incident, Boeing’s manufacturing quality has been under scrutiny.
Spirit AeroSystems reacquisition cuts defect rates 40%
Boeing reacquired Spirit AeroSystems last year, after a 20-year separation. Since then, defect rates have dropped 40% in early 2026 compared with 2025 performance levels, Malave said.
“Really good performance there at Spirit as well,” Malave said.
Boeing resumes 737 deliveries after wiring issue
Boeing resumed 737 deliveries in early March after a brief pause triggered by a wiring issue traced to improperly calibrated machinery. About 25 aircraft required roughly three days of rework each, Malave said.
“Production really didn’t change. It continued. It was not a safety of flight issue at all,” Malave said.
737 MAX 7, MAX 10, and 777X certification timelines
Boeing’s delayed certification programs for the 737 MAX 7 and MAX 10 variants remain on track for approval in the second half of this year, with deliveries beginning in 2027, Malave said. Flight testing should conclude this summer.
The 777X widebody program, reset in the third quarter of 2025, is targeting certification and first deliveries in 2027. Boeing plans to eventually produce five 777X jets per month.
No new Boeing aircraft program coming soon
In March, Malave firmly ruled out any near-term launch of a new aircraft program.
“Number one, the market has to be ready. Number two, the technology has to be ready, and number three, the Boeing company has to be ready,” he said. “None of those three are in a place that we believe would come anywhere close to supporting a launch of a new aircraft. That day will come, but it’s not anytime soon.”
Frank Lenzi is the News Director for KIRO Newsradio. Read more of his stories here.