LONDON (Reuters) – Boeing has seen a significant improvement in production at its 737 MAX factory, its new commercial planes chief said on Sunday, as the U.S. planemaker battles to overcome a safety crisis.
The remarks in London, ahead of this week’s Farnborough Airshow, are the first time Stephanie Pope has addressed reporters since she was appointed earlier this year.
Boeing is mired in crisis after a door panel on a 737 MAX 9 jets blew off midair in January, prompting a slowdown in production of its top selling plane as well as heightened regulatory and legal scrutiny.
Boeing has also agreed to plead guilty to a criminal fraud conspiracy charge over a probe related to two earlier fatal 737 MAX crashes.
The company is seeing a “significant improvement in the flow of our 737 factory,” Pope told reporters, speaking on a panel with two other Boeing executives.
Pope became CEO of Boeing’s commercial division as part of a broader management shakeup that will see CEO David Calhoun stepping down by year’s end.
Pope reiterated remarks by the company that the planemaker expects to bring MAX production back to a rate of around 38 a month by the end of 2024.
(Reporting by David Shepardson and Allison Lampert in London; Editing by Matthew Lewis and Mark Potter)