BOEING STORES 737 MAX
Managing inventory costs is key concern as grounding enters third month
BOEING Co has started storing 737 Max jets at a vast Texas maintenance base as the planemaker continues to churn out the aircraft, while waiting for regulators to lift a global grounding.
Planespotter Chris Edwards picked up the radar track of the first factory-fresh Max to be parked outside the Seattle area as it headed to San Antonio on Tuesday. Boeing spokesman Doug Alder confirmed his account.
“The Boeing San Antonio site will temporarily store airplanes as part of our inventory-management
plan,” said Alder.
The jets eventually “will return to Washington where they will be delivered to our customers”.
Maintaining and storing the growing fleet of newly built 737s — and managing the inventory costs — is a key concern for Boeing as the grounding enters a third month following the two deadly crashes.
The planemaker will eventually need to get the jets to customers once deliveries are cleared to resume.
But it may need to do so on a staggered schedule if regulators from China to Canada conduct their own safety reviews.
For now, Boeing employees are working to reduce out-of-sequence work on the jets.
Suppliers from Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc to an engine maker owned by General Electric Co and Safran SA were working to overcome inconsistent deliveries, said Cowen & Co analyst Cai von Rumohr.
Boeing is finalising an update to Max software that has been implicated in the two accidents.
The manufacturer also is meeting with customers, and briefing flight attendants and pilots, as it works to restore confidence in the newest 737 Max.
The length of the grounding could hinge on an upcoming Federal Aviation Administration summit of global regulators, said von Rumohr.
The meetings, which Boeing won’t attend, will be held May 23 in Fort Worth, Texas.