The strike that affected the Everett and Renton plants for weeks ended on November 4, but Boeing has not resumed production of the 737 MAX to this day.
More than a month after an agreement was approved by employees, the planemaker is still preparing to resume assembling the commercial aircraft in Renton, which should only happen in late December, revealed Mike Whitaker, head of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Deliveries of the commercial jet are well below historical levels even before the strike that began on September 13.
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As of October, only 234 737 MAXs had been delivered, many of them assembled in previous years, when the aircraft was grounded.
Whitaker, who met with Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, told Reuters the company is focused on training its workforce and getting its supply chain in order before it can resume production of the popular jet.
The head of the civil aviation agency was impressed with the changes that have been implemented internally and across the supply chain.
One of Ortberg’s decisions was to stop receiving incomplete aerostructures from Spirit AeroSystems. Boeing has also implemented a new parts management system to prevent problems during the assembly of the aircraft.
Since the door-plug incident on an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9, Boeing has been limited to producing 38 jets per month, but Whitaker doesn’t expect the company to reach that level any time soon.
