Boeing starts building first 737 MAX jet as planned

Renton, Washington

BOEING Co said on Tuesday that it has started building its first 737 MAX single-aisle jetliner on schedule, an important milestone for a new plane model that accounts for nearly half of the company's plane orders.

The first 737 MAX, a more fuel efficient version of Boeing's top-selling jet, is scheduled to be completed this year and begin flights tests in 2016. Customers will begin receiving the aircraft in the third quarter of 2017, Boeing said. The first wing spars, large structural pieces that run perpendicular to the fuselage, were loaded into drilling and riveting machines on May 29, beginning the building process, said Keith Leverkuhn, vice-president and general manager of the 737 MAX programme.