EVERETT — Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said he plans to dedicate a production line in the Everett factory to the next-gen 737 MAX 10, a version of its fourth-generation 737 MAX, at the annual Bernstein investors conference May 29.
It was known for two years that a 737 MAX line would come to Everett. However, it is news that the company says Everett would get a dedicated line for its largest-capacity 737 MAX model.
Other 737 MAX versions would be built in Renton.
The MAX 10 is not yet certified by the Federal Aviation Administration to sell to airlines.
Ortberg told Aviation Week the company hopes to get the MAX 10 and smaller MAX 7 FAA-certified by the end of the year.
Additionally Ortberg said the larger 777X is also on track for certification by year’s end, according to a report by Agence France-Presse. The 777X is cemented in Everett, with the sophisticated 777X composite wing manufacturing plant next door to the plant.
The MAX 8 and MAX 9 versions are already in production.
The MAX 10 line can help fill a vacuum of 787 production in Everett. The 787 Dreamliner has exclusively been built in South Carolina since 2021.
Boeing has more than 1,200 orders laying in wait for the MAX 10, Reuters reported.
Separately, the company hopes to get a federal OK to build 42 of the 737 MAX models a month (504 a year). The federal government currently restricts Boeing to producing 38 a month (456 a year) in an agreement to ensure production quality is upheld. The FAA temporarily grounded the plane in 2024 and halted production shortly after a door plug flew open on a passenger-filled Alaska Airlines flight around Portland.
