Boeing has resumed production of all airplane programs halted by a strike by the company’s largest union in the Pacific Northwest, according to a company official.
Resumes production
“We have now resumed production across our 737, 767, and 777/777X airplane programs,” Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Stephanie Pope said in a LinkedIn post on Tuesday.
“Our teammates have worked methodically to warm up our factories in the Pacific Northwest, using Boeing’s Safety Management System to identify and address potential issues and ensure a safe and orderly restart,” she added.
Last week, the planemaker said that it resumed production of the 737 MAX jetliner, about a month after the end of a seven-week strike by 33,000 factory workers.
Pope said that the company has “taken time to ensure all manufacturing teammates are current on training and certifications while positioning inventory at optimal levels for smooth production.”
“As we move forward, we will closely track our production health performance indicators and focus on delivering safe, high-quality airplanes on time to our customers,” noted Pope.
Strike hits deliveries
According to a Reuters report, Boeing delivered just 13 commercial jets in November, less than a quarter of the 56 jetliners it handed over to customers for the same period a year earlier.
In October, Boeing delivered 14 commercial jets after a worker’s strike by the company’s machinists union halted most of its aircraft production at two major assembly plants. The planemaker delivered 34 jets for the same period a year ago.
The planemaker had a backlog of 5,499 orders by the end of November, while it delivered 318 planes for the first eleven months of 2024. Since the beginning of the year, Boeing has recorded 427 gross orders and 370 net orders, according to its website.
Mike Whitaker, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), told Reuters earlier this month that Boeing capped production at 38 737 MAX planes per month in January after a door panel missing four key bolts flew off an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 in midair that month.
In fact, the company is facing heightened scrutiny by the FAA as it resumed production of its 737 MAX jets.
Workers’ agreement
The workers’ strike ended on November 5, after the union approved the company’s revised contract offer, which promised a larger wage increase and bonus payments.
The contract offer ratified by the workers includes a 38% raise over four years and a combined cash bonus of $12,000, including a $7,000 ratification bonus and a $5,000 contribution to their 401(k) accounts.
