Aircraft
Boeing Plays Catch-up on 737
Company re-hires retired workers, reassigns some 600 employees from various sites to Renton
The production rate at Boeing's 737 line in Renton, Washington, will slow considerably in coming weeks, from 52 to 42 per month. (Photo: Boeing)
The production rate at Boeing's 737 line in Renton, Washington, will slow considerably in coming weeks, from 52 to 42 per month. (Photo: Boeing)

Boeing has re-hired retired employees and temporarily assigned another 600 to its Renton, Washington 737 assembly plant from various sites around the Puget Sound region to help speed delivery of the narrowbodies as the company works to recover from supply chain bottlenecks. Some 50 incomplete 737s sit outside the plant in Renton and at Boeing Field in Seattle awaiting engines and fuselage parts, while production inside the plant continues at the normal rate of 52 airplanes per month. The company has attributed the delivery delays to slow shipments of CFM engines and Spirit Aerosystems fuselage sections. Both companies have pledged to catch up on their delivery commitments in time to allow Boeing to meet its year-end delivery goal set last year.