Boeing Considers Max Production Cuts, Renton Mayor Responds

RENTON, WA — Boeing leadership met in Chicago for a second day to discuss a potential temporary shutdown of 737 Max production in Renton. The Wall Street Journal reports the board meetings began Sunday and would run through Monday. According to the Associated Press, the latest considerations come just a few days after a senior FAA official told lawmakers that the aerospace company had set an unrealistic timeline for the return of the Max.

UPDATE: Boeing Announces 737 Max Production Stoppage Without Layoffs

All 737 Max aircraft have been grounded internationally since March, following two crashes that killed 346 passengers in Indonesia and Ethiopia. The Federal Aviation Administration and global regulators must sign off on changes to flight control software that was found to play a major role in the two crashes before the planes can fly again.

The Seattle Times, citing an anonymous source, reported Boeing would try to implement any work stoppage with minimal impact on employees, by transferring some of the 12,000 workers to other plants in the region, but a large amout of furloughs are still likely.

Renton Mayor Denis Law released a statement Monday morning.

“We are aware the Boeing Company has been looking at several options with regards to the 737MAX program and one of those is temporary suspension of production at their plant in Renton. We are hopeful that any suspension of production would be for a limited time to minimize any negative impact to local businesses. However any suspension in production will impact local employees, which is very unfortunate, especially during the holiday season. We hope that work at the plant will resume quickly if layoffs occur.”

According to the Times, almost 400 Max aircraft built since the grounding are parked in the Seattle area and at Moses Lake.