FAA chief says Boeing 737 MAX production not resumed since strike: Reuters

The head of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has reported that production of Boeing’s 737 MAX jet has not resumed since strikes ended in November 2024, according to Reuters.

In an interview published on December 4, 2024, Mike Whitaker, the FAA Administrator, told Reuters that he had met Boeing boss Kelly Ortberg earlier this week and toured the Renton production facility.

Whittaker said: “The thing that I was most struck by was we’re four weeks post-strike and they’re still not producing airplanes, because they’re focused on their workforce, the training, making sure they have the supply chain sorted out.”

The FAA imposed a cap on Boeing 737 MAX production to 38 jets per month following an incident in January 2024, when a door plug separated from an Alaska Airlines 737-9 shortly after takeoff.

Concerns over quality and safety following the incident drove this decision, and the repercussions are still being felt by Boeing today.

In March 2024, a six-week audit of Boeing carried out by the FAA found “multiple instances where the companies allegedly failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements”.

At the time, Whittaker said that to “hold Boeing accountable for its production quality issues, the FAA has halted production expansion of the Boeing 737 MAX”.

When what became a seven-week strike by Boeing workers began on September 13, 2024, production of 737s, 787s and 777s ceased.

Following his recent visit, Whittaker told Reuters that new systems and training in place at Boeing were “really what I expected to see,” and that MAX aircraft production should resume later this month.

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