(New York) The American manufacturer Boeing confirmed on Thursday the slowdown in deliveries of its flagship 737 aircraft in August due to a problem on part of the fuselage which it had announced on August 23.
“In August there were 22 737 deliveries. In the third quarter it will be around 70. Obviously both are lower (than expected) and affected by the latest fuselage issue,” Brian said. West, group financial director, during a conference organized by Jefferies bank.
“For the full year, we had a range of 400 to 450 planned 737 deliveries. We’re not changing that range, but I expect it to be on the low end,” he said. he added.
Still, he warned of “ups and downs as we learn more” about the problem.
Boeing handed over 33 copies of the 737 in July – 32 in the MAX version and one in the P8 military version – it announced on August 8.
The aircraft manufacturer then wanted to continue to increase its monthly production rate to quickly reach 38 aircraft (compared to 31 previously), with the intention of increasing it to 50 per month by 2025-2026.
The problem on the fuselage “constitutes a pitfall” for the group’s objective of achieving “stability and predictability” in its production rate, admitted Mr. West, specifying that the problem was concentrated on the rear bulkhead of the device.
According to him, this notably affects around 75% of the 220 aircraft in stock at Boeing at the end of the second quarter.
“In the short term, this will affect our deliveries, but we have no plans to change our overall schedule,” West said.
“We know how to repair it […], but there are hundreds of holes to inspect,” he noted, referring to an X-ray inspection.
Mr. West confirmed the objective of reaching $3 to $5 billion in available liquidity at the end of the year and the forecasts for 2025/2026 revealed in November (10 billion in available liquidity, 50 monthly deliveries of the 737 and 10 of 787).
Around 11:20 a.m. (Eastern time), Boeing stock fell 0.35% to $217.15 on the New York Stock Exchange.
