Boeing targets industrial stability before new output rises

By Tim Hepher

DUBAI (Reuters) -Boeing aims to stabilise aircraft production at current levels before advancing to the next industrial milestones as it implements safety and quality improvements, its top jetmaking executive said on Sunday.

Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Stephanie Pope told reporters it was too early to say when Boeing would push 737 jet output to 47 a month, having recently been cleared by regulators to reach 42 a month after the lifting of temporary output curbs.

"Getting it better at (the right) pace is better than going fast," Pope said in a briefing ahead of the Dubai Airshow.

PRODUCTION MILESTONES

Boeing won approval last month to raise 737 output to 42 per month, easing a 38-plane cap in place since a 2024 mid-air blowout caused by missing bolts in a door plug. The incident revealed widespread safety and quality lapses at Boeing.

The U.S. planemaker is now producing 42 of the jets a month and is on the brink of reaching eight a month on the 787 model.

"My initial focus is stabilising at those two rates," Pope said, adding this would involve meeting six targets agreed with the Federal Aviation Administration, including keeping tabs on supplier shortages and out-of-sequence work.

The trend in such industrial glitches is falling, Pope said.

Asked when the next milestones of 47 a month for the 737 and 10 for the 787 could be reached, Pope said, "I cannot put a definition on it ... we'll go up in rate when the system is ready to go up in rate."

NEW 'NORTH LINE' AT EVERETT FACTORY

After decades of producing 737s at its Renton factory, south of Seattle, Boeing is setting up a new "North line" in its cavernous wide-body Everett factory north of the city to accommodate higher production of the narrow-body jet.

Pope said this would not be needed until Boeing takes the next step towards pre-Covid levels of 52 a month.

Asked whether Boeing would then follow Airbus even higher, Pope said: "My near-term focus is one rate break at a time." But she added that part of the thinking behind extra capacity "is so we can meet the market and meet our customers' demand long term".

Boeing has fallen industrially well behind Airbus, partly because of the success of its European rival's A321neo and partly because of a series of safety and industrial mishaps on its 737 series that generates most of the company's cash.

Airbus is producing 63 of the wider A320neo-family jets a month and plans to reach 75 a month in 2027, though some suppliers have questioned whether this is achievable.

Analysts say the production plans are critical for both companies as Boeing repairs its finances and Airbus attempts to build up a war chest for the next generation of planes.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by David Goodman and Alex Richardson)