Boeing 737 MAX Ramp

Boeing is opening a fourth 737 Max assembly line in Everett this summer as it pushes single-aisle output above current limits. (flightglobal.com) The new line, called the North Line, will be Boeing’s first 737 production site outside Renton, Washington, where the jet has been built for decades. Boeing told investors on April 14 that it delivered 114 737s in the first quarter and 143 commercial aircraft overall. (flightglobal.com) (investors.boeing.com) Boeing is staffing the ramp with roughly 100 to 140 factory hires a week, according to Reuters reporting cited by AeroTime, with workers going to the Everett line and to logistics, tooling, transportation and storage jobs around it. Boeing plans to start the line at low-rate initial production before folding it into the broader 737 flow. (aerotime.aero) (flightglobal.com) The line is coming online after the Federal Aviation Administration froze Boeing’s production expansion in January 2024, weeks after the Alaska Airlines 737-9 Max door-plug blowout. The agency said at the time it would not approve higher output or additional Max lines until Boeing addressed quality-control problems. (faa.gov) FlightGlobal reported that Boeing has since lifted 737 output to 42 jets a month, after the Federal Aviation Administration raised the earlier cap of 38 a month. Boeing’s stated path is 47 a month before the North Line adds capacity for rates above that level. (flightglobal.com) Boeing’s first-quarter financial results are still due on April 22, 2026, so the company has not yet published its full quarter profit or loss figures. What it has published is a delivery tally that shows commercial momentum returning faster than its formal earnings report. (investors.boeing.com 1) (investors.boeing.com 2) That recovery is still uneven. AeroTime, again citing Reuters, reported that Boeing repaired damaged wiring on about 25 737 Max jets in March, a problem that pushed about 10 deliveries into the second quarter even as Boeing kept its annual delivery target unchanged. (aerotime.aero) The 737 Max remains the backbone of short-haul fleets for airlines including Ryanair, which uses the higher-density 737-8200 variant. On April 20, Ryanair flight FR5948, operated by a 737 Max, diverted to Bordeaux after a medical emergency and later continued to Tetouan after about a two-hour delay. (aeronewsjournal.com) Boeing is also tying the production push to a broader 2026 workload across its factories. Its April 14 delivery report listed one commercial and civil satellite delivery in the quarter alongside military aircraft and tankers, underscoring that the company is trying to grow airplane output while carrying defense and space programs at the same time. (investors.boeing.com) The next test comes on April 22, when Chief Executive Kelly Ortberg and Chief Financial Officer Jay Malave are scheduled to lay out Boeing’s first-quarter results and outlook. By then, investors will be looking past the new Everett line itself and toward whether Boeing can raise 737 Max output without another stop-start. (investors.boeing.com)