BOEING FACES NEW PRODUCTION GLITCHES
Glitches at fuselage and engine makers, record output contribute to logjam
BOEING Co is working through cascading supplier problems that will hamper third-quarter deliveries of its 737 jetliner, the planemaker ’s largest source of profit.
Hiccups at the makers of fuselages and engines, combined with record 737 output, have contributed to a production logjam at the planemaker’s Seattle-area factory.
Like Airbus SE, Boeing is starting to feel the consequences of its fastest-ever tempo for narrowbody aircraft as suppliers struggle to keep pace.
Boeing now expects to deliver fewer of the 737s than it makes during the third quarter, before accelerating shipments by the end of the year, said chief financial officer Greg Smith on Wednesday.
The company is working to streamline production at its single-aisle plant while investing to help suppliers tackle bottlenecks.
“We have a recovery plan in place for them and us, and it’s about executing on that plan.”
Among the supplier glitches confronting Boeing are airframes shipped hours late or out-of-sequence by Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc.
A propulsion joint venture of General Electric Co and France’s Safran SA has also fallen a few weeks behind schedule in its Leap engine shipments to both planemakers.
Airbus SE parked about 80 of its popular A320neo family — down from a peak of 100 jetliners — as it awaited delayed engines from Pratt & Whitney.
At least 40 unfinished aircraft are parked around Boeing’s facility and an adjacent air strip as mechanics scramble to install parts that arrived late or out-ofsequence, the Seattle Times reported last week.
Boeing has about US$1.8 billion (RM7.2 billion) of 737 inventory sitting on the tarmac at Renton, said Ron Epstein, an analyst with Bank of America Merrill Lynch in a report.