The aerospace giant had closed production in January. (File)
New York:
Boeing has resumed production of the 737 MAX at a “slow” rate after two fatal accidents that led to the grounding of the plane in the world by the regulators, announced the company Wednesday.
The aircraft has not flown commercially since March 2019 and there are still a number of key steps to be completed to obtain clearance for service from the United States Federal Aviation Administration and other regulatory agencies .
Boeing said work on the MAX had resumed at the Renton, Washington, facility as it implemented initiatives to improve workplace safety and product quality.
“We have embarked on a continuous journey to evolve and make our production system even stronger,” said Walt Odisho, vice president and general manager of the 737 program.
The aerospace giant had closed production in January amid uncertainty over when regulators would allow the jet to fly again.
Even before the coronavirus hit, the MAX crisis had cost Boeing billions of dollars in compensation for airlines and production expenses, including the cost of storing more than 400 aircraft that could not be delivered to customers.
Since then, Boeing’s problems have worsened as its airline customers have embarked on a struggle for survival due to the drop in travel demand due to the shutdown of coronaviruses.
Earlier on Tuesday, Boeing released details of a downsizing plan to cut the total workforce by 10%, or about 16,000 employees in total.
The company said it had approved 5,520 US employees for voluntary layoffs and had informed 6,770 other staff that they would be involuntarily dismissed.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
