Boeing today announced that the 737 monthly production rate will rise again to 47 within four years as the re-engined and updated Max version is introduced into service.
The announcment increases the monthly output of the single-aisle by nearly 12% compared to the goal of moving to 42 per month early next year, and by nearly half since 2010.
“This increase will lay a solid foundation as we bridge into production on the 737 Max,” says Beverly Wyse, Boeing’s vice-president and general manager of the 737 programme.
The latest increase means that Boeing will be producing 564 737s a year.
Boeing now has 3,400 orders in backlog for the 737, including more than 1,500 firm orders for the 737 Max model.
Boeing has been steadily building production capacity on the 737 as demand for the single-aisle has spiked in recent years.
The company is opening a fourth assembly line in 2015 in Renton, Washington. The fourth line will accommodate the first flight test aircraft of the 737 Max, and the new line can also be used for production aircraft.
Boeing also has doubled the production capacity of the wing assembly line in Renton to handle as many as 62 737 shipsets per month.
Meanwhile, Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Kansas, has been preparing for production rate increases on the 737 programme, for which the supplier assembles the entire fuselage.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
