John van Hasselt - Corbis / Getty Images
Boeing $BA +1.08% CEO Kelly Ortberg said Wednesday the company has cleared a regulatory hurdle needed to raise 737 Max production to 47 aircraft per month, and expects to reach that rate within a few months, according to CNBC.
At the Bernstein Annual Strategic Decisions Conference, Ortberg noted that 42 jets are rolling off the line each month. "We've passed the capstone review for rate 47, so we are now in the process of running the line at the 47-a-month rate," he told CNBC. "It'll probably take us a few months of stabilization there. ... My guess is we continue to go up in rate."
Wednesday's remarks carried a notably assured tone, with Ortberg declaring Boeing "highly confident" about hitting the new output target, which he said the company should achieve within the next couple of months. A summer timeline for the increase to 47 per month had already been floated by Ortberg during last month's earnings call.
A fourth 737 production line planned for Everett, Washington state, would underpin a further step up to 52 jets per month early next year, according to Reuters. With July or August as a possible start date for the 47-per-month cadence, Ortberg suggested the subsequent climb to 52 per month would require at least another six months to complete.
