Boeing readies Everett for 737 MAX production line this summer

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, April 7, 2026

EVERETT — As Boeing prepares to open the Everett 737 MAX production line this summer, the company is focused on hiring and training the hundreds of employees who will work on the North Line.

The North Line in Everett, where the company will manufacture 737s for the first time, will be capable of building all 737 MAX models, but will initially focus on producing the 737 Max 8, 9 and 10, according to a Boeing press release.

More than 30,000 Boeing employees work on the Boeing Everett campus, which includes the factory and associated office buildings, The Daily Herald previously reported.

The Everett production line will replicate the 737 MAX build process used in the Renton factory, aside from introducing the 737 Wing Transport Tool, which will “ferry partially completed wings for final assembly in Everett,” the release said.

The team will include newly hired employees and existing teammates from Renton, Everett and Moses Lake, the release said. In late 2025, Jaden Myers and Alondra Ponce were some of the first hired for the 737 North Line.

“Training was so positive and refreshing,” Ponce said in the release. “It was different than any training I’ve done from other jobs.”

Following 12 weeks of foundational training, the pair completed their structured on-the-job training, which pairs new and experienced teammates. North Line teammates will complete this portion of the training in Renton.

“Opening a new production line is something special,” Myers said in the release. “So, we have to do it right. Training went smooth and I’m excited and ready to get home to our shop in Everett.”

Upon beginning operations, the program will complete a low-rate initial production, where the build process is intentionally slowed to allow for additional checks and to make any adjustments to the product system.

“It’s like running,” said Jennifer Boland-Masterson, production leader for the Everett line, in the release. “We know how to do it, and we’ve done it before, but we need to warm up our muscles. You don’t start with a marathon. You start with shorter distances and build up from there.”

Boeing will use the first set of airplanes made during this production to demonstrate conformity to the Federal Aviation Administration, allowing the North Line to operate under Boeing’s production certificate, PC700. Afterward, the North Line will be integrated into the overall 737 MAX flow and production, adding the “capacity for production rates above 47 airplanes per month,” the release said.

The 737 MAX 10 is currently not certified by the FAA due to issues with the deicing system of the plane’s engine. The de-icing issues also affect the 737 MAX 8 and 9, which the FAA has allowed to continue to fly.

Boeing had stated that the new 737 MAX production line would be added in mid-2024 in Everett to complement the three existing MAX production lines at the Renton factory. But the process was delayed when the issues with the de-icing system surfaced.

Jenna Millikan: 425-339-3035; jenna.millikan@heraldnet.com. X: @JennaMillikan