Aircraft
Narrowbody Production Rates Put Strain on Supply Chains
As Airbus and Boeing go to higher rates, their entire supply chains have to remain in harmony, or it will cause chaos.
With their feet firmly “stuck on the gas pedal,” Boeing and Airbus are accelerating narrowbody production to meet the demands of hungry airline customers.
With their feet firmly “stuck on the gas pedal,” Boeing and Airbus are accelerating narrowbody production to meet the demands of hungry airline customers.

As Airbus and Boeing consider cranking up production to dizzyingly high rates, some industry insiders are wondering if the supply chain can keep pace with the aerospace titans’ ambitions. Narrowbody airplanes—the A320 and 737 families—are driving the rate increases. Airbus plans to turn out 60 A320s per month next year. Not to be outdone, Boeing plans to take 737 production to 57 airplanes per month in 2019, and it is studying 63 and 70 per month beyond that.