Boeing has already resumed production of its workhorse 737 MAX since Friday, sources told Reuters.
The restart of work at the Renton, Washington, assembly line comes about a month after the end of a strike by 33,000 IAM workers.
Last week, FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker told reporters that he expected the planemaker to resume 737 production only at the end of the month.
Follow Air Data News: WhatsApp | Google News | Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook
As of October, Boeing had 4,191 737 orders pending delivery and had delivered only 234 aircraft this year. So the resumption of work at Renton is crucial to avoid further delays in its schedule.
Before returning to work, the company focused on providing new training to employees and also implementing a new parts tracking system to avoid problems like the one that occurred with an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9, which lost a door plug in flight in January.
The aircraft was sent by Spirit Aerosystems in September to Renton, but several problems with the finishing of the structure required rework.
One of them involved the area where the door plug is located, which was removed, but when replaced, it was missing four bolts that kept it attached to the fuselage.
Despite the resumption, Boeing is facing several restrictions to increase production, currently limited to 38 737 MAX aircraft per month.
Analysts, however, do not believe that the company will be able to reach this level any time soon in 2025.
