Boeing plans new 737 MAX output jump in late-2022

[SEATTLE] Planemaker Boeing has drawn up preliminary plans for a fresh sprint in 737 MAX output to as many as 42 jets a month in fall 2022, industry sources said.

The plans would extend the US company's recovery from overlapping safety and Covid-19 crises and lift output beyond an early 2022 target of 31 a month, which the sources said Boeing aims to reach in March.

Implementation will depend on demand, the health of suppliers and Boeing's success in reducing a surplus of jets already built.

Boeing declined to comment and pointed to its latest guidance. Last month it reaffirmed plans to raise MAX output from an unspecified "low" rate to 31 a month by early 2022.

As an interim step, Boeing hopes to speed monthly output from single digits now to about 26 a month by the end of 2021 at its Renton factory near Seattle, two of the sources said.

REUTERS