Boeing launches Everett’s first 737 MAX production line
Published 1:30 am Friday, July 10, 2026
EVERETT — After a two-year delay, Boeing’s 737 MAX production line landed in Everett this week.
On Friday, a crowd of Boeing employees, Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin and other local officals gathered to watch the ribbon-cutting for the anticipated North Line, where Boeing will manufacture the 737 MAX planes in Everett for the first time. Employees loaded the first aircraft, a 737 MAX 10, onto the line Monday.
“The future is bright,” Franklin said in her speech. “And Everett is ready.”
Boeing previously announced the 737 MAX production line would be added to the Everett factory, the world’s largest by volume, in mid-2024. But over the past couple of years, Boeing has experienced issues with the deicing system of the plane’s engines.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the deicing issues could jeopardize the safety of passengers, and it delayed certification of the 737 MAX 10 and the 737 MAX 7, the smallest addition to the 737 MAX family of planes. The de-icing issues also affected the 737 MAX 8 and 9, which the FAA has allowed to continue to fly.
The MAX series deicing issues are not the only hurdle Boeing has faced.
On Friday, a 61-year-old man was partially sucked out of a 737 from 2008 after a window was dislodged following takeoff from Greece, The New York Times reported.
Boeing said it’s in contact with the airline, The Times wrote.
In 2024, a door plug blew out of a 737 MAX after taking off from Portland. Initially, the FAA capped production of the 737 MAX at 38 per month after the door plug incident.
In May, Boeing announced it was raising its monthly 737 production rate from 42 to 47 after passing the Federal Aviation Administration’s capstone review. Eventually, the North Line will help Boeing reach a production rate of 52 planes per month.
The North Line will produce the 737 MAX 8, 9 and 10, helping the aerospace company meet market demand, including Boeing’s current order backlog of more than 4,300 airplanes, according to information the aerospace company shared.
The program will undergo a low-rate initial production, where the build process is intentionally slowed for additional checks and adjustments. Boeing will use the first set of airplanes made during this production to demonstrate conformity to the FAA.
During a tour of the production line on Wednesday, crew members worked on the fuselage, otherwise known as an aircraft’s main body, that will become the first of the Everett line.
The North Line will replicate the three 737 production lines at the Renton facility, aside from the wings, which will continue to be produced at the Renton site and transported to Everett for final assembly.
“How we build in Renton is how we build in Everett,” said Jennifer Boland-Masterson, Boeing’s senior director for the 737 North Line, on Wednesday.
The 737 MAX line in Everett offers more space than the lines in Renton, due to its previous use as the building site for the larger 787 plane, which is now produced at a facility in Charleston, South Carolina.
The North Line has four slant positions. The additional positions will give crews extra time to work on planes that need more than the allotted 10 flow days of production, such as those with complex customer interiors or lie-flat seats.
The North Line’s first customer will be WestJet, a Canadian airline.
Boeing kicked off Friday’s festivities with relay runners passing a 3D-printed fuselage to the city’s mayors, beginning with Renton Mayor Armondo Pavone and ending with a handoff between Franklin and Boeing materials manufacturing engineer Brandon Egbert, according to a Boeing press release.
As the speeches before the ribbon-cutting began, the runners entered Everett’s factory. The relay teams were symbolic for the company, said Mike Fleming, senior vice president of airplane programs and customer service at Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
“It shows even though we’re separated by a short distance, we’re still all connected by the same mission to deliver the same product today,” he said in his speech.
In her speech, Franklin referred to the North Line as an investment and a vote of confidence in the county’s workforce, American manufacturing and the future of aerospace in Everett.
“In Everett, we don’t just build airplanes; we solve complex problems, advance manufacturing and help connect the world,” she said. “That legacy is exactly why Everett is the right place to launch this next chapter.”
The North Line is a $1 billion investment in the Everett facility to build out capacity and resiliency in the factory and production system, said Stephanie Pope, president and CEO at Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
“We look forward to celebrating the first airplane that rolls out of here later this year,” she said in her speech.
Jenna Millikan: 425-339-3035; jenna.millikan@heraldnet.com; X: @JennaMillikan
