RENTON, Wash. — Workers returned to Boeing's manufacturing facility in Renton on Thursday after learning Max 9 planes have a pathway to takeoff again, though expansion of production on future planes now has conditions attached.
Assembly was on pause as the company held a pre-planned, one day "quality stand down" meeting with a focus on safety. The entire factory paused 737 production for 15 hours through two shifts, with 10,000 employees taking part, according to the company. A third shift plans their stand down next week.
Production leaders discussed recent issues and employees gathered in teams to inspect work areas and identify improvements, according to Boeing. In the coming weeks, similar stand downs will be held at factories in Everett and North Charleston, South Carolina.
It was planned before, but came just after, the FAA announced it is "capping expanded production of new Boeing 737 Max aircraft to ensure accountability and full compliance with required quality control procedures."
It means Boeing can't dramatically speed up the rate at which it delivers 737 Max planes. Some industry analysts say it's a rare move for government agencies to take this kind of action within business operations, but it will help the FAA manage oversight and inspection of planes before they're delivered.
"Hopefully it will allow for better allocation of resources on the shop floor, and at the inspector level with the regulators to ensure that the mistakes that have been made don't repeat," said Richard Aboulafia, managing director at AeroDynamic Advisory. "But of course from the corporate management office, this puts a damper on their plans to ramp up production and increase revenue."
It's too early to say whether or not this could help competitors like Airbus.
"This is an industry with very high barriers to entry, and extremely long wait times for new generation jets," Aboulafia said. "Airbus had already been increasing their market share, as a result of Boeing's problems. Will this move the needle in that? Maybe, but it's such a long wait for an Airbus jet, it really probably won't show up."