Boeing’s Big 737 Plan

It's safe to say that Boeing has some pretty big plans for the 737. That is an aim to deliver 500 737 family across this year. That would represent a 12% increase from 2025. As pressure rises on the planemaker to stabilize financials and work through an ever-evolving backlog and meet customer's capacity requirements, it is shaping up to be another critical year in the recovery of Boeing. However, its target really hinges on the ability to raise production level. This is something that can only happen if permission is granted by the FAA, which is currently reviewing the business practices, making for a big 12 months as I touched on. So as part of 2026 forecasting, Boeing has made it pretty clear that it wants to be able to deliver 500 units in 2026, aligning with planned production ramp-ups and expected certification timelines. If Boeing can hit this figure, a 12% increase from 2025, it would represent further stability across the planemaker's operations after years of extreme turbulence. Additionally, within the 737 family, primary cash generation is crucial to driving the business turnaround and restoring its financial position, which has been a strong focus in recent times given that long-standing poor performance. Some analysts remain skeptical about whether Boeing will be able to achieve this, with much of the success resting on the business's ability to ramp up monthly production rates smoothly, both from a quality standpoint and with suppliers. Overall, beyond the single oil program, Boeing expects new aircraft deliveries across all programs to increase by around 10%, aided by higher 787 output. For Boeing to be able to achieve a figure of 500 737 family jet deliveries in 2026, much has to go right, but the manufacturer has already been working behind the scenes intently to make this a reality, the business communicating quite closely with not just its suppliers, but also the FAA about future production increases. Remembering that towards the end of 2025, Boeing got that all-important green light to finally lift monthly output rates to 42 units up from the 38. The FAA had capped the manufacturer to 38 units for more than 18 months. The road to recovery hasn't been easy for Boeing, nor is it complete. Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX fatal accidents at the end of the 2010s were tragic, and subsequent investigations revealed darker secrets about the MAX's origins. Those secrets revealed priorities focused on profits rather than the safety and quality of each aircraft that was going out. In a race to compete with the emerging A320neo at launch, there were missteps taken, and fundamental safety flaws crept into the program as Boeing attempted to get certification sooner rather than later to not lose out ground in what is a highly competitive and lucrative sector. Boeing has been working to rebuild from this, placing greater emphasis on culture and on repairing it to create a more stable future through not just training, but also investments. These investments and their success are directly linked to the FAA permitting production rate increases across the MAX. Boeing's road to recovery is long, and I'll once again reiterate incomplete, but the bid to continue increasing 737 MAX production rates and in turn annual deliveries is a step in the right direction to achieving a formal turnaround. Boeing's made their intention clear, they want to deliver 500 737 family jets this year, and yes a strong focus will be placed on whether they'll be able to do this, but equally they also need to obtain certification for the 737 MAX 7 and 737 MAX 10. These are also two highly touted variants that are still yet to be in the skies, and as a result with customers patiently awaiting the certification of these models would straight away improve overall output and brand image. Keen to hear your take, 500 737s this year, is it achievable, or do you believe that 12% increase is going to be too much? Or are you in the camp that it's too early on to know for sure? Thanks for watching, take care, and I'll see you back here tomorrow.